SKIP TO CONTENT

- [David] My grandad went to Texas A&M. My dad went to A&M. I was born in Texas, but my parents became missionaries and went to Thailand and I was raised there. But then, I came back and went to A&M. I was in the military for about ten years in the Infantry, then Rangers and then Special Forces. I got out to go to Seminary and while I was in Seminary, I was invited by a tribe from Burma that said, "Please come and help us." Burma is over sixty-five years of civil war, now, and they asked for help. My wife and I were married.

- [Chancellor Sharp] And the civil war is still going on.

- [David] Still going on right now. Four years ago, we were invited to Sudan. Then, after that, we were invited to come and help in Iraq and Syria because of the attacks of ISIS. Our job there was to treat people who were shot, which was every day, and then train, give basic medical training, keep people alive. We'd train everybody how to stop the bleeding, do tourniquets, transport patients.

- [Chancellor Sharp] Where is your family during all this? Is your family back in Thailand?

- [David] No, sir, they're with me. Our basic idea is, wherever there's families, our family should be there. We got bombed every day. My kids are hiding with other kids in the caves. Wow, you brought your kids. You must think we're equal. You must think we're worth the same, in God's eyes. We trust you. For my kids, coming from Sudan, my daughter was, I think, ten. She goes, "Daddy, we're not just a family, "we're a team." Even though it's been difficult, they've seen a lot of dead people, they've heard a lot of booms and bangs, it's been a great experience for them to be with other cultures. They learn a lot of things. They can all hunt, and fish, and ride horses since they were two or three years old. There are dangers, but there's great benefits for the kids. Of course, we get to be together as a family. They go with us, but I try to keep them out of direct fire. In Mosul, they'd be maybe 400 yards, or a mile, behind me and my wife and kids would help hand out bottles of water, food, blankets, whatever, and also just give comfort. It's very comforting, when you're running for your life, to not just see soldiers. To see a woman, and some kids, and hug you and they go, "whoa, the world's not gone completely crazy."

- [Chancellor Sharp] When you rescued that baby girl and brought her to safety, your wife was just a couple hundred yards away in a Humvee to pick you up afterward and take you home to dinner.

- [David] Well, my daughter was.

- [Chancellor Sharp] Your daughter was.

- [David] My daughter was in the Humvee helping comfort that little girl and then we got about a mile away, my wife was there to pick up the kid. Because this is the girl that'd been under her dead mom's hijab for two days, hiding. Everybody else dead around her. This is what we came here to do. I thought, if I get killed, my wife and kids will understand this, because it's for another kid. I really thought that I was gonna get shot. I ran out and they shot, but they missed me. I grabbed the girl and I actually fell down, sir, I thought I was shot and I don't know if bullets hit these rocks underneath me, there's rubble everywhere, I just tripped. I went right down, but I never let go of the girl. I said, this girl needs comfort. I gave her six bottles of water, one after the other. She hadn't drank in two days, sitting in the sun. She was just kind of in shock. We gave her an IV and my daughter cleaned her up, because she's covered in blood and everything. I put her in my wife's arms and she went right to sleep. That night, we went back to our little command post with Iraqi Army and the Iraqi general came in and he says, "Is this the girl you rescued today?" I said, "Yeah." He picked her up and he started to cry. He said, "My daughter, my daughter. If we cannot find your parents, I will be your father."

- [Chancellor Sharp] Where is she now?

- [David] She had her fifth birthday. She's with her aunt and her grandmother in Diyala, which is just outside of Baghdad. I've got a photo of her. She's happy looking.

- [Chancellor Sharp] Wow.

- [David] Yeah.

- [Chancellor Sharp] Well, you're a perfect example of what we produce at Texas A&M University and I thank you for being that example. You're one of the reasons Patton made the statement that the best combat officers he's ever seen are from Texas A&M University. Thank you for your service and for what you do.

- [David] Thank you, sir.