May 14, 2023 will mark 10 years since Army Sergeant Adam Hartswick lost his legs, and four of his brothers in arms, on a minefield in Afghanistan.
Ferguson Township, where Hartswick’s family members have resided for generations, will recognize this significant anniversary the following day with an official proclamation at its Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday, “proclaiming May 14 as a day of commemoration of service, reflection, remembrance and response to the bravery, service and sacrifice of Adam Hartswick and his family.”
As he reflects on his service, Hartswick quotes Ernest Hemingway from For Whom the Bell Tolls: “‘When you go to war as a boy, you have a great illusion of immortality. Other people get killed, not you. Then when you are badly wounded for the first time, you lose that illusion, and you know it can happen to you.’”
“Hemingway summed it up perfectly,” he says.
Hartswick was still a fresh-faced teenager when he enlisted in the Army in 2010, becoming one of a long line of military men in his family to serve. His father, Sean Hartswick, served in the Army for over 30 years. His maternal grandfather stormed the beach at Normandy during World War II, at the same time his paternal grandfather was fighting in the South Pacific.
As his great-grandfather had done during World War I, Hartswick served as a combat medic. It was in his capacity as a senior medic that he found himself rushing toward danger on May 14, 2013, to rescue and render aid to members of his company whom he knew had been injured or killed by improvised explosive devices.
Hartswick was calmed by his friend and mentor, Sergeant First Class Jeffrey Baker, as he prepared to retrieve the bodies of fallen soldiers. While Baker, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, worked to clear a safe path to get to the fallen, a blast knocked Hartswick off his feet. He dusted himself off and rushed forward to rescue another EOD tech before returning to look for Baker, whom he did not know had been killed by the explosion. That’s when another IED blew up, taking off Hartswick’s legs and a finger, shattering his thumb and breaking his hip, among other injuries.
Hartswick remained alert and began applying a tourniquet to himself before he was evacuated by a medevac helicopter. He would spend the next two years recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, his parents taking turns at his bedside.
Hartswick was awarded a Purple Heart and an Army Commendation Medal with Valor, which reads, in part, “Sergeant Hartswick knowingly risked his life multiple times to rescue and provide first aid to his fallen comrades. His excellent performance, professionalism and untiring dedication to duty reflect great credit upon him, 3rd Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, Task Force Ready First, Regional Command South and the United States Army.”
The idea to formally honor the anniversary formulated when Hartswick’s mother, Morgen Hummel, was volunteering during a ClearWater Conservancy Cleanup Day alongside Ferguson Township Supervisor Laura Dininni. The two got to talking, and Hummel mentioned the upcoming 10-year anniversary.
“We began wondering aloud if it might be possible to publicly recognize this important date,” Dininni says.
Hummel says she felt it was meaningful to use the date as an opportunity to remember the bravery and heroic actions of her son as well as those who lost their lives.
“I want to quote what Abraham Lincoln said at Gettysburg, ‘The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here,’” she says. “I’m so happy that my township is acknowledging this…. Adam is a fine human being worthy of a Proclamation Day, if ever there was one.”
Still, she says, this is an occasion prompting conflicting emotions for Hummel, especially as it falls on Mother’s Day this year.
“I am immensely proud of my son. But my heart goes out to the four other mothers of the four fallen that day, who don’t enjoy this luxury of time that I do with my son,” she says.
Adam has dealt with those kinds of mixed emotions for years. He admittedly struggles with survivor’s guilt, and says he has found it hard to accept the “hero” label. He says he has learned to graciously accept the accolades after a brigade commander once told him it wasn’t fair to deny people the chance to recognize him as a hero, but it remains crucial to him that his four brothers in arms continue to be recognized as such, too. Now, when he accepts honors such as the Ferguson Township proclamation, he says he does so on their behalf.
“To me, my heroes are the men who died that day; they are the ones that earned that title of hero. It is important for me to continue to carry their memories and their stories, and I’m hoping that through accepting this recognition from the township, they are recognized as well,” Hartswick says. “I’m always hesitant, but the reason I need to accept this is so I can enhance my platform to continue to share the story of their lives and their heroism.”
Their names are tattooed on his forearm: Baker, a father of three whom Hartswick describes as “one of the greatest leaders I’ve ever known;” Specialist Mitchell Daehling, “maybe the most athletic person in the entire company;” Specialist William Gilbert, whose daughter was born one week after he was killed, and who had been “so excited to become a dad;” and Specialist Cody Towse, Hartswick’s junior medic. “Everyone called him the ‘Candy Doc,’ because he would pass out candy to all the little kids.”
Hartswick has been sharing their stories all over the country as a motivational speaker and as an instructor to both military personnel and civilians about tactical combat casualty care through Techline Technologies. As an instructor, he is following a cause he is passionate about, which is teaching people how to stop bleeding.
“We’re all taught CPR, but statistics show that it is rarely needed. Yet, bleeding happens every day, and not many people know how to treat it,” he explains.
In addition to the thousands of people he has instructed, millions have seen video footage of his evacuation from the battlefield, which was featured on the National Geographic documentary series, “My Fighting Season,” produced by Ricky Schroder. Hartswick plays this video at every class he teaches, not only because it shows a medevac team in action and the way they treated his wounds, but also, he says, “It is cathartic for me to watch it.”
His wife, Sara, doesn’t find it quite so cathartic, he jokes. The two started dating years ago after meeting online. They have been married since 2020.
“She has been my best friend and a constant source of motivation for nine years now,” he says.
The couple lives in Spring Mills in a smart home gifted to them by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Hartswick is still being treated for chronic pain through the State College VA Clinic. He says his pain has gradually been decreasing.
Adam and Sara, along with Hummel and Hartswick’s grandmother, Martha Hummel, expect to attend the May 15 Ferguson Township Board of Supervisors meeting, where the Proclamation will be formally read. State Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, whose office has supported the family by collecting and sending them laminated copies of media coverage for the past 10 years, will be in attendance as well.
“We would like to thank the community for their support,” Hummel says. “We also want to remind the world that Adam’s is just one face out of many. This is not just about Adam, it’s about everyone who has sacrificed for the military.”
The Board of Supervisors meeting can be seen live locally at 7 p.m. Monday on C-NET Centre County channel 7 and streaming on C-NET’s YouTube channel. It will be replayed on television at 9 a.m. on Thursday, 6 a.m. on Friday and 12 a.m. on Saturday. It can also be viewed on the C-NET’s YouTube channel anytime and will be available after the meeting at cnet1.org.
