EL native awarded Purple Heart
By HOLLY STEFANOFF (hstefanoff@reviewonline.com)Marine Corps Sgt. Stephen A. Carouthers III, an East Liverpool native, was presented with the Purple Heart on Tuesday, during a meeting of the Tri-State Detachment of the Marine Corps League at ITAMS Post 3 in Youngstown.
Glenn Buzzard, fellow Marine and two-time recipient of the Purple Heart during World War II, presented the award.
For the Carouthers family, Stephen is the fourth generation to pursue a military career.
“I played GI Joe a lot more than most kids,” he joked, “but I never actually planned on going into the military. It just sort of happened that way.”
Carouthers has been decorated with the Combat Action Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.
“My mother is definitely honored and everyone else has shown me so much support,” he said.
Carouthers has been decorated with the Purple Heart for injuries suffered in Iraq on Aug. 24, 2006, on his second tour.
Carouthers was on a mission near Ramadi in the Al-Anbar Province resupplying the first platoon with explosives during Operation Sidewinder when his truck was hit with an improvised explosive device.
He said, “The enemy must have observed us entering the base and placed an IED in the road. We managed to complete the mission but everyone in the truck was concussed and the front of it was completely destroyed. The transmission was blown almost 150 feet away.”
He was examined by medics and sent to the hospital on base where he spent one week in recovery and was back out fighting for an additional six weeks.
“I honestly thought I was OK,” he said. “I noticed I couldn’t keep my balance and stuff like that but I still didn’t want to leave. I had Marines to take care of.”
He has been enduring medical treatment through the Department of Veterans Affairs since leaving active duty for severe traumatic brain injury, as a result of which he has been suffering serious migraine headaches.
“It took a long time but you won’t hear me complaining,” he said.
Now back in the states, Carouthers’ plans to help out at the VA Hospital as much as he can and for a short time worked at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Boardman. His mother, Kimberly Hildebrand, is a nurse there.
Currently, Carouthers is a full time student at Kent State-Salem nd is pursuing a degree in radiology. He plans to eventually specialize in positron emission tomography, a division of nuclear medicine.
“Most of my family was either in the military or works in the medical field so it makes sense to do something medical now. Besides, I don’t think I would be happy in the military if I wasn’t in infantry,” Carouthers added.
Carouthers was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines regiment, 2nd Marine division for both tours in Iraq. He was an assaultman in the infantry.
Now a sergeant in the Marine Corps Individual Ready Reserves, Carouthers was on active duty from December 2002 to December 2006. He has served multiple deployments in various parts of the world, most of which he volunteered for.
“Iraq is the place you love to hate,” he said, explaining why he volunteered to go back.
“Being in Iraq really opened my eyes. I know a lot of people don’t agree with the war... I’ve seen first hand the good and the devastation,” he said.
During his first tour, documentaries were made by the History Channel and Oliver North for the work they had done.
“We got a lot of recognition around the world,” he said of the tracking down and eventual capture of Abu Ayyub Al-Masri, former leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.
Carouthers unit fought Al-Masri’s men for nearly 10 days, during which time he was wounded and easier to trace and track down by special forces.
Carouthers now lives in Boardman, but his grandmother, Bobbie Jo Hamilton, still lives in the East Liverpool area. He is a 2000 graduate of East Liverpool High School.
As a war veteran himself, Carouthers plans to provide his services at the Beirut Memorial in Poland, Ohio, as an escort on Memorial Day.
