It's a long way from the occasional long walk to the principal's office at North Mecklenburg High School to regular long hikes along dusty roads in Afghanistan. But both are parts of the journey that has defined some of the 23 years of Huntersville's Matt Garst.

The 2006 North Meck High School graduate and sporadic school rule-breaker is now a United States Marine sergeant, a squad leader with 2nd Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines.

And now, to a family of eight Afghan civilians, he is a hero.

As reported in the Marine Corps Times, Garst and his squad were returning on foot from a resupply mission near Loya Darvishan, Helmand province, on the night of Dec. 2, when a car traveling faster than 40 miles per hour struck the point man, a member of the Afghan National Army, before the man and the car plunged together into a swift-moving roadside canal. Because southern Afghan nighttime temperatures range between 35 and 40 degrees, and the floodgates were open to provide water during the wheat season, the soldier and family in the car faced near impossible odds of escape.

"The current was extremely fast," Garst wrote in an e-mail to the Marine Corps Times. "The vehicle was under water in a matter of seconds. Just swimming out you had to fight against it."

But fight it they did, as Garst and two other members of his four-man squad dropped their gear and jumped into the frigid, swift-moving canal, which was about 12 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The fourth member of the squad provided security cover in the event of any other incidents.

In addition to their colleague, the Marines rescued eight occupants in the car, including women, children and an infant, along with the male driver. Garst is credited with pushing two women and a child to the surface — the adults fighting him in panic — before managing to wrap his arms around all three and pulling them to dry land.

Garst speaks with an Afgan civilian about irrigation Photo by  Cpl. Reece Lodder, USMC

"If we would not have jumped in, that family would've drowned," Garst told the Marine Corps Times. "Each Marine who went in risked his own life."  

But Garst's work wasn't done. He turned his attention to the injured Afghan solider, who had suffered head lacerations, a shattered ankle and was bleeding. Garst made a splint out of two antennas and gauze. A passing driver accompanied by an Afghan soldier took their guide back to base, from which he was airlifted within an hour.

Garst and his squad are no strangers to danger. Their job is to search roads, on foot, for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Their Afghan point man's task, as he was doing the night of Dec. 2, is to slowly sweep a metal detector back and forth looking for IEDs.

Their experience, however, doesn't include emergency rescues of civilians from swift-moving waters. "We don't really train for a situation like this, besides doing vehicle rollover drills," Garst told a reporter with Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS). "Even so, we weren't the ones trapped ... it was other people. The Marines didn't hesitate for their own safety at all. They helped those who needed it at the time."

No real surprise 

Growing up, Garst wasn't much for following rules, especially those regarding attendance at school. He was a frequent visitor to the office, but in his younger years, he was an athlete. He wore the uniforms of Huntersville Youth Athletic Association (HYAA) on the basketball court, but even then he demonstrated something of a rebellious side.

Among those who weren't completely surprised to hear about Garst's heroics was former local newspaper owner Tucker Mitchell, who coached Matt Garst and his younger brother, Zack, in the HYAA.

"When I heard Matt joined the Marines I thought, 'yeah, that kind of fits,'" recalls Mitchell, who now lives and works in Florence, S.C. "As a teenager, he was a free spirit who didn't always follow the rules. But he had a lively, enjoyable personality and good spirit about him. I thought he'd do well at something as soon as he figured out what it was. The military probably added a dose of personal discipline that was useful, and also offered an outlet for his devil-may-care side."

Family friend Alexy Ritchy, who also coached Garst in recreational basketball, says he saw the potential in his young charge, and is certain the structure provided by the military allowed his leadership qualities to rise to the surface.

"Matt was just as fine a young man as ever played for me," recalls Ritchy. "It's just amazing to me how, when he was put in those situations, he has excelled above and beyond the call of duty. I have to attribute that to family. That is instilled in you, and it just didn't come out until he was in those situations."

That family includes his mother, Cindy, and his father and stepmother, David and Mary, all who live in Huntersville. Cindy Garst says her son probably wouldn't approve of the publicity, preferring his actions to stand on their own merit. As a result, she delcined to be interviewed, but did point out out that Matt, something of a "hellion" growing up, benefitted greatly from coaches, teachers, neighbors, friends and parents who looked after him and encouraged him along the way.

And now, a family of total strangers half a world away has benefitted from that help, too.

'We're Marines'

Back on the banks of a frigid canal on a dark, cold night in Afghanistan, Garst employed a lesson he learned from a previous deployment in 2010. That's when another sergeant from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines jumped into a similar canal to save yet another Afghan officer. In that instance, the Marine had not removed his heavy backpack and, as a result, they both drowned.

Before his Marines jumped into the canal this time, he ordered them to first remove their gear, just as he did himself.

Once the victims were removed from the river, without the services of an interpreter and using his limited Pashto vocabulary, Garst communicated with the driver well enough to ask him if he and his fellow Marines had rescued all the occupants of the car. The man, according to the Marine Corps Times article, nodded that they had.

"Once we got the family out and on the shore, I felt good ... like I hadn't let anybody down," Garst said.

His injured Afghan colleague attended to and evacuated for medical treatment, Garst suggested the family go to the nearby home of a family friend, where he recommended they rest.

"Talking with the people who live where I sent them to, they were highly grateful," Garst said, "and called us saviors."

Then he shrugged off any mention of heroics.

"We aren't lifesavers," Garst said. "We're Marines."

And as a Marine, he's in the midst of a war zone, where he has seen his share of firefights and encountered other dangers. While deployed in the same region in the summer of 2010, the Marine Corps Times reports that Garst stepped on an IED, but lived to tell about it. The blast flung him over an eight-foot wall, but he escaped unscathed.

"My first thought was, 'Oh s---, I just hit an IED,'" Garst said. "Then I thought, 'Well, I'm standing. That's good.'"

Under the circumstances, mom, dad and those who worked to help Garst along the way can surely pardon his use of the expletive.