Bleeding pride and purple

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Brittain Crolley
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE --  An Afghan street named Route Red was designated black because it had not been traveled in more than a year. The designation was apt, as it was lined with explosion craters and broken down tanks from years past. The explosive ordnance disposal team responsible for the area drove the route through an adjacent field, trying their best to avoid the road.

Eventually, the field came to a choke point, leaving a bridge on the road as their only means of reaching their destination. The team attempted to navigate the bridge, but before they could cross, an explosion rattled the vehicle, injuring members of the team.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Justin Beasley, 4th Civil Engineer Squadron EOD technician, was one of the passengers injured during the explosion, receiving head wounds and hearing loss that he still suffers from a year later.

Beasley was presented with the Purple Heart medal for the injuries he sustained in combat, Nov. 8, 2013.

According to Beasley, the vehicle ran over a pressure plate, triggering an IED, which blew the right-front tire hundreds of yards across the field, disabling the vehicle.

"At first, I thought we got hit by a rocket-propelled grenade," Beasley explained. "When we realized we hit an IED, we got out to make sure everyone was okay."

For about the next 20 minutes, the team engaged in a firefight with hostiles who heard the blast and launched a small-arms attack while the team was a sitting target.

After disabling the threat, the team was finally able to restore the vehicle's communication system and call for help to the forward operating base they were assigned to. When help arrived, Beasley and the others were examined and transported back to their base.

En route, Beasley was asked to complete a cognitive function test to test for any kind of internal head injuries. When asked to list the months of the year, he mistakenly named certain holidays as the months, confusing Halloween with October, and Christmas with December.

Needing to score a 25 or higher to be medically cleared, Beasley failed the test by more than five points.

The doctor's concerns grew when he arrived at base and failed yet another cognitive test.
"They told me I suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI)," Beasley said. "My adrenaline was so pumped up from the explosion, I didn't even know anything was wrong."

When he awoke the next morning, the adrenaline high was gone. He said he had a strong headache and a loud ringing in his ears. For the next three days, Beasley was treated for his symptoms, spending most of his time in a dark room with nothing to keep his brain from becoming stimulated. On top of the TBI, he also suffered hearing loss, forcing him to wear a hearing aid.

"It was rough being down for three days," Beasley explained. "You get used to your area of responsibility and you're the team in charge of that area. We know all the villages and have rapport with them, so we know what to expect. You don't want to put that burden on another team because they're not used to that area."

Beasley finished out the final months of his deployment before returning to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.

Beasley was presented the medal by Col. Jeannie Leavitt, 4th Fighter Wing commander, during a ceremony honoring the efforts of him and his team. Members of the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart organization, close family members, his EOD family and hundreds of fellow Airmen were in attendance.

"Having been in a long time, I know what he went through over there," said retired Lt. Col. Herman McLawhorn, Beasley's grandfather and Korean War veteran. "He's always given everything he has, no matter what he's gotten into. Whatever he goes at, he puts his whole mind and soul into it. We couldn't be more proud of him."

Since his experience, Beasley said he has a different outlook on life and cherishes each day a little more than before. He wants his story to pass along a different message than just what happened to him.

"There are still people out there who are deployed and in harm's way, fighting for our freedoms," Beasley emphasized. "We can't ever forget that."