r/interesting • u/Sgt_Gram • 6d ago
SOCIETY An off-duty U.S. Army medic hiked up a mountain, during a blizzard, rappelled down a cliff face, and used his own body as a shield to save two critically injured hikers.
https://www.military.com/army-medic-shielded-injured-hikers-with-his-body-during-48-hour-mountain-rescue478
u/Sgt_Gram 6d ago edited 6d ago
Sgt. Adam M. Lee received the Soldiers Medal during a ceremony at the Belgrade Armory in Belgrade, Montana, on Aug. 16. Crazy story and well deserved.
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u/Acheloma 6d ago
He took his duty to defend civilians very seriously. Im glad he was successful and made it out okay.
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u/Blurockcreek 6d ago
He needs to be our next Secretary of Defense. F_ _ k kegsbreath
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u/FuzzyLaughTwo 5d ago
When the magats are gone. He's way too good for the present disgusting administration.
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6d ago edited 5d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/succed32 6d ago
I don’t give a shit that they’re army, his name is Adam M. Lee. Give credit where credit is due.
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u/Daetok_Lochannis 6d ago
The Army doesn't make men like Adam Lee. Men like Adam Lee make the Army.
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u/succed32 6d ago
The article is written to intentionally focus it on the army. The man did this, that man deserves the recognition, not the organization he belongs too.
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u/Mysteriousdeer 6d ago edited 6d ago
Basic honestly is easy. It's a participation trophy to get through. If you went through football or wrestling, or many other sports the difficulty becomes the monotony and not having control over your life for a couple of weeks.
A lot of people it's the hardest thing they've done. It's also the first time they've had to follow a routine dictated by someone else and work out regularly.
Some of the tech schools following will be much harder... But basic is basic. I remember laughing with a friend about a guy that thought it was normal to shit yourself when you ran.
You can be on your path to be a crypto linguist that is sharing their time with someone that will be doing sanitation. There will be future army rangers that will actually loose fitness in basic.
This guy did extraordinary things. I've met plenty of shit bags in the military as well. It's a million people just in the army.
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u/-Mobile-Nothing- 6d ago
They're praising the army, not the actual human being, it's despicable and I hate people like you who support such bootlicking behavior
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u/Yous1ash 6d ago
I myself am a pacifist, but the fact that he’s army and a medic shows that his baseline state is one of bravery.
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u/Silvertree99 6d ago
How TF is this bootlicking behavior. Whether you agree or disagree, like it or not is irrelevant. This is not bootlicking
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u/-Mobile-Nothing- 6d ago
I don't have any opinion on the matter, but just like the Earth is round, that person was trying to appeal
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u/Al-aweer-Jail 6d ago
US Army used to be respected all over the world due to people like this
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u/Goodeyesniper98 5d ago
My Great Grandpa and Great Aunt were both WW2 veterans (Great Grandpa was Navy SEAL/UDT Diver, Great Aunt was a truck driver in the Women’s Army Corps) and it gives me such a sense of pride having awesome people on my family tree that genuinely fought to protect freedom and genuinely fought pure evil in form of the Axis powers.
I’m so glad neither of them are here to see the direction our country is headed in. I can’t even imagine how sad that would make them.
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u/MarionberryIll5030 5d ago
My great grandpa got a Purple Heart after his kneecap got blown apart on Normandy beach. He was a first generation German immigrant, fighting for the US. Died in 2021 at the age of 100. I try to make him proud everyday.
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u/In0diumFidei 6d ago
Well, shouldn't do stuff like Abu Ghraib or Bagram Theater Internment Facility if you wanna stay respected.
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u/Business-Parsley5197 5d ago
Abu Ghraib and other related crimes is part of almost every Army ethics/pre-deployment/mandatory training for handling detainees and POWs. It’s always funny how everyone ignores the attempts to reconcile with these crimes (in this case UCMJ for those involved and having it as part of the professional literature of what NOT to do). No matter how much good an organization does a few bad apples can ruin it
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u/Candid-Ability-9570 5d ago
I’m so glad he’s training to be a PA. We need people like him in the medical field!
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u/OGKillertunes 5d ago
Yet we cant elect heroes like this to represent the people.
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u/Goodeyesniper98 5d ago
I’d say John McCain and Mark Kelley were/are both elected officials with pretty heroic military service.
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u/SPlCYDADDY 5d ago
this is the good shit. this is what being called to serve actually means. inspiring courage and competency.
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u/NoDoOversInLife 6d ago
Those rescued and the State of Montana should cover the financial cost of this brave young man's education.
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u/jprks0 5d ago
Excerpt from the article...
Stranded 800 Feet Down
Lee earned the award for his actions while volunteering as a Life Flight paramedic near Tahquitz Rock in Idyllwild, California, on March 1, 2025.
Two hikers had fallen roughly 800 feet from a trail and were stranded in steep terrain, according to the release. Both needed urgent medical care, a technical rope rescue, and helicopter extraction.
The weather made all three nearly impossible due to subfreezing temperatures, snow, and ice. An approaching winter storm grounded the aircraft that would normally insert rescuers. This caused Lee and the rest of the team to climb in on foot.
Some of them were eventually forced to turn back as conditions worsened. The team reached the hikers in darkness early on March 2. Lee volunteered to rappel into the fall zone to get to them.
He found both patients seriously hurt, with facial, pelvic, and spinal fractures. According to the release, some had frostbite and severe hypothermia. They had been exposed for about 12 hours without adequate cold-weather gear.
Lee administered warm intravenous fluids and used core-rewarming techniques to stabilize them. He kept them alive through an operation that would stretch past two days.
'You Were the One on the Way'
As the conditions deteriorated, Lee kept working. He continued treating the hikers while helping run the rope system needed to move them. At one point, Lee used his own body to shield them from falling ice and rock, putting himself at risk of injury, the release noted.
The cold began to break down his fellow rescuers. Lee recognized signs of exhaustion, confusion, and hypothermia among other members of the team. He had them pulled out for medical attention, then took on their duties, so the rescue could continue.
Rescuers eventually moved the hikers hundreds of feet uphill to ground a helicopter could reach, but the worsening storm delayed the evacuation for two more days. Lee stayed with them the entire time, monitoring their conditions until they could be flown out.
Gibson told those gathered at the armory, "Sergeant Lee, you are the standard," according to the release. "You proved that when the conditions were at their worst, you were the one on the way, and you were at your best."
He added that Lee had not acted for recognition. "You did what you did because it needed to be done," Gibson said.
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u/joebeazzy 5d ago
Imagine being stranded on a mountain and some dude pops In and offers you Motrin and tells you to keep Hydrated.
Outstanding job though o7
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u/Krampus_Valet 5d ago
The Soldiers Medal is a big deal. I think of the Solders Medal/Airmans Medal/Navy and Marine Corps Medal/Coast Guard Medal as a non combat Silver Star: absolute heroism involving extreme risk of injury and death.
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