Promotion ceremony honors family's service, sacrifice

Life certainly wasn’t supposed to be like this.

The day Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Anthony “Doc” Thompson shipped out for his second trip to Iraq, his wife Ivonne watched him board a bus dressed in his cammies.

Almost three months later, the couple was reunited — but the circumstances couldn’t have been much worse.

Thompson and seven of his Marines had been standing guard on Bridge 286 Northwest of Fallujah, Iraq, April 20, 2007 when a suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device detonated below them.

The blast left Thompson with a severe Traumatic Brain Injury, among several other injuries.

After a weeklong stay at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and 11 weeks in Bethesda, Md., Thompson arrived at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital.

His doctor, Steven Scott, D.O., said Thompson would have died in any previous war. Instead, he’s making steady, albeit slow, progress.

“A year ago, he was completely different than today," Scott said. "What he'll be a year from now will be very different, too.”

When the question of promotion came up, Navy Cdr. Mike Hartford, military liaison at JAHVH, discussed it with his colleagues. Typically, sailors eligible for promotion must pass an advancement exam to ensure they have the mental prowess needed to lead.

In this case, Navy Capt. Oakley Watkins III, commanding officer of the Navy Safe Harbor program, said Thompson’s past records and peer reviews were studied.

In the end, Watkins said Thompson’s glowing reports showed what an outstanding sailor, corpsman and leader he was. That left one option: to celebrate his accomplishments, both before and after his injuries, with a first-class promotion ceremony.

“He truly deserves this promotion,” Watkins said.

During the Aug. 4 event at JAHVH, Watkins not only acknowledged Thompson’s service, but Ivonne’s too.

She was 20 weeks pregnant with their son, A.J., when Thompson was wounded. A.J. was born five months later in Tampa on Sept. 12, 2007.

Watkins said it is Ivonne’s strength and dedication that keeps Anthony on his path to recovery.

Scott echoed similar statements, saying Thompson went from not responding at all, to responding to his family and to A.J., who likes to sit on Thompson’s lap and pat his face.

The ceremony was marked with laughter and tears — a lot of tears. The journey has been one of ups and downs, Ivonne said.

She said she became very emotional as she ironed her husband’s uniform the night before the ceremony, and again when she got him dressed.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen him in cammies since the deployment,” she said.

Another heart-felt moment came when HM2 Andrew Dye was recognized for his efforts in saving Thompson’s life after he was pulled from the rubble of the overpass.

The humble corpsman did his best to keep the attention on the guest of honor, who has a long history of being known for putting everyone else before himself.

“It's good to finally see him get the recognition he deserves,” Dye said. “I've known all along that he should, but I’m glad that everyone else thinks that too.”

— Kamryn Jaroszewski