Not born in the USA

Published on Thursday 1 September 2005 00:32

SERGEANT CHRIS TURNER is no ordinary American paratrooper. For a start, he's Scottish. And for someone who earns their living jumping out of aircraft and helicopters, he has the unusual trait of being scared of heights. As a frontline army medic - accustomed to treating gunshot wounds - he also insists he can't stand horror movies as "there's too much blood and gore, it makes me nauseous".

The 29-year-old is currently serving with the famed 82nd Airborne Division, the elite All Americans, which might be more accurately known as the All Americans plus one Raith Rovers fan from Fife.

He has already survived a traumatic year of fighting in some of the toughest parts of Iraq, where he was wounded in action and decorated for bravery. Now, just three weeks into a deployment in the Wardak region of Afghanistan, Sgt Turner could be forgiven for thinking his luck is running low: he has been ambushed by insurgents, almost blown up and wounded in a shooting.

"If I'm not careful I'll start getting a reputation as jinx," he jokes. "People keep telling me to stay away from them, or to stay in the base where it's safe. I'm inclined to think they might have a point, especially as we've got a long way to go."

Earlier this month, returning from a five-day mission in the restive Paktika province in Southern Afghanistan, the convoy Sgt Turner was riding in came under heavy attack, hit by a roadside bomb, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and machine gun fire.

"We were pretty close to the base when there was an explosion in front us. I saw the RPGs coming in and we started taking fire from both sides of the road," he says.

"I was about to open the window and return fire when rounds started hitting the door. I decided it was better to keep the window shut - the glass is bullet proof."

Despite the heavy assault, none of the American soldiers was injured, largely down to the armour on their Humvee. One Afghani insurgent was killed in the exchange, apparently shot by his own side.

Shortly after the ambush, Sgt Turner was hurt in his own friendly-fire incident. A soldier accidentally fired his weapon inside a concrete building as the Scot stood nearby. Shrapnel from the round hit him just above the eye.

"It wasn't a great few days I suppose, but it could have been worse. We all came through in one piece, and that's good enough for me."

And it's partly thanks to him: he gave life-saving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a young Airborne officer who stopped breathing during the mission after having a seizure.

Born and raised in Glenrothes - where his family still live - Chris Turner ended up as an American paratrooper more by accident than design. As a 19-year-old student at Glenrothes college, he had signed up to spend a working holiday in Rhode Island, on a camp for children with special needs. He proved so adept in his role as a counsellor and nurse's aide that he was quickly offered a full-time job, an opportunity he was happy to accept. "As a kid I hadn't any idea what I wanted to do. But I fell in love with the medical field and I decided that was for me," he recalls.

The now-divorced soldier then met his American wife and it seemed natural to settle down in the United States.

After a year working as assistant director at the camp, Turner took a job in Connecticut's emergency medical service as an ambulance technician, working in the state's two big urban centres, Hartford and New Britain. It was while working there that he treated his first gunshot victims.

"Shootings and stabbings were pretty routine, and there were busy nights when there'd be a couple of cardiac arrests, car accidents and fatalities."

Amidst the horror and mayhem, Turner found a sense of purpose. "I like being able to walk into a room where there is chaos and knowing exactly what to do, knowing exactly how to help, how to do my job.

"The more noise and confusion there is, the calmer I feel. It's strange but my hands will start working faster than my brain. It's a good feeling, having control in a situation where there is no control."

But, financially, times were tough and, with his marriage in trouble, Turner decided he'd try his hand as a medic in the armed forces. At his local army recruitment centre, they were happy to take on an experienced casualty worker - even if he wasn't a US citizen. "I was sorting out the paperwork when the recruiter asked if I wanted to go Airborne. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he said it paid an extra $150 a month, so I thought why not. That's how I ended up having to jump out of planes."

In basic training at Fort Jackson, Turner ran into problems over his unusual accent, and quickly earned the nickname Shrek after the Scottish-voiced cartoon ogre he was constantly asked to mimic. "I had to shout out marching orders and no-one understood me. It was pretty funny. I was 25 years old and the other recruits were 19. It got to the stage where they wouldn't go to sleep at night unless I said 'that'll do second platoon, that'll do.'"

After training - he got through jump school because his fear of failure and of the drill sergeant were greater than his fear of falling 800ft attached to a parachute - Turner was quickly dispatched to Iraq with the 82nd Airborne's 307th Engineers. He soon found himself in combat in some of the country's most notorious areas, Fallujah, Ramadi and Baghdad.

It was on 31 October 2004, Hallowe'en, near Fallujah, that the medic would earn his Purple Heart and Medal of Commendation after being wounded in the line of duty. The incident is still vivid in his mind: "We were out on a mission in an Iraqi taxi so we could observe what was going on discreetly. Things weren't going great and we lost communications with our security team. I heard the clack of an AK-47 firing and the next thing I knew, someone yelled 'RPG!'

"There was a bang and everything went bright white. Then it was just an incredible, soothing silence and I could hear myself breathing. I remember thinking I was dead, and that it wasn't so bad."

The unarmed, unarmoured taxi, containing three paratroopers and an Iraqi driver, was hit by two RPGs, one passing through the windscreen. "My eyes started to focus and I could smell the fumes of the car on fire," he says. Turner crawled to safety through a shattered window and began searching for his colleagues. Miraculously none had been killed. Still under enemy fire and himself wounded, the Scottish paratrooper began to treat the injured.

"Our back-up arrived and I started yelling out orders. I was barking like a crazy man, but the strange thing is everyone said they could understand me perfectly - I momentarily lost my accent." Bleeding from a cut artery and deaf from perforated eardrums, Shrek Turner continued to tend the wounded as they were evacuated back to base. After a short time recovering in hospital, he returned to frontline duty and became embroiled in several more life-and-death situations, each of which took their toll.

"When I returned to the States, I had a few adjustment problems. Someone ran over a bottle in their car and the bang made me drop to the floor and reach for my pistol. I once woke up in the night screaming. But that's pretty normal." Yet, despite the trauma, he insists he enjoyed the experience.

"You get close to people you're fighting with, you become like brothers. It's hard to explain but anyone who's been through it understands."

Although he lives in the US and returns infrequently to his birthplace, Turner retains a British passport, a pronounced Scottish accent, and a strong sense of identity.

"I've become Americanised and my home is America now, but I love Scotland. It is where I was born and raised, it's where my family live. I will always love Scotland."