Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 10/19/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Josh Visnaw United States Air Force Tech. Sgt. Mark A. DeCorte is a part of the Why We Serve speakers program, which is designed to share experiences from those who served. [Click to enlarge]

For those who have ever wondered what it's like to serve in the military or the Iraq War, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Mark A. DeCorte is someone who can help out.

DeCorte is part of a program called Why We Serve.

The group is set up to allow people speak with a member of the armed services. The group is comprised of more than 10 servicemen and women from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. The armed service members will tell his or her story and answer any questions.

"I'll tell you, for 20 minutes, my story," he said. "Why I joined and why I serve, what I did in the global war on terrorism and then open the floor for any questions you have without being filtered by news or filtered by a public affairs officer."

CMU is looking into bringing someone like DeCorte from the program to the university to speak, said Robert Ebner, director of University Events. Ebner said it would probably happen in November or January, which would give enough time to prepare and get an audience.

DeCorte said the size of the group does not matter. He's talked to a few as four people and will speak before a group of 800 in Georgia soon.

"It takes soldiers, airman, Marines, sailors and people who have actually been there and it gives them a chance to not only share their experiences and help themselves along, but also kind of helps clear up some of the fog about what's going on (in the war)," said Lt. Aaron Peters, ROTC gold bar recruiter at CMU.

DeCorte served in the Air Force for 13 years and recently returned from Afghanistan where he served in the 33rd Combat Rescue Squadron.

His job was to be the medic on a Pave Hawk helicopter, rescuing soldiers wounded on the battlefield. Two evacuation flight instructors and DeCorte developed a new system of rescuing patients, called the air ambulance. The system saved 138 lives from February to June 2006.

"We set up this brand new capability where we can go into hot landing zones, or LZ's, and recover patients who would otherwise have to wait a little bit longer," DeCorte said.

DeCorte is married to Loreta DeCorte, also a technical sergeant. The DeCorte's have four kids: Benjamin, Emilee, Mikael and Nicholas.

People can request a speaker by going to WhyWeServe.mil and filling out a request form.



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