Sgt. Chase Parker, a utilities equipment repairer with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), recently helped to save a life when he stopped to give aid to a motorist involved in a car collision. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Osvaldo Martinez)
10th Mountain Division Soldier helps to save a life Staff Sgt. Osvaldo Martinez
10th Mountain Division (LI) Public Affairs Office
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (May 1, 2024) – An Alpine Soldier will receive an Army Achievement Medal for helping to save the life of a motorist near Fort Drum.
A U.S. Army sergeant assigned to 41st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), on his way home from work April 3, received some unexpected news. A Soldier assigned to his team was in a car accident. Without a moment’s hesitation, he traveled to help his Soldier and make sure he was taken care of, not knowing that this was just the start of his heroic day.
Sgt. Chase Parker, a utilities equipment repairer with Echo Company, 41st BEB, ended his day by helping two individuals – the first, his Soldier in need after an unfortunate incident with his vehicle, the other a local motorist involved in a car collision.
On the side of the road a mile away from the Mannsville exit off Interstate 81, Parker found a van flipped on its side with smoke billowing and horn blaring, where he and another Soldier give aid to an injured driver – 20 feet from the vehicle in a cold puddle of water.
Parker stopped and exited his car to assist anyone in need and found himself soaked, giving the clothes off his back to keep the driver as dry as he could on a very cold and wet ground. Waiting until help arrived, Parker went through what he has trained for in first aid.
“Weather-wise it was a pretty bad day out, it was sleeting and raining pretty good,” Parker said. “So, it probably wasn’t the best to be driving.”
“I was on my way home from work around 5:15 p.m., and right before the Adams Center exit, there was actually another car crash,” Parker recalled. “It had hit a tree, but there were two people outside of that vehicle and another parked on the side of the road. So, I didn’t stop for that one.
“Then, a mile away from the Mannsville exit where I live in, there was another car stopped on the side road left of the highway. A van was on its side smoking, and the horn was going off. So, I stopped pretty much right in front of it,” he explained.
“I felt very calm and knew what I was doing to help the best that I could,” Parker said. “Obviously I’m not a medical professional, but I knew enough to try to help prevent further injuries.”
Parker’s first sergeant and commander expressed their confidence in his abilities and character. Speaking to his qualities as a humble and capable noncommissioned officer, 1st Sgt. Thomas Brussel, senior noncommissioned officer in charge, and Cpt. Antario Rapier, Echo Company commander, could not have been more assured.
“Sgt. Parker, he’s one of the best NCOs, always doing the right thing. He does not like recognition,” Brussel said. “He just really kills it every day at work. So, seeing him recognized, even if he doesn’t like, it is something we kind of want to push for.”
As his actions of personal courage are the example for many, Parker exhibited the true characteristic of selfless service.
“Sgt. Parker has always been one of my best NCOs,” Rapier said. “He’s somebody that you can give a task to and just turn away. He is a natural-born leader, and I would say he is a leader of men, not just Soldiers. People follow him.”
Minimal though his actions were, the impact Parker made echoes through the formation of Echo Company and through the 10th Mountain Division.