{"id":38851,"date":"2025-02-13T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/02\/13\/corpsman-receives-medal-for-saving-marine-from-heat-stroke\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T21:05:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T21:05:16","slug":"corpsman-receives-medal-for-saving-marine-from-heat-stroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2025\/02\/13\/corpsman-receives-medal-for-saving-marine-from-heat-stroke\/","title":{"rendered":"Corpsman receives medal for saving Marine from heat stroke"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A U.S. Navy corpsman received a military decoration for helping rescue a Marine who became dangerously ill from high temperatures, according to the Marine Corps Reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hospital Corpsman Petty Officer 1st Class Billy Bui, of the 4th Marine Division, provided life-saving assistance in August 2024 <\/b>to an unresponsive Marine at Camp Talega on Camp Pendleton, California. He was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal for his actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bui was participating in daytime land navigation practice when a distress call came over the radio at the combat operations center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop,\u201d a voice from the radio said. \u201cWe need Bui out here now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bui hopped in a Humvee, was driven to the crisis location and jumped out of the vehicle, stretcher in hand. He ran up a hill, where he found an unconscious Marine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several Marines hovered over the service member, who they\u2019d already stripped to cool his body temperature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bui noticed the Marine\u2019s tongue was in danger of blocking his airway, so he instructed another Marine to insert a nasal pharyngeal airway \u2013 a tube to help prevent the tongue from obstructing breathing \u2013 as they carried the Marine down the hill on the stretcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Humvee raced back toward base as Bui placed ice all over the Marine\u2019s body to fight the heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t go into the light,\u201d Bui said, as the Marine\u2019s body battled what he would later discover was an internal body temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit, or a heat stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the Marine was handed over to Camp Pendleton paramedics who helped medically evacuate the service member on a helicopter.<\/p>\n\n\n\t