First Purple Heart Winner Recalls Quietly Begging Chopper to Hurry : Casualties: Navy corpsman says it took 2 1/2 hours for helicopter to arrive after he was struck. Official replies that the Navy medic was treated before the flight arrived.

Navy Corpsman Clarence Dean Conner heard a whistle and then a boom, and when he lifted his head off the ground there was another explosion followed by a “sharp burning pain” in his head and shoulder.

The Navy medic, who was struck in the right shoulder by an arrowhead-sized piece of shrapnel during a firefight near the Kuwait border a week ago, was the first known casualty among allied ground troops and the first recipient of a Purple Heart in the Persian Gulf War.

“It’s kind of surprising,” said Conner, 21, of Hemet, from his bed at the Navy’s Fleet Hospital Five in eastern Saudi Arabia. “This is really special. It is not something you get every day.”

The same could be said for the shrapnel he held up for reporters. The jagged piece of metal, which ripped through his shoulder and into muscle leaving a wound three inches deep and three inches wide, has become a souvenir he keeps in a jar by his bed.

Conner said he plans to drill a hole in it and “make a necklace out of it.”

After all, it could have been a lot worse, Conner said. After the explosions, Conner said he turned around and saw a 15-inch piece of metal next to him.

Although proud of his role in the war, Conner had one complaint--in addition to the nagging pain that “radiates up to the back of my head.”

He said he waited more than 2 1/2 hours before a Medevac helicopter arrived to take him to the fleet hospital.

“They had to keep giving me more morphine to (ease) the pain,” said Conner, who recalled muttering “hurry, hurry, hurry” while waiting for the rescue chopper to arrive.

“They don’t really have the Medevac system worked out,” Conner said.

“It felt good to get that helicopter in there.”

Lt. Cmdr. Lawrence J. Stuker, a Navy spokesman, said Conner’s injuries were treated by other medics while he awaited the Medevac flight.

Despite a numbness in his right hand and fingers, Conner said he expects to be released from the hospital in about six weeks.

Meanwhile, he marvels over a prophetic conversation he had with his girlfriend while driving back from Camp Pendleton only a few weeks ago.

“I’m going to get a Purple Heart out of this,” he boasted to Stephanie Lee, 19, of Banning.

“Don’t get yourself hurt,” Lee had said.

This article was written from pool reports reviewed by the Pentagon.