Great Military Members To The Rescue

Last week, two active-duty military heroes, one Navy and one Army, took immediate action that undoubtedly prevented multiple injuries and deaths from occurring.

At Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, a young female Navy Security Force member was on-duty checking ID’s at an entry gate when, from the next vehicle in line, without warning, a gunman (later identified as a terrorist) opened fire, shooting the Navy gate guard in the chest.  Fortunately, she was wearing a protective vest.  The force of the shot knocked her down.  But she was able to get up and, as training overrode the shock of the attack, she hit the switch that immediately closed the security barricade, trapping the suspect car and driver.  At which point, she fired her gun, fortunately killing the probable terrorist.  Her amazing instincts, and rapid reaction to what ordinarily would have been a kill-shot to her chest, saved untold numbers of Naval personnel on the base from injury or death.  She is definitely a hero for her lives-saving actions.

Next, a Fort Leavenworth-stationed soldier was in his vehicle approaching a major bridge connecting Kansas and Missouri, when he could see an individual standing ahead of him and hear shots being fired.  Apparently, the gunman had gotten out of his car on the bridge and was shooting indiscriminately at cars approaching from the other side. It was later determined that the shooter was firing both a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle. “I heard like nine or ten shots up there, by then it was rapid fire… just like fireworks,” said a witness.  Seeing what was happening, the soldier’s instincts for responsive action took over, and he drove on forward, hitting the shooter and trapping him under his vehicle.  About that time, police and first-responders arrived and took over the scene. One motorist driving from the other side of the bridge, ironically another Fort Leavenworth soldier, was shot and taken to a hospital reportedly in serious but stable condition.  The run-over gunman, too, was hospitalized, said to be in serious condition.  Thankfully, he will likely live to face justice in a court of law.  The alert soldier who drove over him was not injured. “I’m just glad he (the shooter) was able to get taken down.  I’m glad that somebody did something about it.  So congrats to that hero,” said another witness.  And clearly our Fort Leavenworth soldier was, indeed, a hero that day, when an immediate solution was needed to save injuries and lives.

Two of our great military members, with training and instincts kicking in, there simply can be no question, saved the lives of others. Whether overseas facing adversaries, or here at home living and serving among us, the outstanding men and women of America’s military stand ready to defend and protect others, whenever and wherever the situation calls for positive, decisive, action.

(Naval Air Station Corpus Christi info via news.usni.org, Sam LaGrone, 5-26-20; Kansas bridge info via nypost.com, Joshua Rhett Miller, 5-28-20).