Ash Carter, former defense secretary under Obama, dies at 68

[Docreed2003]

9. Kicking once more to tell a story about Sec Carter

In the summer of 2011, the fighting in Helmand Province, Afghanistan had reached perhaps the most intense of the war up to that point. At our forward surgical hospital, we were seeing severe injuries, one type of which was multiple amputees from IED blasts. We were an incredibly effective unit but we lacked the ability to give large amounts of volume (ie fluids and blood) to patients because our rapid infuser was sitting in a box back at Camp Leatherneck and we couldn't get them to send it to us because of how intense fighting was around us and also because of the logistics slog that happens frequently in the military. We explained our situation during Sec Carter's visit and within a day we had that rapid infuser. He was a quiet, intelligent man who saw a problem and fixed it...that simple act saved the lives of some of our service members, as well as Afghan citizens. For that act, I'm forever grateful.