Brian Daniels, Community Development and Alumni Engagement Manager for the National Home was sharing his story at the Jr. Vice Commanders Orientation held annually at the National Home.
Marty Christiansen, then Jr. Vice Commander from South Dakota Post 2750, listened to Daniels tell the tragic story about him and four men in his unit getting blown up in Iraq while traveling in a Humvee. All died except Brian, whose right leg was hanging by a single tendon at the knee.
“It was November 2005, and I was transported to Balad north of Baghdad to the evacuation hospital to receive a blood transfusion,” Daniels said.
A memory sparked in Christiansen, who knew he was at that evacuation hospital at that same time.
Colonel Martin Christiansen, M.D., an Army Reserve surgeon, served a one-year tour of duty at that hospital and had a comforting ritual that he performed on every injured soldier who came in. He would place his hand on their forehead and tell them, “We’re going to get through this.”
“When I was transported to the hospital in Balad, a doctor put his hand on my forehead and said, ‘We’re going to get through this, buddy,’” recalled Daniels, who said it helped calm him despite the intense pain he was in and the moaning from other injured soldiers all around him.
“When Brian shared his story, I remembered him because his leg fell off the table,” said Christiansen, who explained that he assisted in surgery to stabilize Daniels, who was then airlifted to Germany.
It was an emotional moment when Daniels told his story, and Christiansen told him that they had met before.
“I hugged him and had to interrupt the program to go on stage and tell everyone that this man helped save my life,” explained Daniels.
“It felt really good to know that we had made a difference. It was closure,” said Christiansen, who retired from the Army Reserve in 2007 after 33 years.
Now, the two continue to work for their fellow veterans, Daniels through the VFW National Home and Christiansen through his local VFW post.
