“Jim Tucker, First Sergeant, United States Army, Retired,” he said with a voice that filled every corner of the room and silenced my mother. My brother Jason shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Jim stepped up to take the oath and looked at me for one brief second.
There was no smile in his expression but there was a sense of acknowledgment that told me I was no longer alone in this particular fight. “Did the petitioner’s daughter serve under your direct command during her final deployment?” Gwen asked while standing near the evidence table.
“She did, and she was one of the finest medics I ever had the privilege of leading into a difficult situation,” Jim answered firmly. He told the judge that I had treated civilian casualties and coalition injuries while under direct fire from enemy positions on multiple occasions.
He described the day I was wounded and how I was moving toward another fallen soldier when the blast finally hit my shoulder. “She refused to be evacuated until the other casualty was stabilized and loaded onto the helicopter,” Jim added while looking directly at my mother.