Always faithful
Mike Marchand
Undistinguished Alumnus
The moments of greatest faith often come in the deepest despair. Such is surely the case for First Lieutenant Dustin Ferrell, a 2000 Notre Dame graduate who was injured in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
A March 25 article in the Washington Post told the story of troops who suffered injuries in Iraq and were flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. One of them in particular, a member of the United States Marine Corps, had facial injuries and was on a ventilator, but still communicated to an Army chaplain that he wished to pray.
The March 27 Observer said that marine might or might not have been Dustin. But I believe it is, because that's the type of person he is.
I believe that despite the fact that I've never actually met Dustin face-to-face. Deborah Sederberg, Dustin's mother-in-law and a reporter for the Michigan City News-Dispatch, wrote that he is "bright and funny and gentle." She, of course, knows Dustin better than I, but I believe that. I surmised those qualities from the many Inside Columns he wrote for The Observer while he was a student. Well, actually, only the first two qualities; "gentle" is absolutely not the word to describe his compositions, which had titles like "Bombs away" and hit with all the force and accuracy of a bullet from a sniper rifle.
But I also learned his personality from the many e-mails we exchanged. While a majority of them concerned Viewpoint columns and idiots who deserved to be insulted therein, some of them were more personal. We kicked around the idea of meeting somewhere for a few drinks, but I wasn't 21 at the time and we could never seem to get our ducks in a row. He sent me correspondence (and praise for my Viewpoint pieces) even as late as last May when he was still a second lieutenant. He said he was "doing the USMC thing" and that he "spent some time in Bahrain but I'm getting ready to head home from Japan right now." According to The Observer last week, he wound up being deployed overseas again in January.
His orders were to "float east," eventually serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to reports, he was injured when a Humvee he was riding in overturned on March 22. I make it clear, however, that it was not a "Humvee accident" since their vehicle was being chased by RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire.
This is a sticking point for me because my grandfather was injured in the Italian campaign during World War II. His motorcycle hit a land mine and went speeding into an apple cart, which nearly severed his left leg. So, while he was technically injured in a "motorcycle accident," I credit the land mine for his wound and not the apple cart. Similarly, I assign the RPGs the blame for Dustin's crash because it wasn't anything like the "accident" that happens when a Ford Explorer rolls over.
When the Humvee flipped, the impact killed the driver, but it crushed Dustin's windpipe. His life was saved by a fellow corpsman who performed a field tracheotomy, which sounds like a complicated medical surgery but is really a crude emergency measure consisting of cutting underneath the adam's apple and inserting a tube into the incision to allow air in and out. The medic who was brave and swift enough to accomplish that has the gratitude of everyone who knows Dustin.
After being evacuated to Kuwait, he was airlifted to Landstuhl with other injured troops, where he, I'm sure of it, was the one who communicated his wish to pray to Army chaplain Colonel David McLean. I know this because in addition to earning an accounting degree, fulfilling the service of his ROTC scholarship, being the public affairs officer for the Navy ROTC, editing their newsletter, editing Viewpoint columns, writing Inside Columns and spending time with his then-girlfriend Rachael (they were married last August in the Basilica), he somehow found the time to become Catholic while he was at Notre Dame. Father Jim Lies, his rector at Zahm Hall and the one who baptized Dustin into Catholicism, said he is "a model of all that we hope our graduates will be."
He, of course, knows Dustin better than I, but I believe that, too.
After being transferred to Bethesda Naval Hospital last week, Dustin was awarded a Purple Heart for his sacrifice and service.
I don't get as much information as those who are closer to him, so I assume he's still there. But since he is a fan of my columns, I know sometime soon he'll read this, wherever he might be: If you still want to get some drinks, Lieutenant Ferrell, they're on me.
Semper fi.
Mike Marchand '01 joins the entire Notre Dame community in prayer for Dustin's speedy recovery. Mike's e-mail address is Marchand.3@alumni.nd.edu.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, April 7, 2003
