Mt. Fuji Rescue Earns Rochester Marine A Commendation

ROCHESTER, MI — A Rochester native stationed with the Marine Corps in Okinawa, Japan, and four of his buddies had been a little slower, or a little faster, as they hiked on Mount Fuji over the Fourth of July weekend, they might never have heard a desperate call for help. And if they hadn't heard it, the cry might have been silenced forever.

But Cpl. Christopher Ehms and the others were in the right place, at exactly the right time, and now they're being honored by the Marine Corps for the “uncommon valor” that is a common virtue among Marines.

The Marines quickly found father and daughter Yoshihiro and Moe Oda in “extreme distress,” according to a Marine Corp news release. The woman was found lying on the ground with a very high fever and shaking. Her father told the Marines he didn’t have a vehicle to get his daughter the medical attention she needed.

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That’s when Ehms and the other Marines sprung into action. They created a makeshift stretcher using their hiking sticks and t-shirts.

“For us, it was second nature,” said Ehms, a ground radio and microminiature repairman with Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3d Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force. “Immediately we [thought], ‘She needs to get down; let’s get her down.’ We were so calm during the situation.”

Ehms ran ahead of to get medical assistance as they transferred Moe Oda to their makeshift stretcher, the release said. The Marines moved down the rocky terrain of Mount Fuji as quickly and safely as possible, eventually reaching medical personnel. The woman had passed out during the trek.

Several days after the harrowing trek down the mountain, Ehms and Moe Oda’s other rescuers found out via Facebook that she was going to be all right. The message came from a bystander who assisted the woman after the Marines brought her down from the mountain.

Oda passed along her thanks to the Marines for their kindness and bravery.

“We were all really worried about her,” Cpl. Otto Thiele, a micro-miniature repairman with CLR 35, said in the release. “It was pretty touching to get that message.”

For their efforts, each of the Marines was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal on July 11.

Photo By: Lance Cpl. Andrew Neumann / U.S. Marine Cpls. Otto Thiele (center left), Eric Goodman (center), and Christopher Ehms (far right) and Lance Cpls. Antonio Martinez (far left) and Avelardo Guevera Osuna (center right).