Marines in Okinawa recognized for saving driver after highway crash

A Marine credited his father and the Marine Corps for the technique he and three other servicemen used to rescue a casualty from a burning shipwreck in Okinawa earlier this month.

Gunner Corporal Austin Potter and Mortarman Lance Cpl. Samuel Calhoun, both serving in the 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division at the time, received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal on October 10 for his actions just four days earlier. Regimental commander Col. Richard Barkley presented the awards during a ceremony at Camp Schwab.

Lance Corporal Steven Estrada, also a mortarman, and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jett Garcia, a religious programs specialist, received certificates of appreciation at the same ceremony.

“I saw that someone needed help and I was there to provide a service,” Potter, of Falling Waters, W.Va., told Stars and Stripes on Oct. 22. “That’s all that really mattered to me.”

The four were riding in a taxi heading toward Schwab on the Okinawa Expressway shortly after midnight on Oct. 6 when they came across a wrecked kei, a small truck, Potter said.

“The cab driver came to a complete stop, the tires were screeching, and we saw a wrecked truck in the middle of the expressway,” Potter said from California, where he returned after completing his unit’s rotation.

As smoke billowed from the cab of the truck, Potter noticed someone in the car reach out in concern.

“We all run out and run to the broken truck,” he said. “I can tell he was definitely disoriented; he didn’t know where he was.”

Troopers tried to pry open the driver’s door with a shovel Estrada found in the back of the truck, but the cab was too crushed for the door to open, Potter said.

Calhoun quickly kicked out the passenger side window. According to Potter, Potter climbed through the broken window, grabbed the driver by the armpits and, with the help of Estrada and Garcia, pulled the injured man from the truck. He saw dark circles around the driver’s eyes.

“We noticed he had raccoon eyes, which indicated he had a head injury,” he said. “He was conscious but not alert.”

They stopped the man’s bleeding from several wounds and noticed that his neck was injured and swollen.

“We call this technique piano keys, tapping up the spine, and as I was doing the spinal tap, I noticed a huge bulge in the upper lumbar region of his spine that indicated he had most likely broken his back,” Potter said. . “It stuck out a lot.”

Emergency services arrived about an hour later, Potter said. The Okinawa Prefectural Police Office has no information about the accident or the driver, who may have been released, a spokesman said by phone Friday.

Potter credited his father, Paramedic Tom Potter, and the Marine Corps for giving him the knowledge and skills to save a life that day.

“(My father) always taught me that the common injuries in car accidents are head and neck injuries,” he said.

Tom Potter, who has been with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue for more than 32 years, was “full of pride and honor” when he heard about what his son had done, he told Stars and Stripes on Facebook Messenger on Friday.

“Growing up, Austin and his brothers always wanted to hear about my day and the calls I made,” he said. “They wanted to learn how to help people when they are sick or injured.”

Tom Potter said he believes everyone should be taught how to give first aid to others.

“Austin has always been willing to help those in need, and I am extremely proud of these Marines,” he said.

Austin Potter said he learned the “piano key” technique and other skills in tactical combat support for the Marines.

“If I can save someone’s life and they can go on with their family, brothers, sisters, mom or dad or whoever, husband or wife, that’s all that matters to me,” he said. “It was a great honor to receive this award.”

Stars and Stripes reporter Keishi Koja contributed to this report.