Horsch looks back over military career

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- The U. S. military offered Cristal Horsch the Purple Heart. She declined.

Before getting injured, she always wondered why veterans, when offered the medal, turned it down.

The decision, much like whether to serve in the military, was voluntary.

"Now I know why," Horsch said. "One soldier I knew lost his arm clear up to his shoulder. How could I wear that Purple Heart knowing that it's the same Purple Heart that he's wearing."

She talks to other veterans, many of whom have been wounded, all the time. It's part of her job as a physician's assistant with Mercy Health Center in Fort Scott. She cares for veterans like herself who have been injured in combat.

Although she turned down the Purple Heart, she accepted a certificate for being this month's Kansas Elks Association's Veteran of the Month, on Thursday at the Elk's Lodge No. 579 in Fort Scott.

Her military career began in 1993, when she enlisted in the Army National Guard. She trained as a field surgeon that attended to the wounded in battle. A short time later, her unit was deployed to Bosnia.

After Bosnia, she continued to serve with the National Guard until the United States decided to take out the Taliban in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. She was there for 1 1/2 years, specializing in civil affairs and psychological operations. Her regiment, while in Afghanistan, moved by way of convoys.

They were headed to a mission when insurgents ambushed the convoy.

There was "a lot of shooting, a lot of confusion," then-Capt. Horsch, who is now a major, recalled. "Total and absolute chaos."

Confusion surrounded the convoy as insurgents continually pelted the troops with gunfire and explosive devices.

"I went to where I heard people screaming," she said. "You can tell the difference between a fearful scream and a scream from someone who's hurt. You try to find it."

Suddenly, a fellow soldier grabbed the back of her uniform and took her to an injured solider. While treating him, an explosive device filled with shrapnel detonated nearby. Horsch felt the stinging sand in her face.

"The sand from the explosion was like fire hitting my face," she said. "At first, I didn't even feel the metal shrapnel. But then I felt something warm dripping down my back."

The sensation was from the pieces of shrapnel that embedded into her body. The metal pieces had stabbed her back and arm. The explosion was close enough that it knocked Horsch off her feet. She stayed conscious and was taken to a medical facility and treated for the injuries. Her leg was badly injured, as well.

Horsch, 53, calls the injuries "superficial." She downplays the injuries, which have fully healed but sometimes cause her pain. She said her time in the Army was a privilege and she is proud of her service.

"I consider myself extremely blessed," Horsch said. "I wonder everyday why so many young people died around me and I lived. And they're still dying."

After Bosnia, Horsch didn't have to go back. However, like many soldiers, she wanted to go back and serve again. Horsch can go back if she wants to do so.

After three long years overseas, she really wants to spend time with her family.

"It's time for me to be with my family," Horsch said.