By Dr. Ferrell Miller
The JC Breakfast Optimist Club met on December 18. members heard a presentation by Calvin McCloy, who is a retired wounded soldier, purple heart recipient and is currently a civil service employee at Fort Riley. Calvin shared that after high school graduation, he attended college to study electrical and mechanical engineering. However, he stated that he was “not mature and his grades slipped.”
While driving along the highway, he noticed a sign posted by the US Army with the statement “Be All You Can Be”. Calvin went to the local Army recruiter and the recruiter stated that he could get Calvin into the Army next week. Calvin thought “that was a little too quick”. However, he did enlist soon after to be in the infantry with beginning training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Calvin and others deployed to Iraq. On one patrol, Calvin and soldiers in his charge were ambushed by the enemy. Their vehicle ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED, which caused severe damage to the vehicle and injury to him and the soldiers. The vehicle was on fire and seven soldiers were still inside the Humvee. Sergeant McCloy went into the vehicle several times to rescue members of his team. At one point the fuel cell ruptured and spread diesel fuel over his body below his arm pits. The fuel eventually caught fire burning and scarring him over 60% of his body. Calvin put out the fire on his body and continued to rescue crew members by going into the flaming vehicle even though the enemy continued to attack.
After all of the soldiers were cleared from the vehicle, Sergeant McCloy jumped into the water in a canal to ease the pain from having been on fire. The only clothes left on him were his pants, boots, a belt and a t-shirt.
A 360 degree perimeter was established until the medics could arrive and get all of the soldiers out of the area. He was transported to a hospital for treatment of burns and was told by doctors that he would not be able to walk again. Calvin accepted the challenge and does walk. In fact, he told the Optimist Club members that he “could probably out run any of them.”
Calvin wanted to return to his soldiers, but was eventually given a Medical Board and was released from the Army after 22 years of service. He retired from the Army one day and became a Civil Service employee in HR at Fort Riley the next.
Charlotte Grelk donated and presented Calvin with a “Quilt of Valor”. The fabric was donated by friends of Mrs. Grelk. The batting and quilting was done by Lori Bond of Wakefield, Kansas.
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The December Student of the Month for the JC Breakfast Optimist Club is Alexus Messer, a senior at Junction City High School. Messer has applied to Purdue to be accepted in the Vet Medicine Program for small animals. Pictured with the Optimist Club members are Alexus ( center ) and Alexus mother ( right center ).
