After recovering from injuries, veteran starts out on new mission
PHILADELPHIA While trapped inside a crashed Army Black Hawk helicopter during a demonstration for visiting brass nine years ago in Afghanistan, First Lt. Chris Marvin could move only one arm.
PHILADELPHIA While trapped inside a crashed Army Black Hawk helicopter during a demonstration for visiting brass nine years ago in Afghanistan, First Lt. Chris Marvin could move only one arm.
He had been in charge of radios and navigation on the Aug. 12, 2004, flight, which had been meant to show off the aircraft's maneuverability and capabilities with 15 people aboard.
The chopper, however, crashed while demonstrating rapid ascents and descents in a hilly area near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, killing a sergeant and injuring the rest - Marvin the most seriously.
It felt "like being in a dryer," Marvin said about the tumbling crash.
The central Illinois native, who had flown 40 combat missions in four months, was trapped inside the helicopter for about 20 minutes before he was hauled out.
From then, he spent four years recovering from his injuries. He had a broken arm, and all the bones in the right side of his face, from his eye socket to his jaw, were also broken. Two broken legs kept him in a wheelchair and later a walker, on crutches, and finally with a cane over 21/2 years.
Marvin's recovery - 10 major surgeries over four years and a lot of down time - led him to a new mission in life: helping veterans.
"I'm not the type of person that does well without a sense of purpose or who does well without something to do. I need to feel like there's a reason for being here, so that's what I was looking for," said Marvin, 34, who now lives with his wife and two daughters in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia.
In 2007, Marvin heard about Mission Continues, a nonprofit that helps veterans who want to do community service, and got involved.
After retiring from the Army in 2009, the former captain moved to Philadelphia to attend the Wharton School. In 2011, he got involved with Got Your 6, an offshoot of Be the Change Inc., and now serves as the organization's managing director.
"Got your 6" means "I've got your back," Marvin said. It refers to the positions on a clock. Looking at a clock head-on, the 6 is at the back.
"In the military we have certain values - we all look out for one another. I've got your 6, you've got mine. All of our communities could stand to learn from the way [the military] deals with leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving," Marvin said.
Got Your 6 works with other nonprofits, the government, and the entertainment industry to help veterans deal with jobs, education, health issues, housing, and other crucial needs. Area TV stations have been airing Got Your 6 public-service ads for months.
Marvin is fourth-generation Army and grew up in a family that stressed the importance of service. He was an altar boy and Eagle Scout, and an ROTC cadet at the University of Notre Dame, where he was a triple jumper on the track team.
After Sept. 11, 2001, the Army sent him to helicopter flight school. After 18 months, he got his wings and was stationed in Hawaii before being deployed to Afghanistan in 2004. At the time, he was a 25-year-old platoon leader overseeing 25 people and millions of dollars worth of equipment, and going out regularly on missions.
Then came the crash. The chopper's roof had collapsed so heavily that the door no longer resembled one. Two Marines had to carefully slide Marvin across the rubble of the cockpit and fish him out of the opposite side.
Marvin guided the Marines through his extraction. He believes that helped him from going into shock. "This is one of the biggest challenges of my life, and now it's time to perform. In the military, the toughest times are when you rev it up, so I was trying to maintain my composure," he said.
After the crash, he was again stationed in Hawaii, where he spent 30 to 40 hours a week on Mission Continues, Marvin said. He volunteered with the nonprofit for a year and a half, and was hired by it after he left the Army in 2009.
"Because of Chris' own service, he understood veterans of this generation. He knew how to speak to them, inspire them, and work with them," said Eric Greitens, Mission Continues' founder.
The ultimate message Got Your 6 hopes to convey is, "Veterans are public leaders and assets but unless we empower them to fill those roles, we'll miss out on a generation of leaders," Marvin said.
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