Fallen but not forgotten: Sgt. Cornelius Charlton

Mr Rutherford,
I am Kelly Keck's oldest brother. THANK YOU for the beautiful tribute to my brother back in November! I serve in the US Navy Hospital Corps caring for combat Marines. Our youngest brother, 2nd LT Kellogg, is currently in Afghanistan. He and Kelly served there in the same unit until Kelly was injured.

Below are e-mails and excerpt from e-mails Kelly and I have sent each other since he has been in Afghanistan, with a few thrown in from before he left and we had not a care in the world. (Since I have been in medicine longer than him, he like to pick my brain about treatment and medications.) [when you see the ... you know that I cut some stuff out that was just too personal to share]. The advice I gave him on 27 July 2008 will haunt me forever:

[I bought a Harley Davidson (a.k.a. a HOG) in February and wrote Kelly about it, and told him how hard the training was in the Marine Special Forces training.]
23 February 2008 Nice Hog! Sounds tough on the Marine course and runs
but I'm sure you can pull it off big brother cowboy!
I'm going to take a week off when Matt gets here.
Hopefully we can find out what his unit is going to do
with him. Whether he is going or staying. Hope to see
you all in May, June time frame.

Love,
Kelly

26 February 2008
Hey big little brother,
Yes, it is tough. Hope fully I will finish it unscathed. Dude, I cannot figure out how to climb the rope. How did you do it? I got a counseling sheet yesterday for not being able to complete the obstacle course in 2 minutes or less. I just cannot get up the rope.

I hope to see you in May/June timeframe also. I love you. I hope the Army is treating you well.

Love, Spencer
[Kelly was a Marine before he was a soldier, so I knew he would be able to tell me how to climb the rope on a Marine obstacle course, since every Marine does it in boot camp. I had to do it in order to complete Marine Special Operations training with the Marines.]

kelly keck to me show details Feb 26 Reply

Remember to drape the rope over one foot and stand on
it, wrap the rope around your leg and over the top of
your foot, while you pull yourself up each time. Talk
to you later,
Kelly

12 March 2008
Kelly keck to me --- Is your phone off? I have kidney stones am I'm
getting surgery Friday on left kidney.
See Ya!
Kelly

[I called Kelly and found out that he had kidney stones in both of his kidneys. He had described symptoms since 2004/5 that I knew meant that he had kidney stones, but then in only one kidney. Numerous visits to Army medical providers gave him many misdiagnosises, until he finally was seen by a civilian who worked in the Army facility he went to, and this after being bound to bed and the recliner at Mom's house through most of the Christmas holiday due to back pain from these stones. The Army finally got rid of the stones in one of his kidneys, gave him recuperation time, got them out of the other kidney, and then sent him off to war. This is after years of almost accusing him of malingering in order to get out of daily exercise sessions after each misdiagnosis said he was fine!]
13 June 2008
[Spencer]
I will see you next year!
Love, Your Brother, Kelly

4 July 2008
Brother,

I am at my FOB, Lonestar, in Afgan. I am the only medic here for around a platoon of engineers. The place isn't bad, I sleep in my own aid station. Send me your NC phone numbers, I have DSN in my aid hut and can call you any time. I need to learn all the medications fast! I will need to ask you questions time to time. Tell the family 'hello' and send some pictures on-line. Please have Lupe call Oksana often, she won't tell me how she is feeling. I miss my baby Zoya!

love Kelly P.S. Internet is free for me. Reply Forward

Elliott Keck to special_k_keck show details Jul 7 Reply

Kelly,
We went away to Fort Bragg for the 96 hour liberty. I didn't check e-mail. We went camping in cabins on base. I looked up Joel Newton. He is in the 82nd Airborne and he is a Staff Sergeant and up for E-7. He has only been in over 6 years. He has done a lot of time in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is doing real well. He loves the Army and is going to go SF soon.

We went canoeing and barbecued and saw the fireworks on Fort Bragg. It is a nice base.

Send me your address. I will send you the Special Forces Medic Hand book that I have an extra copy of. It is the best reference you could use where you are. If you have some money to spend online, order a Merck Manual (18th Edition) from Yahoo or Amazon. They will send it to your address. It is the best all around manual you can use. Both of them describe symptoms and then tell you how to treat them along with the diagnosis.

I love you. I am so proud of you. I tried to call Oksana late last night. I will try again today.

I love you!
Spencer

10 July 2008
[Dear Spencer]
I tried to call you but you were not home. I gave some antibiotics to some Aphgan soldiers yesterday, I can't remember the name but I looked it up in the medications manual. I hope I gave them the right meds for the job. I'll try to call again today at lunch if possible.
Kelly

12 July 2008
Kelly,
Give me a call at lunch again, if you can.
Love from your brother,
ESK

[Somewhere around here I actually got to talk to Kelly on the phone a few times. He read off every medication that he found in his Aid Station and asked me what they were and when to use them. We discussed treatments he had done on an Afghan tribesman and in a later call we talked about the first sutures he ever gave which he gave to one of his fellow soldiers who cut himself on concertina wire that they were placing around the FOB perimeter.]

14 July 2008
Bro,
I have been watching CNN for the past 2 days. It looks like you might have gotten into your first round of action. Did you put your medical training to good use?

I hope you are doing well. I wish you had called me Saturday. I have to eat lunch away from home this week.

I love you!
Your big brother,
Spencer

15 July 2008
[Dear Spencer]
I couldn't call Sat because I was sleeping in the back of a 5-ton out in the middle of some desolate place because our Lt. got us lost and our Armour truck was stuck about to fall of the hillside. We spent about 30 hours in one spot waiting to be ambushed. A tow truck finally got our truck out.
Up north from us is the hot spot. There is talk of moving me there. I like it here though. I have more time to practice and study.
We went to the fallen comrades procession yesterday at another base. It was sombering. I told the chaplian to play "Rock of Ages" with bag pipes for me if I should die. He said ok.
Hope everyone there is doing well. I hope to see you all if and when I take my leave. With few medics leave is not looking to promising.
If something happens here our internet and phone services are terminated for a few days, thats why you won't hear from me.
Talk again later, Kelly

15 July 2008
Kelly,
It sounds like you are living the adventure. You gotta love lieutenants, eh?

I hope you stay where you are. It sounds like a good spot to be in. Independent duty like that should make you eligible for E-6 after a successful tour out there, or during your tour.

Amazing Grace sounds REALLY good on bagpipes.

I found a copy of the Merck Manual at Barnes and Noble today for $65.00 (before sales tax). It and the Special Forces Medic Manual are what I use the most. You also need an antibiotic manual which I will try and get you a copy of next month and send it to you.

I love you!
Spencer

[July 17 Kelly called me about how to treat one of his soldiers who had been stung by a bee and had some swelling from the sting. I told him some things to do, then later e-mailed more definitive treatment guidlenes since he could call me, but I couldn't call him from my home phone.]
17 July 2008
SGT Keck,
Remove the bee stinger from the bee sting patient. Give the bee sting patient epinephrine with IV fluids if he is going into anaphylaxis. If it is just a simple allergic reaction, then give him benadryl (dyphenhydramine). You can repeat benderyl once every 20 minutes for up to 2 more times. Also place ice on the sight (after removal of the stinger) and give an NSAID (such as Motrin or Naproxen) to reduce the pain. Be ready to give O2 and intibate if his airway starts to close up. (You can give O2 no matter what in almost any situation. I would place him on an SpO2 sensor to make sure his O2 saturation is good.)

I will try and send you The Merck Manual if you cannot order one online. It tells you how to treat anything.

Call your PA if you run into a serious anaphylaxis episode after you have begun treatment. KYOA!

V/r,
HM1(FMF/IDC) Keck
IDC USN

17 July 2008
It would be nice to give O2 but I have no lines or masks. I will check on the sting again throughout the day to monitor his condition. He just had a little swelling of the eye area. It stung him on his face. He is not allergic to them. Sorry to wake you but after you told me about the medication I found it in the manual also. Up North there is a small camp where one of my medics is and he says there is a aid station run only by corpsmen. Maybe you could get there? lol. Matt doesn't seem to be enjoying his stay here, not that I am but he is taking it hard I think. Partly because of his wife, newly weds.
KK Medic

KK Medic,
Do you have O2 cylinders wihout lines or masks?

I am sorry to hear Matt is taking it hard. I hope he finds ways to adjust, and I hope as newly weds they survive it. It sounds to me like you are rising to the challenge and doing well. Medicine isn't as bad as you thought, isit? I bet you apply for the military's PA school and get a commission when you get back.

Are the Corpsmen up north with a battalion, or part of MARSOC/MSOAG? Find out if one of them is HM1 Matteson.

I graduate from the training pipeline 8 August. Most of the training will be over on 1 August. I can't wait.

I love you! Ity is great to hear from you anytime of the day or night.

Doc Keck

26 July 2008
Kelly (KK Medic),
A friend of mine told me that Barnes & Noble online will send you books to your APO address if you order from them online. Order the Merck Manual from them and I will send you an antibiotic manual from work in the next week or two after I graduate from the SOF pipeline. Use my Barnes & Noble membership number 518 3407 800 to goet a 20% discount.

I heard that a NATO member was accidently killed by US troops recently at a checkpoint in Afghanistan. Damn, war is hell. I can say that because I hav been there.

Brother, I am SO proud of you. I really believe Pappaw's legacy is living on in you. I told Yonder that the other day and he said he agrees. He said Pappaw would be proud of the medical legacy that both of us are carrying on in the military....

.....Anyway, Yonder sends his honor and regards. He said he thinks about us often, and appreciates all we are doing in the military.

We should try and have a cousins reunion when you and Matt get back from Afghanistan.

I love you and miss you. Try and call me this weekend. If we are not at home, call Lupe at 910-238-6674.

Ciao for now!
"Doc" Keck

27 July 2008
Hello Doc 1,
I ordered the manual a few days ago. It will go to Oksana first. I also ordered an anatomy book. I need to order a medical dictionary I think.
Say hello to Yonder, ...
...
I will finally get a break from going on all the missions. I asked if I needed to be one every-one since CLS was the reason we taught it. I am the only one who has been on every mission until now. The others rotate but I am only one person.
Talk again later,
Bro Kelly

27 July 2008
Kelly,
I have a few medical dictionaries. I will send you one. Didn't I give you one when I gave you the SOF Medical Handbook?

Ordering the anatomy book was a very good idea. Which one did you order?

How often are the guys going on missions? I know you taught CLS, but if the whole platoon or a whole squad goes out, they do need a medic. CLS is for the care under fire phase of TCCC. They need medical care ASAP after an injury if you want their survival rate to be high.

I hope you get another medic out there with you, and I hope that medic is competent and dedicated to casualty care like you are. I really think this is going to make your career. It doesn't hurt to have help doing it. It would also look real bad if a whole squad or platton wentout, got into an ambush, and their survival rate was low because they had to rely on CLS because they didn't have a medic with them. Remeber Mogadishu, Somalia, Blackhawk Down. Think about what would have happened if they hadn't had a medic when their 1 hour mission turned into 24 hours of combat with casualties. You wouldn't want to have to explain how they were supposed to rely on CLS while they patrolled / fought there way back to you at the FOB.

I may be wrong, though. I don't want to piss you off, or make you get burnt out. I just really think you are in a position to do great thingss, and I would hate to see anyone have a chance to blame @!$%# on you if people died in combat (eg. "Oh, he wouldn't have died if we had had a medic with us," when maybe they really would anyway, but a 2nd LT who just led his men into an ambush would look for anybody to blame for his trooper's deaths rather than himself.)....

..... Man, I am so proud of you. Keep up the good work.

Love, "Doc" Spencer Keck

9 August 2008
Hey,
I got my books and one is an illustrated medical dictionary not the anatomy I thought. It should help.
The other night we thought our FOB was under attack. Maybe it was and we disrupted it. Apparently the enemy was in the village below us and the Afghan Army fired on them with all sorts of weapons. Our guards on the towers said they saw lights and movement several hundred yards out from us moving in, using their night vision, so they opened up with flares and machine guns and propelled grenades. It sounded like war for a few minutes. Aircraft and helo's were flying above us, of course the helo's and the artillery flares we requested came about 45 minutes later. Good thing the enemy wasn't bent on getting us. later our men mounted the trucks and went in town to talk with the Afghan Army. They said no enemy killed and none found. Today we are going to patrol ,mounted, in the town and ask questions. During any possible attacks against our FOB I and two other helpers(litter barriers) stay near my aid station and wait. It is pitch black here at night and we have no night goggles yet for us(we HHC soldiers) so we see nothing and move to every noise. That sucks! I don't want to shoot friendly or be shot by them. Other than that not much happens.
Hope to see you in Feb. or Mar.,
love, bro Kelly
Give hugs to my nephew and nieces!

13 August 2008
Kelly,
I am so glad to hear that you are OK after the attack. Was your adrenaline pumping enough to give you a huge rush? I nkow mine has before in similar circumstances.

The dictionary sounds good. I advise you to go to www.bn.com and see if you can order a good illustrated (with photos) anatomy book. Use my account number, 518 3407 800, and you can get at least a 20% discount. I will keep the dictionary I have hear and send you some other little books. What year is your Pocket Pharmacopia?

Man, I love you and miss you a lot. I look forward to our reunion in Feb or March.

Jesse is taking guitar lessons once a week now. I hope to help him be a big country star. I am going to use my retirement check for him and me to live off of i Nashville until he strikes it big and rich.
Are they going to get you some night vision goggles soon? I hope so.

I am glad you wrote. Lupe and I were talking about you and Matt and wondering when you would write and if you were OK.

Ciao for now!
Spencer

19 August 2008
Kelly,
CNN had reports that over the weekend coalition troops in Southern Afghanistan were involved in 3 days of fighting with 30 insurgents dead and 2 coalition troops dead. Were you involved?

Let me know that you are safe.
Spence

26 August 2008
Kelly,
I got assigned my MSOAG Team today. I can't wait to deploy with them.

I talked to Oksana the other day and she said you want to come here with Zoya and her so you all can visit with us when you get your twoo week trip to the US. She is looking up Hyatt Resorts here like you told her to, and she found some only 45 minutes from us that are in a WONDERFUL location on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, not far from where we spent summer that one year in the '80s. I told her that you should fly into Cherry Point MCAS, NC, since it is very close to the town that I told her she should get the Hyatt in. This way she could fly over here with Zoya, we could pick her up at the airport, and the next day we could all meet you at the airport when you come in. If you fly into a commercial airport then you should come in to Jacksonville, Wilmington, or Raleigh. We could all have an exact 14 days with you this way and you wouldn't waste any time traveling o and from TX. And as Oksan said, it will be cheaper for her to just fly her and Zoya here and back from TX.

I recommend that she go to Beaufort, NC or Atlantic Beach, NC. Beaufort has been around since 1709 and is a very awesome old seafaring town. Blackbeard the Pirate's house is here and his ship, the Queen Ann's Revenge, was recently found off the coast of Beaufort. I took Lupe there on the Harley for our wedding anniversary, and we had one of the best times of our life. It is SO beautiful and peaceful. It reminds me of everything I love about the South, and it has an ocean view. It will be the best time for R&R for a war hero.

I look forward to seeing you. By the way, come in FEBRUARY.

Love, Spencer

4 September 2008
Hey Spence,
Two days ago I was introduced into combat by an enemy ambush on our mounted patrol. No one was injured. RPG's and large and small arms fire were everywhere. I was in the last vehicle of four, a Hummer, and I heard the bullets whizzing overhead just missing my gunner. Several explosions went off and afterwards we saw that it was RPG's. They hit our armoured MRATS and did little damage. Good thing the enemy didn't shoot them at my Hummer! We got out and some went on patrol while I pulled security around our vehicles. At first my driver, SPC, would not let me get out, he told me later he did not want me to get hit. We all had to write our sworn statements about the action. I guess I may get a combat action badge. All I know is I hope that is all I have to experience. And I know mother's prayers are at work.
Other than that all is good, I'm waiting at another base for our trucks to get repaired. When I get back to my base I'll try to call.
Say hello to the family!
Love, Kelly

5 September 2008
Kelly!
Man, I am glad to hear that my dear brother made it through his first combat engagement unscathed. It didn't make you want to join the Green Berets and become part of Delta?

So, Mom's prayers (and Wendy's) are working for you? What does this mean for those who get shot? Their family's prayers weren't good enough? I hope not.

I went to West Liberty for part of the long weekend (Labor Day). I wanted to see Wendy and see if I could talk to her judge before she goes to court this month concerning the sale of her drugs that she and her husband made. (She also has court dates for other crazy issues, but I guess you know all about them.) I didn't get to talk to the judge, but I did talk to Wendy a lot about needing to divorce that @!$%# she calls a husband. I rode her around a lot on the Harley, which she loved, when she wasn't hollering out every curve and shouting for me to slow down and watch for deer. We went to visit Ernest and Lucille in Sandy Hook. Their daughter, son-in-law, and grand-daughter were there (the grandkid just graduated MSU and is waiting on her MCAT scores to see if she will get into med school). It was a great visit in Elliott County. That family loves to talk politics, and they are serious Democrats. They were real proud of your run for Morehead City Council. They saw your signs around town.

Wendy and I rode my hog into Morehead from Sandy Hook as the sun went down. Oh, man, remember how beautiful the sun is as it goes down over the mountain ridges in Elliott County/ We took 32 for 22 miles of beautiful amber and golden kissed views of PARADISE! (Those hills still pull at me, though West Liberty doesn't have the draw it used to before the family land was sold and blown away to make a road that destroyed our beautiful hiking, hunting, and play grounds.) We ate dinner with Dad at Ponderosa Steak House. It was good to catch up with Dad.

Man the drive to Kentucky on a motorcycle is almost as thrilling as your first combat action patrol. The views in the Blueridge Mountains are gorgeous, and the mountains curves get your adrenaline pumping as you take them at 70-80 mph, hoping that you are good enough to do it right. Yeeeee-haaaaaww! I am a hill-billy biker, bro!

Wendy keeps you and Matt in her constant prayers and Bible studies. She is going to vote for Obama because she wants the war in Iraq to end, and she believes Obama cares for the poor. She says Mom hates him and won't vote for him because he supports gays. (Great, Mom. Keep the guys in office who will send your son into Iraq, but will persecute the gays. There is what, 1 left in West Liberty?)

Mom was in Georgetown visiting Bobby, so she didn't even know I came until she got home. Sh doesn't leave a number with Wendy to call her at. Bobby doesn't like phones, so I don't even know if he has one now. I heard he had it disconnected.

Hey, plan on coming to visit me in February if you can. I might be gone in March, sometime.

I love you, and can't wait to see you and your fam in February (or March, God willing).

If you haven't heard, Tropical Storm Hannah is bearing down on us right now, and Hurricane Ike is right behind it, and another is behind Ike. The base let everyone off of work today except for essential personnel. The county schools were out all day, and the DOD/base schools only went for half a day. It already is sending us tornadoes. We hope Hannah doesn't hit hurricane force by the time it lands here. It is supposed to reach us in force by 0400 tomorrow, and be gone by the afternoon. I sure hope it is gone by then, because I have 4 tickets to see ZZ Top, Brooks & Dunn, and Rodney Atkins in concert tomorrow night.

Hey, I bought a cheap smoker at the MCExchange last week and introduced Lupe to smoked meats. I smoked a beef roast first, which was SO good. Then I did a chicken, which was tasty, but it was even better a couple of days later when Lupe made home made tacos (even the corn tortillas were made by her). Wow, I thought they were as good as the stuff we used to have in Austin. Wednesday she flew to San Diego to pick up her infant grandson and her mother. I smoked a beef brisket which she thought was great. I look forward to perfecting my technique, and by the time you are here we will think we are in TX when we eat my BBQ together.

Love from your big brother,
Spence

12 September 2008
Hey there,
The niper line has been down for several days now. Today its ia back up. I can't email while this is in effect. I have not stayed but one night on my FOB for 12 days now. These other FOBs are not as enjoyable.
Tell mother I said I love her, I'm not able to call her yet.
Matt is coming down tomorrow to visit me for 4 days. That should be fun if I am not out on missions.
Yes, I talked with Oxana about NC and I think we will do this but I may not be coming in Feb/Mar. It may be Jan. We'll see.
Love to your family.
Your Bro Kelly

12 September 2008
Kelly,
It is so good to hear from you!
My grandson and mother-in-law, Maria, are here. I just walked back in the door after spending a wonderful 4 hours eating seafood in a restaurant on the Crystal Coast (part of the Outer Banks), sightseeing, and visiting our wonderful aquarium (all of which are next to where you will be staying.

I hope you do come in January. I will still be in the country, and hopefully I will be free. Regardless, it will be a good time to be here. The weather is almost always agreeable.

I love you. Maria says hello. She has good things to say about you. Jesse is glad to hear that you are OK.

Love,
Spencer

[Kelly was severely wounded the very next day. What I had feared the most, but thought wouldn't happen, did. Kelly and I had a tacit deal growing up that I would take every beating I could from Peter Kellogg, and I would shield him from Peter's abuse as much as possible. When Peter dreamed up offenses to blame and beat us for, I would say that I did whatever he accused Kelly and I of, and often I could take the beating and spare Kelly from Peter's damage, or at least get set up to get Petter so tired from beating that Kelly would hopefully get a lesser one, though that wasn't much of a relief. When Kelly could, he would do the same for me. With this came Kelly's unquestioning belief in me, and me in him. No one could break our fidelity. Though we never told Matthew and Wendy, we always did the same for them. We spared Matthew from many beatings, which helped him until we grew up and went our way. How could I have ever guessed that life would reward Kelly with such brutality, after the childhood of bruises, blood, and tears we suffered under a paternal evil that seems at times like we only left it yesterday? I should have been the one to be there to shield him from it.]

John,

I loved your article on Ensign Robert Tills. He was my grandfather's cousin. One of the last coversations I had with my grandmother was about the USS Tills. Do you know how they ever found or identified him after all this time?

Thanks

William Tills

I worked with Warren Orr in Da Nang and in fact shared a room together.
Warren. He volunteered for this mission to insure the civilians would get out OK. Do not know how many were on board, but the c130 was packed to capacity. We heard there was intense enemy fire all during the mission. The plane was shot our of the air. I only knew him for about four months before that day but it was a pleasure to have know him for that short of a time.

1st Lt. Kloss
5th Special Forces
Da Nang, Vietman 1967-1968

I am a former Army Officer who was a combat vet in Vietnam. I volunteered to go on this was a Army Reserve Officer but am too old and was discharged. I am not in favor of the basis of the war but support the country.

The issue with soldier fatigue and burnout was noted in detail in North Africa during World War II. After 90 days on the line, combat troops were in seriously bad condition resulting in a very low level of performance. After 180 days, the troops were in such a state that they capability was near non functional. One must wonder why the military forgets past history as far back as World War II. To be certain they did not apply lessons learned from World War II, the Korean War, or Vietnam. Examples were unescorted convoys.

It appears that the Pentagon is full of what we used to refer as ticket punchers. These were officers who went to all of the right schools and got promoted. However as smart combat leaders, they were and now are seriously lacking. You can give our solders and marines the right equipment but to go along with that they need the best combat leaders at all levels to succeed with their missions and return home in one piece.

Hello Mr. Rutherford:

I just wanted to thank you for the article on Boris and Mama, canines from Iraq that were adopted by a soldier who befriended both, but passed away.

We are dog people, have done rescue and it brings us joy to read an article, even if a few, of four-legged victims of this war with happy endings. I came across another article (I believe from March 08) of another soldier who brought a canine, named Nubs, to the U.S. It takes a loving heart and compassion for someone to pursue this and I admire and thank the people who got involved.

The Iraq war has taken away so many lives, humans and stray dogs who were once somebody's pet.

Hope to read more happy stories such as these. Peace.