The girl’s entire family was executed by insurgents…then they turned a gun on the 2-3 year old child and shot her in the head. The girl received treatment at the US military hospital in Balad, but cries and moans often.According to nurses at the facility, Gebhardt is the only one who can calm down the girl, so he spent several nights holding her while they both sleep in a chair.
He saw the child crying in her crib one day and felt that she just needed some human contact. So he picked her up and started comforting her. He was unaware that a nurse had snapped the photo until the nurse sent it to him.
The little girl recovered and was claimed by her uncle.“I’ve had too much credit for doing too little. It’s just what anybody would have done. The photo was just a small example of acts of compassion that went on over there every day, every hour.”
“People related to the picture because they know it’s their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters, and they all would have done the same thing.”
Chief Gebhardt has a wife (Mindy) and two children back in Wichita, Kansas.
“I reflected on my own family and life and thought about how lucky I have been.”
“I pray for the best for the Iraqi children. I can’t tell the difference between their kids and our kids. The Iraqi parents have the same care and compassion for their children as any American.”
Deployments include Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq…the Balad base where the photo was taken was frequently hit by mortars earning it the nickname, “Mortaritaville”.
YET
“If I had to do it over again, I would sign up and give it another ride.”
-30 years of Service,
John Gebhardt
This article originally appeared on The Chive