“He worked outside Fallujah in an Iraqi prison, overseeing, leading and mentoring the same type of enlisted soldiers as the seven who are now so infamous across the globe,” Moulton said. “Those young men and women at Abu Ghraib did not have good leaders. I can assure you that Meeks’ soldiers did.”

Gomes said “the country is a great deal better off” with soldiers like Moulton and Meeks.

“Jim Meeks I baptized when he was a sophomore in college,” said Gomes, who added that he has tried to reach the wounded soldier but missed a phone call from Meeks yesterday.

“In a very dark and troubled time, these two fellows are signs of encouragement to me,” Gomes said.

The wounded soldier’s father, Louis W. Meeks, an assistant clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School, was not in his office yesterday and could not be reached for comment.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.