EOD Airman returns to Hawaii with Purple Heart

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Carolyn Herrick
  • JBPH-H/Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  A U.S. Air Force explosive ordnance disposal technician assigned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, returned home Oct. 16 following a month of treatment for injuries he suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated in Afghanistan Sept. 14.

Staff Sgt. DJ Dutton, from the 647th Civil Engineer Squadron, was able to greet his wife of five years, Stacy, and his two small children at the arrival gate of Honolulu International Airport, along with Stacy's parents and some very close friends of the family. Stacy and the children hadn't been able to fly out to see him at Brooks Army Medical Center, Texas, during his month-long course of treatment.

"He's my best daddy," said his daughter Madison, who has been able to Skype and speak to her daddy since he returned to the United States, but was thrilled to see him arrive in time for her fourth birthday the next day.

"The bad guys were being sneaky," was how she understood and explained what happened to cause his injuries.

Dutton, 30, a Milton, Vt., native, was responding to a report of an IED in a small province of Afghanistan when it detonated, causing extensive soft tissue damage to the back of his left leg and arm. He was flown from there to Kandahar, Afghanistan; Landstuhl, Germany; and finally BAMC, where he received a set of skin grafts requiring eight surgeries, according to Stacy.

"I actually knew something was wrong before I got the phone call," Stacy said.

She had "that feeling," she said, and had avoided going home all day. When she got a call from him at 4 a.m., she was just relieved to hear his voice, know he had walked away from the site on his own two feet, and was on his way home.

"She was very stoic through the whole thing," said Lorie Walters, Stacy's mother, who was also at the airport to greet him. "I was amazed with how calm she was, contacting everyone she needed to contact ... very strong."

That strength and independence has come from being a military spouse for five years, Walters said.

This was Dutton's sixth combat deployment during his 11 years of military service and his fifth tour overseas since he and his wife have been together, according to Stacy. Dutton left only eight days after his son, Jackson, was born; spent a month in training; and was in Afghanistan about two months before he was injured. Two others in his group were also severely injured.

"He's lucky - very lucky," said Chief Master Sgt. Joseph May, Jr., the EOD functional manager for Pacific Air Forces.

According to May, 10 percent of Air Force EOD techs are either killed or wounded in action. Of 960 techs Air Force-wide, 17 have been killed and 96 have been wounded.

"Usually if you're that close to an IED, you're going to catch a lot," said the 28-year veteran of the career field, who himself has an Airman's Medal. "He's lucky his injuries weren't worse."

As a result of his injuries, Dutton received a Purple Heart medal.

"It's not the way I wanted him to come home," Stacy said, although she is proud of him. "Yes, he got a Purple Heart, and yes, he deserves it; but he was doing what he loves to do. He loves being an EOD tech, and that's his job."

"We're just really proud that he's made a great sacrifice over the time he's been in the military and very proud of his service to the country," said Walters. "We hope his recovery is speedy. We know it's going to be a haul, but he's got all the support he needs."