Crossroads Christian Fellowship

Why the pink toe nail? It was a 3 CCATT Mission with quite an odd sight. The CCATTs (Critical Care Air Transport Team) are critically wounded patients which require intensive care. Each CCATT is a team of a Flight Surgeon, Nurse and Respiratory Therapist and each CCATT team can only tend to two patients. These patients as you might imagine are in pretty bad shape and remain somewhat unstable. The litters that they are carried on are loaded down and piled high with all sorts of life support equipment, pumps, monitors, etc, which including the patient, can cause them to weight well over 300 pounds.

It was one of my first few days here and I was carrying this particular CCATT Marine out of a C-17 and was carrying the litter on the foot end. Looking down I noticed the blanket had slid off his feet and revealed that this marine had his big toe painted with pink nail polish. After loading him onto the ambulance I made the rounds and spoke to those that were coherent and prayed for those that were not. This particular marine was vary badly wounded about which I wouldn't want to get into but to say it was quite troubling to me to see this young man in such a state. I spoke into his ear telling him I was the chaplain and we loved him and he would get the best care in the world. I went onto say thanks for serving, his sacrifice and that he is precision to God and our nation. I proceeded to pray for him, soon after the patients were off and on their way to Lundsthul hospital for their treatment and care. Right after wards, back at the CASF
(Contingency Aero Staging Facility) chaplain office where we work, my Chaplain Assistant asked if I noticed the one marine with the pink toenail. I said yes, "kinda hard to miss it" . We both had a chuckle and I was left wondering what the deal with that was and soon had another mission which took my mind off the pink toenail.

On Tuesday this week we had an outbound mission. The patients had arrived at the CASF Monday night for their flight outbound the following day. I was told that three more patients would be meeting at the plane coming directly from Lundstuhl hospital. I did the reintegration briefing and went and visited with all the wounded going home. The wounded warriors arrive back at the CASF from the hospital and spend the night at the CASF which is where I have the best opportunities for ministry. Combat Stress and Crisis Intervention are what I tend to do most in my counseling.

The next morning we were finishing up loading the 3 litter patients that had just arrived from Lundsthul and there it was again - the pink toe nail on a Marine and here I was again, carrying him by the foot end. Once racked onto the litter carrier of the C-17 and had the opportunity to speak to him. He of course didn't remember me but did show a smile when I introduced myself to him. I decided I wanted to know what was with the pink toe nail and thought, I'll never see him again so, "What the heck, just ask him". So I did and said, "It is not everyday we see marines with pink toenails. I am curious if there is a reason you have one"? He smiled and said that the night before he was leaving Camp Pendelton, he was in bed with his wife and early in the morning he awoke to find his toenail being painted with pink polish by his 5 year old daughter. He said to her, "what are you doing". She said that she wanted her daddy to have something to
remember her by until he comes home. He said that he immediately started to say "No" but then said, "Well, ... Okay, but don't paint anymore". He was then made to promise her that he would leave it on until he got home. He said, his wife told him that was such a wonderful thing to do. He said, "I told my wife that it would be off before I left this house, but don't tell her that". He went onto say that after taking a shower and it didn't come off, that he changed his mind and decided to just leave it on in hopes no one would see it. That however was not at all how it worked out as his MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle hit the IED and his entire right side of his body was badly damaged by the explosion. He now going home to his little girl with only one big toe, the one that she put the pink polish on. His other leg, his right one, would remain forever downrange in Afghanistan. The surgeons were able to safe his right arm
(but
this was still in somewhat in question) but his right leg had to be amputated just above the knee. He said, "I wish I would have let her paint all my toes on both feet." I thanked him for telling me about it. He said, grinning like a man with a secret, "surprisingly, since I arrived, you were the only one to ask me about it". I went on to tell him that God has a plan for his life and asked if he had given much thought to that. He said for the first time since getting out of High School, (about 7 years ago I would guess) he has listening to the Bible on a digital player he was given at the hospital by a chaplain and been praying a lot. He said he knows God protected him and is eager to know more about God. The ramp of the C-17 was already up and a flight crew member told me, "if you don't want to fly with us to Andrews, you'd better deplane right now sir". I departed through the nose ladder and walking back to the van across the
flight-line
ramp. I have to say that I prayed and thanked God for this young marine and that God would have His way in his life and future as he prepares to go through a most difficult time of his life.

Please pray for him as you think about him.

In Christ,

Pastor Dave