Hometown Hero: Local Marine receives Commendation

U.S. Marine Cpl. Cullen Potter, a local Dripping Springs resident, was commended for his swift actions, alongside three Sailors, in saving the life of a Marine critically injured during a live-fire range training exercise in July.

Their quick response stabilized the injured Marine before he was evacuated by helicopter to a nearby hospital. The Marine was treated and released to recover with his family.

For this act, Potter and his fellow service members were awarded Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals during a ceremony at Camp Wilson, California, on August 11. The rescued Marine and his family joined the ceremony via video call.

Maj. Gen. David L. Odom, Commanding General of 2d Marine Division (MARDIV), presented the commen-dation medals to the four service members.

“The immediate and responsive actions of our Marine and Sailors exemplify the professionalism and readiness that we value as a unit. Because of their swift actions, along with the additional support of other Marines, Sailors, and civilians from the battalion, Tactical Training and Exercise Control Group, and the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, a Marine is still alive and on the road to recovery,” said Lt. Col. Ted Driscoll, Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d MARDIV.

Potter serves as an anti- tank missileman and section leader with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d MARDIV.

A 2021 graduate of Dripping Springs High School, Potter is the son of Brian and Kari Potter of Dripping Springs. His brother, Kyle, graduated from DSHS in 2023.

According to his father, Brian Potter, Cullen is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys deer and duck hunting and saltwater fishing. He is also an excellent rifleman, with his shooting skills, sharpened by military training, earning him the high-score shooting record at basic training at Camp Pendleton, California.

“We are incredibly proud of Cullen. We always have been. One of the things that has touched me the most from this story is the comments from people who know him. They are not surprised he helped. It’s in his character. He has always been an exceptional young man,” Brian Potter said.

Potter added that as a Marine, Cullen received the training to respond to such emergencies, especially in the field. “That training is what gave Cullen [and the three other service members] the skill and confidence to act,” Potter said.

Cullen chose the Marine Corps after a recruiter visited his high school, likely influenced by his father’s service in the Navy and his experience working with Marines.

Brian Potter said they discussed the incident and Cullen’s reaction. He shared that the experience and training with the Marines have inspired Cullen to consider a career in emergency medicine when he returns to civilian life.

Cullen has been taking college courses with the intent to finish his studies after his activeduty service is completed. However, this incident has given him pause. “The feeling he got from being able to help this guy, and then seeing him alive with his parents, touched Cullen, and now he is thinking emergency medicine is what he wants to spend his life doing,” Brian Potter said.

The Potter family has lived in Dripping Springs for ten years. Brian Potter is a retired air traffic controller and now an instructor at the control tower at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Kari Potter is a teacher in the gifted and talented program at Dripping Springs ISD.

Cullen’s younger brother, Kyle, graduated from DSHS in 2023 and is serving with the Air National Guard. Kyle is currently in school to become an air traffic controller.

In addition to Cpl. Potter, the three Sailors commended for their actions are: Hospital Corpsman Third Class Petty Officer Carlos Calvillo of Banning, California, a field medical technician and company line corpsman with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d MARDIV; Hospital Corpsman Second Class Petty Officer Jonathan Wegner of St. Louis, Missouri, a field medical technician with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d MARDIV; Hospital Corpsman First Class Petty Officer Efrain Barrera of Coalinga, California, a field medical technician and battalion leading chief petty officer with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d MARDIV.