Cpl David Noblit

Selinsgrove, PA

Marine Corporal David Noblit, Jr. was on his second deployment when he lost both of his legs above the knees, and suffered severe damage to his left arm in an IED blast in Sangin, Afghanistan on October 21, 2010. What had started as a normal day found Cpl. Noblit on a morning patrol. A “local” told the squad’s interpreter that insurgents had been placing IED’s in a compound nearby. Working with a team, Cpl. Noblit began clearing the compound. While completing the task, an unidentified IED was triggered when the pressure plate was stepped on, throwing Cpl. Noblit through the air; traumatically amputating both of his legs and leaving a hole in his left arm. Lifesaving measures at the scene readied Cpl. Noblit for transport as more than a dozen insurgents’ waited to ambush the group while en route to the landing zone. Following a firefight, and safely onboard the helicopter, Cpl. Noblit was MEDEVACed to Camp Leatherneck Hospital in Afghanistan. Later airlifted to Landstuhl, Germany, David used a satellite phone to call his wife Amanda while on the medical transport plane airlifting him to Bethesda National Medical Center. Now the newly renamed Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda, David continues his treatments and therapies there at this time.