When we think of heroes, we often remember the iconic image of the U.S. Marines victoriously raising the stars and stripes atop Mount Suribachi or American Soldiers storming the beaches of Normandy. While the men and women who fight for our freedoms are undoubtedly courageous, some of the bravest heroes are non-combatants.
This month Vetrepreneur wants to pay homage to one such hero. Maj. John P. Pryor devoted his life, and ultimately sacrificed it, to save others. On Christmas Day, while serving his second tour of Iraq with an Army Reserve medical unit, the trauma surgeon’s life was tragically cut short when a mortar shell exploded in his quarters in Mosul.
The 42-year-old native New Yorker and father of three spent his life trying to save others. He was certified in CPR by the age of 14 and joined the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Ambulance Corps at 17. When he turned 18, he was certified as a New York State emergency medical technician. He completed surgical training at the State University of New York at Buffalo and began working as a trauma surgeon for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 1999.
After hearing of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Pryor instantly drove to New York City to offer his expertise to treat the wounded.
"When the first tower collapsed, I knew immediately that I needed to get to the city to help," he wrote in a 2001 essay about his experience, which prompted him to join the Army Medical Reserve Corps.
Due to the high volume of gun-related violence in Philadelphia, Pryor, who was director of the trauma program, and the other surgeons in this unit were some of the best at treating gunshot wounds in the country. In fact, other trauma surgeons came there for training.
In 2006, Pryor went to Iraq for the first time as the general/trauma surgeon for the 344th Combat Support Hospital in Abu Ghraib to save lives and pass his expertise in treating gunshot victims on to other military surgeons on the front lines of the fight.
"He knew the Soldiers needed him there," said Saratoga County Emergency Services Coordinator Mike McEvoy in a recent interview with the Saratogian. McEvoy knew Pryor since he was 15 years old, when the aspiring surgeon took a course in basic emergency care at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Emergency Corps station.
"He knew they didn’t have enough trauma surgeons and that more of the Soldiers could be saved if he was there with them," McEvoy said. "John wanted to be on the front lines where he could make a difference."
In an essay published Aug. 5, 2007, in the Washington Post titled "The War in West Philadelphia," Pryor wrote about the senseless violence he witnessed in Philadelphia. "In Iraq, soldiers die for freedom, for honor, for their country and for their buddies. Here in Philadelphia, they die without honor, without purpose, for no country, for no one."
Pryor knew he was needed and volunteered for a second tour on the front lines in Iraq. On Dec. 6, he said goodbye to his wife and children and shipped out with the 1st Medical Detachment, Forward Surgical Team, out of Ft. Totten, N.Y.
Pryor was moved and inspired by the courage he witnessed from the service members he cared for in Iraq. In an essay he wrote called "A War Surgeon’s perspective on Memorial Day," Pryor described what he saw in these brave men and women after they lost a member of their unit.
"After a time of reflection, the unit gathers the equipment and prepares to go out again that night," Pryor wrote. "This is some of the raw courage that I talk about, the ability to lose a friend in battle and go right back into the fight. I love every single one of them."
Later in the same essay, Pryor described a case on the last day of his first deployment to Iraq when a young Marine was critically wounded by a roadside bomb. Despite the surgical team’s best efforts, the young man died of his injuries.
"I apologized to him for not being skillful enough to save him," he wrote. "As a trauma surgeon every death I have is painful, every one takes a little out of me. [It] rips a hole through my soul so large that it’s hard for me to continue breathing."
Pryor wrote that he was torn between his commitment to his family, his career and his desire to serve his country. His life was guided by his favorite quote from Albert Schweitzer, which hung in his office:
"Seek always to do some good, somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. Even if it’s a little thing, do something for those who need help, something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it. For remember, you don’t live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here, too."
Two colleagues, doctors C. William Schwab, chief of the division of trauma and critical care and James Mullen, interim chair, department of surgery for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, wrote a eulogy for Pryor.
"JP was a magical man, with boundless energy and goodness," they wrote. "He was a devoted son, husband, father, colleague and friend. He was an outstanding physician, gifted surgeon, teacher and mentor. At his core were many great values but his passion for service to others gave back something to each and everyone of us, everyday."
Dr. Pryor left behind his wife, Carmela, and their three children ages 4, 8, and 10. A Web site honoring the doctor has been set up at www.drjohnpryor.com.