TO SAVE HIS COMRADES, SGT. MAES CUT OFF HIS OWN LEG

Sgt. Ezra Maes took part in Operation Atlantic Resolve in Slovakia in 2018, serving as a loader on a US Army A1A2 Abrams. The 65-ton main battle tank is comparable to the German Leopard 2 and is known for its armor and firepower.

After 2 days in the field, the crew finally got a chance to rest at around 4 a.m., and Maes and 2 of his comrades bedded down inside the tank. A short time later the soldiers were jolted awake by irregular movement. The NCO shouted to the driver to stop, but the driver replied that he had nothing to do with it. The parking brake had failed. The crew hit the emergency brake at once, but a hydraulic leak meant that it did not respond either.

By now the tank was racing down a mountainside at around 100 km/h. The A1A2 Abrams kept slamming into trees, slowing down and then picking up speed again. “We realized there was nothing left we could do, so we just held on,” Maes said later.

After several hard bumps the crew hit an embankment at full speed, flew through the air and slammed into the ground. Maes was thrown across the tank and his leg caught in the drive gear of the turret. The young soldier assumed his leg was broken at worst and checked on the other crew members to find out how badly they were hurt. The driver was pinned as well with a broken back, and the gunner was bleeding heavily from the thigh. Maes knew he had to get a tourniquet on his comrade as fast as possible to keep him from bleeding out. But he was still trapped himself. So he tore himself away from the turret with everything he had, severing his own injured leg in the process. Then he treated the others and called for help on his cell phone, because the radio had gone down as well. All of the soldiers survived.

For his selfless actions, Maes was named Soldier of the Year 2021.

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