IRAQ – A US Central Command spokesman has highlighted the quick thinking and selflessness of a US Navy sailor this week. Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Mick O’Connor narrowly averted tragedy after a small Marine element sustained a casualty during an ambush by ISIS fighters on the outskirts of Erbil, the spokesman said. O’Connor sprang into action, “heroically extracting” a pack of Skittles from the carnage.

O'Connor discovered the chewy, colorful, candied delights in Pfc. Neil Burton’s Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) while performing lifesaving measures on the Marine.

“Burton had taken one to the leg, so I applied a stop-gap with my knee and opened up his IFAK to grab a tourniquet,” said O’Connor. “There was blood everywhere, but I’d recognize the sanguine red of a Skittles bag anywhere.”