Channing Moss and the Men Who Saved Him: Where Are They Now?
Five years have passed since these men risked their lives for Channing Moss.
May 26, 2011 — -- More than five years have passed since a group of brave servicemen risked their lives to save Pvt. Channing Moss after an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade struck the Army gunner's abdomen and remained lodged there. Read on for updates on Moss and the men who kept him alive.
Channing Moss: Channing Moss was awarded a Purple Heart. Now out of the Army, he has recovered well from his wounds and the years of surgeries that followed and is attending college back home in Georgia. His daughter Yuliana is 6 now and daughter Ariana is 4.
Medevac Crew based in Salerno, Afghanistan: The members of the chopper crew who transported Moss while the unexploded RPG stuck out of his body – Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jorge Correa, MEDEVAC pilot; Sgt. John Collier, flight medic; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jeremy Smith, co-pilot, and SSG Christian Roberts, crew chief -- were awarded the Air Medal for their heroism against an armed enemy. Correa and Smith still work together – both were deployed to Iraq after their service in Afghanistan. They are currently stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. Correa is an Army Airplane Flight Instructor. Smith is now qualified to fly fixed wing, C-12 Kingair airplanes for the Army.
Jared Angell: The medic, Jared "Doc" Angell, was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor. Angell is out of the regular Army now and serves as a police officer in Utah and a medic in the Army Reserves.
Dan Brown: Explosives expert Sgt. Dan Brown was also awarded the Bronze Star with Valor. Brown, recently promoted to Master Sergeant, is currently in Saudi Arabia as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal advisor to the Saudi military.
Billy Mariani: Lt. Billy Mariani, the officer who promised Private Moss he was going home, was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and received an honorable discharge from the Army in 2009. He is now a student at Florida State University College of Law.
Kevin Kirk: Dr. Kevin Kirk, the orthopedic surgeon who operated on Moss, received an Army Commendation Medal with Valor. Kirk, who was later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, is Chief, Orthopedic Surgery Service at Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. He is currently deployed with the 936th Forward Surgical Team in Afghanistan.
John Oh: The Army awarded the general surgeon who operated on Moss, Major John Oh, the Soldier's Medal for Heroism. Dr. Oh was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 2009. He published an account of the surgery in a military surgical textbook, "War Surgery in Afghanistan and Iraq," in 2008.
He is now the incoming Trauma Program Director at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany. The trauma center receives all U.S. and coalition casualties from combat theaters in Europe and Africa. Dr. Oh and his wife, Susan, have two children, Liam Thomas and Eva Lily.
Eric Wynn: Sgt. Eric Wynn, who was wounded when the rocket-propelled grenade came through Moss' humvee, received his Purple Heart at the same ceremony as Channing Moss.
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