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service & sacrifice
above: Nick Robillard ’05 (second from left) with his fellow Pararescue Jumpers. inset, below: the Purple Heart, awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who has been wounded or killed while serving with the U.S. military on or after April 5, 1917.
Nick Robillard ’05 Nick Robillard ’05 is frustrated. Forget about the painstaking yet speedy recovery he is making after getting shot four times on August 19, 2011, while serving his country in Afghanistan. Robillard wants to be back in the game, with his comrades and helping the United States’ cause in his highly specialized role as a Pararescue Jumper. “My guys are still out there,” he explains. “It kills me to not be out there with them.” Robillard does not sensationalize the moments that led to a broken femur, soft tissue damage in his leg, and the broken bones and tissue damage two other bullets caused in his hand. Rather, he points to the fact that his skill set demanded more than two-and-a-half years of training compared with other United
States soldiers who carry basic training and six months of preparation with them on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Robillard can’t be too specific in his detail of the events on the day of his injuries, noting that he was performing additional ground duties with Navy Seals and Special Forces in Afghanistan. He brushes it aside like a determined athlete who has sustained a torn acl. “I knew what I was getting into,” he explains. Robillard feels more comfortable talking about the work he was doing, the almost addictive nature of finding himself in a warzone, charged with the important task of helping soldiers in need. He is more inclined to talk about the 70-plus missions that went according to plan. “Every time we went out it was like our hands just started working,” he explains.
“There were multiple patients and chaos everywhere. You always fall back on your training. Everything gets done quickly and efficiently.” Robillard did not always know that helping people as a “PJ” was his destiny. After he graduated from New Hampton School in 2005, he found himself on the Seacoast of New Hampshire, working construction and trying to figure out what he was going to do. College didn’t seem to be the right fit; he was searching for a passion. In 2007, he enlisted in the Air Force in Concord, New Hampshire. What followed was one of the most comprehensive trainings in the United State Military. There was basic training for six weeks followed by the Pararescue indoctrination for nine more see “robillard,” on page 40
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