In Memoriam: SGT Buddy James 'Doc' Hughie
23 October 1981 - 19 February 2007
I haven't channeled Soonergrunt for a while, but I am going to do so today to remember a friend of his who died in Afghanistan in February.
The story of Buddy Hughie is a story of American nobility and sacrifice. On this Memorial Day I wanted to write it here for Soonergrunt who by now should be Stateside and soon home.
'Doc' Hughie was shot selflessly trying to reach two injured Afghani Army troops in a Taliban ambush.
But there is more you should know.
SGT Hughie never waited to be told what he should do. He instinctively knew and acted without hesitation. Whether he was treating a casualty during Hurricane Katrina Relief Operations or helping a young Afghan girl tangled in barbed-wire, "Doc" was quick to give aid and offer comfort. He never wavered, and gave to those in need.
Soonergrunt wrote to me when it happened.
We lost one of the best
Sergeant James Buddy Hughie was killed in action on the 19th of February, 2006. He was a soldier in my company and a paramedic instructor in civilian life. He had been married for about a year, and was the father of a three-month-old boy. He was also my friend.
He was moving to the aid of a team of Afghan National Army soldiers that had become pinned down and wounded by sniper fire. He was killed by a single shot to the chest just above the top of his ballistic plate. He died instantly. I was home on leave when he was killed, and when we were notified.
Accounts vary, but most of the soldiers involved in the battle that day remember that when they heard that a man was down, they all thought "Doc Hughie will save him," and "Doc Hughie will bring him home alive."
He was an amazing soldier. He was an amazing human being. He had a great compassion for the Afghan people that he encountered. He was always volunteering to go on MEDCAP missions to deliver medical aid and supplies to the village clinics. He had forbidden the use of the term "Hajji" as a slur among his men. I will remember him more for his infectious laughter, his sense of comic timing and irony, and his practical jokes than anything else. You had to laugh around him. He’d find a way to make you laugh. Even the victims of his pranks and the butts of his jokes would laugh with him because, unlike most of us, his humor was never vicious or cruel.
The world seems a little darker with him gone.
Many in our unit, including me even though I knew better, were just allowing ourselves to think that we might just make it through this with only a few minor wounded. We had come through so much, you see. I had walked away from a couple of IEDs and a few firefights that should’ve done me in without so much as a scratch. Right before I went on leave, I had a very close call. I will go to my grave wondering why I was unhurt from that one. I should’ve been killed, and my whole crew along with me. That ambush was a truly brilliant piece of soldiering on the part of the bad guys, but once again we had escaped unscathed and had killed the men intent on killing us. So I had allowed myself to begin thinking that we were going to be OK, and that we would all share a beer or three and a laugh at the enemy’s expense when we got back stateside.
But Buddy "Doc" Hughie is dead, and I don’t feel so good myself.
Buddy must have been special. He was certainly loved.
The following was written by his father-in-law describing the moment Buddy's wife got the news:
The night of February 19, 2007 at about 9:40pm there was a knock at our front door.
My 23yr old daughter's friend screamed up the stairs "There's two men at the front door with military uniforms on." My heart sank. My wife and I ran down the stairs to see two soldiers in dress uniform standing at the front door.
My daughter was already screaming "NO NO NO NO THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING THERE HAS GOT TO BE A MISTAKE"
As the Army guys came in they did just like it happen on TV. "On behalf of the United States Army, we regret to inform you that your husband Sgt Buddy James Hughie has been killed in action." It was difficult to hear anything else they said. I was just numb with pain, both for my daughter but also for their three month old son, Cooper.
It's been just over two weeks now and I can still see and hear Alexis just sobbing NO NO NO I LOVED HIM SO MUCH, WHAT IS COOPER GOING TO DO HIS DADDY IS DEAD?
. . .
Buddy's best friend called Alexis that Wednesday morning at 2am our time. Through his tears he told Alexis that he had never seen so many grown men cry for so much for so long. And too, that the soldier that Buddy had rendered aid to had survived. Alexis said that she felt a bit better knowing that although Buddy had lost his life he at least was able to save another's...perhaps another little boys daddy.
The 1st of the 180th of the Oklahoma National Guard took it very hard, as 'Doc' Hughie was their first loss in 50 years:
We had Sgt Hughie’s memorial service on Saturday the 24th. I think that was one of the toughest things I’ve sat through since I lost one of my close friends in High School. Like I said in my other blog I didn’t know Sgt Hughie as well as his friends in his Company but I had met him and had a few conversations with him. But I took it hard; all I could think about was his wife and son. How they will never see him again and how Cooper will grow up only knowing his father as a hero and not ever remembering who he was as a Dad. I thought about Buddy’s mom and what she must be going through losing her son. I grew up a big Mommas boy and I know my mom would be devastated if she lost me. I feel so bad for his family, I feel bad for every family who has lost a soldier, but Sgt. Hughie was one of our guys an Oklahoma boy who was trying to do everything he could to save a fallen Afghan soldier and in the process he lost his life trying to save someone else’s. Losing Sgt. Hughie this way is a little more difficult than a car wreck or some accident. We never want to stand there and see his boots resting under his dog tags that are draped over a rifle that will never be used by that soldier again.
The Oklahoma House and Senate passed an Engrossed Concurrent Resolution which says so much about Buddy - and about the kind of America he grew up in.
WHEREAS, Buddy James Hughie was born on October 23, 1981, in Carlsbad, New Mexico. He and his sister were adopted by their grandparents and grew up in Poteau, Oklahoma. A 2000 graduate of Poteau High School, he was in the show choir and band. Buddy was a piano player and was church pianist at the Poteau Valley Baptist Church. Buddy enjoyed being in community plays and being active in his church. He was also an athlete who played baseball. He was a young man who thoroughly enjoyed life; and
WHEREAS, Buddy Hughie participated in Junior Officers Training Corps and attended ROTC summer programs before graduating from high school. He joined the military as soon as he was eligible and planned to make it his career; and
WHEREAS, after Buddy Hughie moved to South Carolina, he married Alexis Callegan of Charleston. Their son Cooper was born last October; and
WHEREAS, Sergeant Hughie’s first deployment was in 2002 with an engineer unit from South Carolina. He also deployed for 45 days to New Orleans, Louisiana, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. While there, his unit helped save the life of a woman who had been trapped in her house for almost two weeks. Having already deployed overseas once, Sergeant Hughie was not required to deploy to Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion, 180th Infantry, but his sense of service and duty prevailed and he volunteered to return to Afghanistan. The unit deployed to Afghanistan last summer as part of a multinational task force supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan by training members of the Afghan National Army; and
WHEREAS, Sergeant Hughie and members of the 180th Infantry were tasked with providing security for trainers and trainees and were conducting a joint mission with the Afghan National Army and the United States Army 10th Mountain Division in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, when they came under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Sergeant Hughie, who planned to become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), had left his protected position to provide medical aid to two wounded Afghan Army soldiers when the 25-year-old was shot and killed at approximately 10:00 a.m. Monday, February 19, 2007. This was the first time in more than a century that the 180th Infantry Regiment, headquartered in Durant, Oklahoma, had lost a soldier in combat; the second service member from Poteau, Oklahoma, to die in the war; and the fourth military death for LeFlore County; and
WHEREAS, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry described Sergeant Hughie as "a testament to the best of Oklahoma and the best of America." On Wednesday, February 21, 2007, the Oklahoma State Senate paused for a moment of silence in honor of the fallen Army National Guardsman. A memorial service for Sergeant Hughie was held Sunday afternoon, February 25th, at the Poteau High School Gymnasium, Sherman Floyd Fieldhouse.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE 1ST SESSION OF THE 51ST OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN:
THAT the Oklahoma State Legislature praises the heroism, courage, and sacrifice of Oklahoma Army National Guard Sergeant Buddy Hughie.
From PastorDan's Brothers and Sisters a week ago:
I am leaving Afghanistan today (19+ / 0-)
hopefully...
Insh' Allah, the plane will take off on time.
I, and sixteen soldiers will leave Afghanistan today, and should be back on US soil within a week.
May God bless and keep my brothers and sisters who are still here, and their families back home. May God watch over us as we come home, that we will complete our tour safe and sound to return to our loved ones. May God grant whatever peace and prosperity He can to the people of Afghanistan.
Lastly, may God grant peace to the family of my friend, SGT Buddy James "Doc" Hughie, KIA February 19, 2007.
by soonergrunt on Sun May 20, 2007 at 08:46:54 PM PDT
If you would like to do something in Buddy 'Doc' Hughie's memory, his unit is still collecting for MedCaps and the Afghan Children's Fund.