Honor

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Trooper helps homeless family through rough patch...

Trooper Helps Homeless Family in 'Limbo'
June 7, 2016 - Trooper Stephanie Bjorkman was tracking down witnesses when she encountered the young family at a rest stop and decided to help.

Murray Duncan and his fiancée, Alyssa Dunn, thought they had their lives planned out when they moved here from Delaware last month. Dunn had a job lined up as a gate agent at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and the couple had enough savings to live with their 6-month-old son in a hotel for about a month while they looked for an apartment. But after the transmission on their Hyundai Elantra blew out during the drive to Washington state, the couple found themselves broke and weeks away from Dunn’s first paycheck. After finding a Redmond church that offered overnight shelter, they decided to make an Interstate 5 rest area their home during the day, getting by on a patchwork of other social services.

It’s not uncommon for the region’s homeless residents to spend their days at highway rest areas, although state law limits visits to eight hours at a time, according to the Washington State Patrol. Trooper Stephanie Bjorkman was tracking down witnesses for an investigation at the SeaTac Rest Area along the freeway near Federal Way late last month when she encountered Duncan, 23, and his baby — new faces among the regulars. She decided to help the young family. “I see people who are in this permanent limbo phase because they’re not doing what they should be doing,” Bjorkman said. “(Duncan and Dunn) are in this limbo, but they’re trying to get out.”

Trooper Stephanie Bjorkman was tracking down witnesses when she encountered the young family at a rest stop and decided to help.​

Bjorkman has helped the family get food, water and baby formula. She’s also provided Duncan and Dunn, 24, with information about free activity programs for kids so they can get the boy out of the car. Various churches and the Salvation Army provide the family with dinner Monday through Friday, but they have to find their own food on the weekends, so Bjorkman has been giving them restaurant gift cards. Bjorkman said once the family has proof of income with Dunn’s first paycheck in the coming days, they will be eligible for more state resources. But until then, Bjorkman has been taking it upon herself to help the family get food, water and baby formula. “Words can’t even explain,” Duncan said of Bjorkman’s help. “She’s definitely looked out for us, and we can’t thank her enough.”

Troopers are regularly called out to direct homeless people away from rest areas, though the homeless often return later. Bjorkman said she sees both sides of the issue. “DOT wants their rules enforced, but oftentimes (homeless people) have nowhere else to go,” she said. For now, Bjorkman continues to check in on the family, providing help when she can. Dunn said she and Duncan were recently accepted into the state’s Diversion Cash Assistance program, which will provide them with temporary aid for housing once they sign an apartment lease. The couple recently found an apartment, and they’re waiting to hear when they can move in. Duncan plans to start working once they get established.

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Last Known Living 9/11 Search Dog Dies
June 7, 2016 - Bretagne, the last known living 9/11 search dog, died Monday in the Houston suburb of Cypress.

The Golden Retriever was euthanized at the Fairfield Animal Hospital. She was 16. Bretagne, pronounced “Brittany,” became a full member of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department in 2000. She was a founding canine member of the K9 Search and Rescue Team and had a certification as a FEMA Disaster Search Dog, according to a statement from the fire department. When she was 2, Bretagne and handler Denise Corliss responded as part of Texas Task Force 1 to the World Trade Center site after the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. They spent 10 days at the scene searching for human remains in the rubble.

Bretagne the last surviving search and rescue dog from 9/11 is walked by her handler Denise Corliss past a flank of members of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department, as she was brought into the Fairfield Animal Hospital on Monday. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP) She also responded to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, among other disasters, and had been retired from active duty for about five years, according to the fire department. After retiring, Bretagne helped train other search dogs and was a weekly visitor to Roberts Road Elementary School in Waller ISD where she would listen to first graders read with “a non-judgmental ear and soft paw,” the fire department said. She also visited students with special needs. “Her calm demeanor and warm heart helped the young and old through their own difficult moments,” the fire department said.

To the more than 400 members of the department, “Bretagne was a civil servant, a hero and is family,” the department said. At 15, Bretagne was taken by Corliss to the 9/11 memorial and participated in an interview with Tom Brokaw of NBC News. For her 16th birthday, dog website BarkPost threw a celebration for Bretagne in New York complete with a gourmet cheeseburger, toys and a billboard display in Times Square that said “NYC Welcomes You And Your Mom”, according to Us Weekly.

Bretagne experienced kidney failure and began slowing down in recent weeks. When she stopped eating for three days, Corliss knew it was time to say goodbye, Today reported. “She was really anxious last night and she just wanted to be with me,” Corliss told Today on Monday. “So I laid down with her, right next to her. When she could feel me, she could settle down and go to sleep. I slept with her like that all night.” Texas Task Force 1 remembered Bretagne on its Facebook page Monday. “Please remember the valiant effort and dedication to finding a victim trapped in a destroyed building that Bretagne showed us on a regular basis. She will be missed,” the post reads. “Strength and peace to her handler Denise Corliss.” As Corliss walked Bretagne into the vet Monday, fire department members flanked the two and saluted.

Last Known Living 9/11 Search Dog Dies in Texas | Officer.com

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Boy Running to Honor Fallen Virginia Trooper
June 7, 2016 - Braxton Lee, 6, who is running in honor of fallen state Trooper Chad Dermyer, will reach the end of his marathon distance at a race he is organizing.

Braxton Lee of Gloucester set out just a month ago to run nine races -- seven 5K races and two 5-mile runs -- to raise money for the family of Dermyer, who was killed in Richmond in March. He is close to reaching that goal with just two more events left -- the last will be his very own 5K community run in Gloucester. Dermyer, 37, was shot to death during a training exercise at a Greyhound bus terminal in Richmond on March 31. His wife and two children live in Gloucester. "A bad man shot him," Braxton Lee said in May when he started his mission. "I know his family is sad and his kids are sad. I want to help them."

Braxton Lee, 6, who is running in honor of fallen state Trooper Chad Dermyer, will reach the end of his marathon distance at a race he is organizing.​

Braxton learned about Dermyer after seeing his photo on a collection jar in a Chick-fil-A in Gloucester. He then decided to run a marathon distance in his honor asking people to donate to a special fund set up by the Virginia State Police for the family. When he's done he'll actually have completed 31.7 miles. Braxton has been recognized at several of the races he has participated in so far. According to his father, Jarret Lee, the Giving Garden Foundation gave him a special plaque at the group's 5K Glow Run. He was also recognized at the Yorktown Freedom Run 8K with a special medal and he finished in second in the 12 and younger male age group.

His eighth race will be this Saturday at the Run for the Bacon 5K in Williamsburg. The following weekend Braxton has organized his own 5K race in Gloucester with the help of Flatout Events in Newport News. "They have been so generous to not only donate the time but their contact and resources as well," Jarret Lee said.

Boy Running to Honor Fallen Virginia Trooper | Officer.com

 

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Marine veteran helped dozens escape Orlando shooting...

Marine Vet Hailed as Hero for Helping Dozens Escape Orlando Shooting
Jun 15, 2016 | A U.S. Marine Corps veteran is being recognized as a hero for helping dozens of people escape the mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub.

Imran Yousuf, a 24-year-old Hindu and former Marine who served in Afghanistan, was working as a bouncer at the Pulse nightclub when he heard the familiar sounds of gunfire. "That was a shock. Three or four shots go off and you could just tell it was a high caliber," he told CBS News. "Everyone froze." As patrons raced to flee the gunfire, they packed into the back staff hallway where he was, Yousuf said. He instructed them to open a latch on a nearby door to exit the building, but they froze in a state of panic, he said. "I'm just screaming, 'Open the door! Open the door!' and no one's moving because they were scared," Yousuf told the news organization. "There was only one choice: Either we all stay there and we all die or I could either take the chance and get shot and save everyone else. And I jumped over, opened that latch and we got every one that we can out of there."

When correspondent Mark Strassmann asked him how many people exited the door, Yousuf estimated between 60 and 70. Strassmann told him he saved a lot of lives. "I wish I could save more, to be honest. There's a lot of people that are dead," he said, his voice breaking. "There's a lot of people that are dead." A total of 49 people were killed in the attack, including Antonio Davon Brown, a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. Another 53 people were injured in the shooting, several of whom remain hospitalized with serious injuries. The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history began around 2 a.m. Sunday at the nightclub, which caters to the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender, or LBGT, community, and lasted until around 5 a.m. when a SWAT team raided the building.

A survivor of the attack was 24-year-old Imran Yousuf, a Marine veteran of Afghanistan and a bouncer at the club, who leaped over a bar during the shooting to unlatch a door and allow dozens to escape.​

The shooting is also the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaida militants crashed airliners into the World Trade Center in New York City; the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.; and a field in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people. The gunman was identified as Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, a 29-year-old U.S. citizen and Muslim who lived in Fort Pierce, Florida, and whose parents were of Afghan origin. While he was apparently acting alone, he had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. The FBI has acknowledged Mateen was under surveillance for a time. Yousuf is a native of Schenectady, New York, near the state capital of Albany. After graduating from Niskayuna High School, he served for almost six years in the Marine Corps, from 2010 to 2016, achieving the rank of sergeant, or E-5, according to his service records.

He served as an engineer equipment electrical systems technician and completed a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2011. His last duty assignment was with the 3rd Marine Logistics Group. His awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (2), Korean Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and NATO Medal, according to his service records. On his Facebook page, Yousuf said the television interview has brought "closure." "It created such closure for me that I believe I am finally able to move on from this and get focused back on my goals and my life," he wrote. "I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for their kind words, prayers and support. It means more than you realize!"

Marine Vet Hailed as Hero for Helping Dozens Escape Orlando Shooting | Military.com

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FBI Eyes Wife of Orlando Shooter as an Accomplice
Jun 15, 2016 | The FBI is looking into whether jihadi killer Omar Mateen's wife helped him scout out Orlando's Pulse nightclub before the massacre and knew he planned to commit violence, according to published reports.

Noor Zahi Salman told investigators she had driven Mateen, 29, to Pulse nightclub on prior occasions, and tried to convince him not to go through with the attack, according to NBC News, which cited law enforcement sources. Mateen was killed in a shootout with police early Sunday after killing 49 people and injuring 53, authorities say. A grand jury has now been impaneled to determine whether Salman will be criminally charged in connection with the attack, according to Fox News. As heartbroken victims recalled in grim detail the horror of the slaughter yesterday, investigators continued to gather information on the New York-born Muslim -- and took a close look at his wife, too.

An official who was briefed on the progress of the case, but insisted on anonymity, said authorities believe Salman knew about Mateen's plot ahead of time but are reluctant to charge her on that basis alone. The investigation also has now extended to Afghanistan, where Mateen's parents were born, and Saudi Arabia, which he visited on pilgrimages in 2011 and 2012, the Los Angeles Times reported. In Washington, President Obama said investigators had no information to suggest a foreign terrorist group directed the attack. Obama said it was increasingly clear Mateen "took in extremist information and propaganda over the internet" and appeared to be "an angry, disturbed, unstable young man who became radicalized."

Omar Mateen, right, with his wife, Noor Zahi Salman, and their son.​

The president went on to blast presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric as dangerous and contrary to American values while challenging Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban. Obama also mocked Republicans for urging him to describe the attack as "radical Islam," saying: "If someone seriously thinks we don't know who we're fighting, if there's anyone out there who thinks we're confused about who our enemies are -- that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists we've taken off the battlefield." In the days since the horrific mass shooting, a number of possible explanations and motives for the bloodbath have emerged. Officials say Mateen professed an allegiance to the Islamic State terror group in a 911 call during the attack; his ex-wife said he was mentally ill; and Mateen's father suggested he was driven by a hatred of homosexuals.

But despite his apparent hatred for gays, several patrons told news networks yesterday they had seen Mateen at the bar prior to the attack -- and some even admitted chatting with him on a gay dating app. Jim Van Horn, 71, told The Associated Press that Mateen was a regular at the bar. "He was a homosexual and he was trying to pick up men," Van Horn said. "He would walk up to them and then he would maybe put his arm around 'em or something and maybe try to get them to dance."

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Did Islamic State Claim Credit for Latest Attacks Too Soon?
Jun 15, 2016 | It took just a few hours for the Islamic State group's opportunistic propaganda machine to capitalize on the latest bloodshed in Florida and in France, with messages claiming the two attackers as its own. It may take the group longer to sort through the implications of a killer whose backstory of conflicted sexuality and heavy drinking is at odds with a carefully crafted public image of its fighters.

But whether the links were direct or merely aspirational, they were enough to thrust IS to the center of the U.S. presidential race and the debate over the role of Islam in the world. They were enough to cause France to re-examine who should be expelled over links to extremism. The group's apocalyptic message is aimed as much at Muslims living in the West as it is at non-Muslims, hoping to persuade an undecided audience to adopt its extremist views -- and reject Western ideals of pluralism and tolerance, preferably with bombs and bullets. Facing defeat on the battlefield, it is taking victories where it can find them.

The attack on a gay nightclub in Florida by an American-born Muslim during Ramadan and the stabbing of two police officials in France two days later would initially appear to dovetail perfectly with that worldview. Omar Mateen's killing of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando tapped into deep fears that extremists are lying in wait to prey upon the West at home -- fears that Islamic State fans at every available opportunity. "The uncomfortable reality is that attacks such as the one in Orlando become 'Islamic State attacks' simply because the attackers declare them as such. The validity of their assertions matters less than the consequences of their actions," according to an analysis Tuesday by the Soufan Group security consultancy. "Mateen may have sought to catapult his reputation from that of a homophobic mass-murderer to a 'soldier of the caliphate,' merely by parroting the group's name."

President Barack Obama said Mateen was inspired by the group's internet propaganda, and during the attack, Mateen called 911 to offer allegiance to Islamic State. "With the tyrants closing the doors of migration, you should open the doors of jihad, and let them regret it," Islamic State spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said in a message late last month directed to Muslims living in the West. But Mateen's messy life shows the hazards for an extremist group that hinges its credibility on its faith. Pulse customers have described him as a regular at the gay nightclub, someone who drank heavily and could be disruptive when intoxicated. Islamic State has reserved one of its most gruesome methods of killing for suspected gays -- throwing them to their death from rooftops. Alcohol is banned in the group's territory, and anyone caught with it gets whipped, lashed or fined.

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Two heroes get due recognition...

Green Beret Awarded Silver Star for Defending Fallen Comrade
Jun 18, 2016 | The small team of Army Green Berets riding on all-terrain vehicles had just passed through the village in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province when they ran into a well-planned, enemy ambush. About 25 insurgents armed with AK-47 rifles, PKM machine guns, and RPG-7 rocket propelled grenades opened fire.

The air around the operational detachment-alpha assigned to 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) exploded with deadly enemy fire. The insurgent force was set up in staggered positions along the ambush line that stretched approximately 180 meters. The ODA's team sergeant, Master Sgt. Danial “Slim” Adams and Sgt. 1st Class Richard "Rich" Harris both got low and gunned their ATVs, attempting to accelerate through the kill zone, according to an account in an Army press release. Almost immediately, Adams took a burst of PKM fire -- suffering wounds to his wrist, thigh and neck – and was thrown from his ATV within meters of the enemy line.

Harris recalled the area around them suddenly came to life with the sounds and flashes of close gunfire. "My mindset was, 'Holy crap. We're in deep trouble,'" he remembered. "At the time, I didn't know what happened," Harris said. "I just saw him kind of dive off/fall off his ATV." Harris aborted his path and veered up a small hill to take cover between two buildings. Harris, under intense enemy fire, fired his M-4 rifle and grenade launcher at the enemy, all the while calling out to his team sergeant below. Adams died of his wounds on that Sept. 13, 2011, but Harris spent the rest of the battle aggressively attacking the ambushing insurgents while guarding the body of his team sergeant at significant risk to his own life, according to the release.

Sgt. 1st Class Richard Harris (right) shakes hands with Lt. Gen. Ken Tovo, commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, after receiving the Silver Star Medal​

Nearly five years later, Harris' heroic actions from that day were formally recognized when he was presented the Silver Star medal, the nation's third highest award for valor, June 3, 2016. After returning fire, Harris soon found himself the target of concentrated enemy fire. Undaunted, he continued to fight. "That's when an RPG came and just … streamed right up at me," said Harris. The enemy rocket exploded against a wall approximately seven feet behind him, throwing him to the ground and knocking him unconscious. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bell, who was a sergeant first class at the time, was one of the three operators fighting about 40 meters away. He was preparing to throw a grenade when he happened to look up at Harris' position and witnessed the explosion.

Bell described his first thoughts as, "I'm pretty sure Rich is dead." The explosion had knocked his radio system earbuds from Harris’ ears, leaving him unable to communicate with his fellow Green Berets. Not knowing when or even if he would get reinforcements, Harris said he had only two priorities: return fire and find Adams. Harris resumed his attack on the enemy line. Harris finally spotted Adams laying face-down approximately 25 meters away. He had been partially dragged by enemy insurgents who had advanced while Harris was unconscious. Harris tried making contact by calling his team sergeant's name, but Adams did not move. Fearing Adams may fall back into the hands of the enemy, Harris had a decision to make.

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Deputy Helps Save Man From Fiery Wreck
June 17, 2016 - Dallas County Deputy Paul Lee risked his life to save a man trapped inside a burning car Friday.

Deputy Paul Lee was only a mile away when the fiery crash occurred around 5:30 a.m. on Interstate 30 near Hampton Road, according to KDFW-TV. Officials said that a speeding Toyota Scion clipped another vehicle before it hit the wall of the highway and rolled four times, landing on its side before it caught fire.

Driver rescued in fiery crash​

Lee drove up as close as he could, exited out of his patrol car and ran across I-30 to the burning car, when he discovered the driver was trapped inside. He went back to his cruiser for a fire extinguisher and tried to put the fire out and was able to calm the man down and move him to the rear of the vehicle.

At that point, Dallas firefighters arrived on the scene and were able to help pull the man to safety. "Myself? I'm second. Whoever is in this car is first to me. That's the way we're trained, you know? You go to danger, take care of it," Lee told the news station. The driver was transported to Parkland hospital in serious condition.

Texas Deputy Helps Save Driver From Fiery Wreck | Officer.com

 

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Giving credit where credit is due...

Officer Lauded for Protecting Photographer
July 11, 2016 - Dallas Police Officer James Dylan Smith is being hailed a hero for protecting a photographer who became stranded in Dallas' West End after the first shots were fired Thursday night.

A 25-year-old Dallas police officer is being hailed a hero for protecting a photographer who became stranded in Dallas' West End after the first shots were fired Thursday night. Officer James Dylan Smith's bravery, in Dallas' darkest hours, is captured in a set of photos that has gone viral on social media. At first, most of the people who saw and shared his photo didn't know his name. Neither did Robert Moore, the photographer and former publisher of the Dallas Voice. "I don't know his name, but I won't forget him," Moore wrote in his caption for the photos. They show Smith crouching behind a car with a shotgun in his hand. The officer's face is covered in sweat and his brows are raised. "That photo is not technically perfect. But emotionally, it's there," Moore said. Smith's family did not respond to The News' request for comment on Saturday.

Ashley Boling, a family friend, said Smith grew up in Rowlett and has been on the Dallas police force for only a few years. His teenage sister was at Boling's apartment in downtown Dallas at the time of the shooting, unaware that her brother was under fire with his fellow officers, Boling said. "We just knew that he was going to be OK," Boling said. By Friday night, Smith had become a social media sensation. Moore, who was photographing Thursday night's rally, took cover behind cars after the shots rang out about 8:40 p.m. Officers rushed toward the pops, and Moore wanted to get away.

But police cordoned off the area and weren't letting people in or out. They weren't sure who was shooting or where the shots were coming from. "Automatic fire, automatic fire," the officers shouted at each other. They told Moore and other civilians to "get small" and stay down. The photographer suggested ways he could get to his condo a few blocks away, but Smith urged him to stay put. "You cannot get into the open, sir," said Smith, holding a shotgun, his eyes fixed on the street. Moore, whose brother is the chief of police in Hurst, photographed the officer while he waited for permission to leave. "I am shoulder to shoulder with somebody who is calm, who is collected," Moore said, referring to Smith. "He's on. He's very much professional." Moore got the OK to leave after two hours of crouching behind a car. But he didn't have to do it alone. Smith shielded Moore by standing in front of him, shotgun still in hand, as they walked about a half block to the edge of the police perimeter.

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Woman Shielded by Officers Thanks Police
July 11, 2016 | Shetamia Taylor -- one of two civilians injured in the attack that claimed the lives of five police officers -- recounted the terror she and her sons felt at a tearful press conference at Baylor University Medical Center on Sunday.

Shetamia Taylor wanted her four sons to experience a peaceful march. That’s why she had brought them to downtown Dallas on Thursday to take part in the Black Lives Matter protest. They were headed to their car to beat the traffic back to their home in Garland and were about to cross the street near Belo Garden when the shooting began. First one shot, then a second. Wounded and falling to the ground, a tall, hefty, white police officer yelled: “He has a gun. Run!” The crowd scattered. In the pandemonium, Taylor told her sons to run ahead of her. The 38-year-old mother, one of two civilians injured in last week’s shooting, recounted the terror she and her sons felt at a tearful press conference at Baylor University Medical Center on Sunday.

Shetamia Taylor, far right, tears up while describing the accounts of Thursday's attack that killed five police officers and wounded seven others, including herself, during a press conference at Baylor Scott & White Health Center in Dallas on July 10.​

She felt something tear through the back of her right calf and exit her shin. A bullet. Her son, Andrew, turned around to grab her. She tackled him. They lay between a parked car and the street curb. An officer jumped on mother and son. "There was another [officer] at our feet, and another over our head," she recalled. "Several of them lined against a wall and stayed there with us." She remembered mostly white officers protecting her and Andrew. More shots, and another officer fell. "I'd never been in a situation like that before," she said. "It was just hundreds of rounds. I've never heard anything like that before. It was just shots all around." As the shooting continued, Andrew, 15, lifted his head. Taylor pushed him back down. She didn't want him to see her bleeding.

She watched her son, Kavion, 18, grab her 12-year-old, Jermar. The two brothers sought protection near the entryway of a parking garage. An officer yelled at Kavion: "Go! I'll cover you!" The boys followed the crowd toward Union Station. Taylor's fourth son, Jajuan, 14, had followed his mother's orders: To run. He became separated from his family. On the street, he sought the help of a stranger with her family. He asked her what to do. "Just get to safety," the woman said. "Can I come with you?" Jajuan asked. "I don't know Dallas." The woman's name was Angie Wisner. The Oak Cliff woman was with her cousin's wife and their three kids. They and Jajuan managed to stay at the apartment of a Good Samaritan, near Main and Field. There, Jajuan stayed until a cousin picked him up. Near Belo Garden, police officers put Taylor and Andrew into a police car riddled with bullets. The tires were flat, down to the rims. They sped toward Baylor. At the ER, Taylor saw a fallen officer being carried in on a gurney.

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Texas Trooper, Deputy Help Deliver Baby
July 12, 2016 - Texas State Trooper Dylan Duke was assisting Grimes County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Siracusa in a routine traffic stop around Saturday night when they heard a dispatch that a woman was in labor at a Shell gas station.

It has been a dark and difficult week in Texas, especially for the brave men and women who wear the badge. So this good news really delivers at the right time. Texas State Trooper Dylan Duke was assisting Grimes County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Siracusa in a routine traffic stop around 7 p.m. Saturday when they heard a dispatch that a woman was in labor at a Shell gas station in nearby Navasota, a town about 25 minutes southeast of College Station. An ambulance was enroute, but they were closer.

Trooper Dylan Duke, left, and Grimes County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Siracusa​

So Duke and Siracusa dashed over to the parking lot to help. They made sure the woman was comfortable in the backseat and they called nearby St. Joseph’s hospital, where staff members helped walk them through the steps of delivering the baby. Oscar Jr. was born at 7:19 p.m., healthy and loud, the officers said. Soon after, an ambulance arrived and took the family to the hospital. DPS posted the story on Facebook on Monday, and it was flooded with positive comments.

Duke told KBTX in College Station he was nervous about delivering a baby, but he had been trained at the academy on the procedure and he said those skills kicked in. He also said the timing of this happy-ending story couldn’t be better, as the police community continues to grieve for the five officers killed in an ambush-style shooting in Dallas on Thursday. “This was a light to the darkness that's been going on recently,” Duke said, “so this is definitely something that we needed.”

Texas Trooper, Deputy Help Deliver Baby | Officer.com

 

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Hats off to Rome police...

Rome police cook pasta for elderly couple crying in apartment
Monday, August 8, 2016 - For this elderly Italian couple, a visit from the police ended in a plate of spaghetti.

Last week, officers responded to an apartment complex in Rome after neighbors reported loud crying from one of the residences. Police found Jole, 84, and Michele, 94, alone in their apartment crying at the news after Jole asked why everything was so negative.

The couple, who’ve been married almost 70 years, told officers that they rarely had visitors and police wrote on Facebook that the kitchen table had just a few old grapes and no semblance of a real meal. So, after calling an ambulance to check on the husband and wife, the officers cooked Jole and Michele dinner: spaghetti with butter and parmesan.

“There is not a crime. Jole and Michele are not victims of scams and no thief entered the house — there is no one to save,” the police force wrote on Facebook. "This time, for the boys, there is a more daunting task — two lonely souls who need reassuring. They understand that just a little human warmth will restore tranquility to Jole and Michele."

Rome police cook pasta for elderly couple crying in apartment

 

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Giving credit where credit is due...

Officer Helps Boy Trying to Sell Toy for Food
August 13, 2016 - Franklin Police Officer Steve Dunham found a 7-year-old boy Sunday afternoon in front of a CVS store at Second and Main streets trying to sell his stuffed animal.

"Serve and protect" took on a new meaning recently in Franklin. Officer Steve Dunham found a 7-year-old boy Sunday afternoon in front of a CVS store at Second and Main streets trying to sell his stuffed animal. Police had responded to the scene after dispatchers were contacted by a resident. The boy told Dunham he hadn't eaten in several days. So the police officer took the boy across the street to a Subway restaurant, where he bought him something to eat before taking him to the police station.

Two other officers, Amanda Myers and Kyle O'Neal, went to the child's home on Main Street, where they reported finding the boy's two siblings living in a home full of garbage, cat urine and liquor bottles. In her initial report, Myers wrote that the parents created "a substantial risk of health and safety by neglecting the cleanliness in the residence, having a large amount of bugs and spoiled food throughout the residence, not having properly prepared and packaged food for the minor children to eat, and allowing a 7-year-old child to wander from the residence without their permission or knowledge, in an attempt to locate food."

Officer Helps Boy Trying to Sell Toy for Food​

According to the police report, Tammy and Michael Bethel told police they had a 7-year-old son and did not realize he was not in the house. Warren County Children Services did an emergency removal of all five of the Bethel's children and placed them with relatives. Judge Rupert Ruppert ordered that the parents were not to have any contact with their children. Tammy and Michael Bethel are charged with five counts each of child endangering, all first-degree misdemeanors.

Both parents were arraigned Tuesday in Franklin Municipal Court and have pre-trial hearings set for Sept. 16. "Officers see this nationwide everyday and they do go above and beyond to feed homeless, feed children ... they treat people like their own family," said Police Chief Russell Whitman. "You can look at your local police departments wherever you're at and you can find stories like this." There have been 11 child neglect reports filed in 2016 with three that warranted investigation in Franklin, according to Whitman. The other eight were unfounded, he said.

Officer Helps Boy Trying to Sell Toy for Food | Officer.com

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Chicago Officer Helps Save Wounded Boy
August 11, 2016 - Sgt. Bryan Topczewski responded to a call of a child shot on Monday night and found 10-year-old Tavon Tanner lying face down inside a house with blood coming from his nose and mouth.

The end of a busy shift approached. Three people had been killed in two hours in the Harrison District on the West Side Monday night. Sgt. Bryan Topczewski left the scene of the second homicide and was headed back to the station, an easy ride down Jackson Boulevard east toward Kedzie Avenue. "I was heading into the station to finish up reports, start approving reports, just administrative stuff with everything that was going on last night, everything kinda got pushed aside," Topczewski said. As he approached Independence Boulevard shortly after 10 p.m., a dispatcher calmly read out a new job: "All right units in 011 ... now getting a person shot at thirty-nine forty-five Polk, 3-9-4-5 Polk, cellphone caller says her child's been shot with no further information, 11th District."

The call was less than two blocks west of the boulevard. "Put it on my box," the sergeant radioed, telling the dispatcher he was responding. "As a parent, you don't like to hear a kid shot. It is what it is out here, but this is a kid," Topczewski said. "So I raced over there, found the address." The street was empty when he turned from Independence. It wasn't like other scenes that can be chaotic, with people waving down officers and pointing toward the victims. Nobody was out. The sergeant parked in front. The door was open a little. The child, 10-year-old Tavon Tanner, was lying face down inside the house, blood coming from his nose and mouth. Topczewski radioed in. The dispatcher didn't hear him at first and asked him to repeat himself. "Is EMS rolling?" "It does look like Ambulance 64 is en route." The dispatcher asked for more information, trying to see if this was related to a shots-fired call a few minutes earlier a few blocks away.

Chicago Officer Helps Save Wounded Boy​

Tavon had been playing on his porch when someone on the street fired at least nine shots. He collapsed as he followed his mother through the front door. When Topczewski arrived, Tavon's twin sister was holding the boy's hand and telling him, "Twin don't leave me, twin don't leave me," according to her family. Tavon kept beating the floor with his hands, then went limp. "I see the little guy lying on the floor," Topczewski said. "That's when I go out and grab my pack and start rendering aid." The boy's mother and twin sister were crying as the sergeant kept asking, "Where's the wound? Where's the wound?" They started taking the boy's clothes off and found a gunshot wound at the small of his back, "right next to his spinal cord," Topczewski said.

He radioed in again. "Bona fide, we got a little kid shot over here. . . . Keep the street clear over here." A woman can be heard screaming in the background of the radio call. "Keep the street clear." Another officer came on the radio. "Younger child, no offender info . . . One lower, gunshot wound lower back." Topczewski said he applied pressure to the wound, covering it with a compression bandage. Paramedics arrived within a few minutes, scooped up the boy and rushed him to Mount Sinai Hospital. Topczewski stepped outside. "We tried to find the crime scene, trying to estimate . . . where was he when he got shot. So once we figured where he got shot, we tried to visualize where those came from."

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[waltky]

Dying Marine Gets His Wish...

Marine Gets His Dying Wish: A Uniform To Be Buried In
Aug 18, 2016 | Normand Dupras sat at the Dighton Nursing Center, amazed to hear from his granddaughter, Dona Silva, that a group of people was there to see him. "We've got a surprise for you," Silva told him Wednesday.

That's when Glenn Dusablon, of the Veterans Memorial Museum, in Woonsocket, presented Dupras with a full Marine Corps dress uniform, including the white hat, belt and gloves. "I love this," Dupras said, looking over each item. Dupras, of Swansea, Massachusetts, a former reserve police officer in that town, served in the Korean War. At 86, and now suffering from dementia, it was his dying wish a few years back to be buried in the uniform, he said. Asked what happened to his former uniform, Dupras said he did not know, but believes it was taken at a hospital. "I got wounded in action," he said, when a grenade sent shrapnel into his back. Dupras received the Purple Heart. "It brings back some memories, believe me," Dupras said, both good and bad. "I was in there when it was really hot."

Asked why his dying wish was to be buried in the uniform, Dupras said, "I fought for it," and added, "that's the only Marine uniform I have." Before long, Dupras was wearing the hat and, with the help of Dusablon, slipped into the jacket. Smiling widely, he saluted and then put both of his thumbs up. "Very spiffy!" Dusablon said. Getting the uniform was a challenge of its own. Silva got in touch with her cousin, Melinda Grocott, of Exeter, who said she enlisted the help of her boyfriend, Rodney Santos, who served in the Navy during the Persian Gulf war and now works for the Department of Defense. All started making calls.

Eventually, a volunteer at the VA Medical Center in Rhode Island heard from the family and called Dusablon. "You can't ignore a request like that," Dusablon said. In November, Dusablon opened the Veterans Memorial Museum, and is now raising money for an elevator so that more veterans can visit. There, he has amassed not only uniforms but also the equipment soldiers used from the Revolutionary War to the present day. The family hoped he had a Marine Corps uniform to spare.

After he received the measurements from the family (which were a little too large), he realized none was the right size. He then purchased a uniform for about $400 out of his own pocket, and raised money for reimbursement. People from as far away as Florida sent money, he said, many of them veterans themselves. "That's all we are about," Dusablon said. "Preserving the history and honoring the service." Grocott, who was on hand and snapped pictures of the happy event, wiped away tears. "We have to take care of our veterans," she said. "Without them, we have nothing."

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/08/18/marine-gets-his-dying-wish-uniform-be-buried.html

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Retired Pennsylvania Marine Seeks Return of Fallen Comrades
Aug 19, 2016 — Ed "Zimmo" Zimmerman Thursday returned from Vietnam for the third — and hopefully — last time. Zimmerman served with the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, having spent 13 months "in country" and participating in some 26 battles during a 13-month tour in 1968-69.

In 2014, he guided a group of U.S. Military personnel to the exact spot where he last saw two fallen Marines after the 73-day siege at Khe Sanh in April, 1968. Those two Marines — Pfc. Anthony John (Tony) Pepper, 20, of Richmond, Virginia, and Cpl. James Mitchell Trimble, 19, of Eureka, California — were never recovered and never returned home to their families. On Thursday, Zimmerman again returned from Vietnam to a waiting crowd of family and friends after helping a U.S. Military Search Team locate the site where the Marines were left behind.

Zimmerman said he had no problem directing the U.S. government's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, search team to the exact spot where he last saw Pepper and Trimble. The search team will now begin excavating the site for up to 30 days to locate the remains of the two soldiers. "They want to find them as much as I do," Zimmerman said of the search team members. "They'll do whatever it takes." The 67-year-old Bear Creek resident, who formerly resided in Edwardsville, left Aug. 10 for Vietnam to assist the recovery effort to search and, hopefully, recover the remains of his two Marine "brothers." As Zimmerman walked slowly through the terminal at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Thursday, his wife, Cathy, their three daughters, Lori Kosierowski, Leah O'Boyle and Nadine Burney, his grandchildren and several friends waited with open arms. "Welcome back, Marine," said Don Wilmot, of Sterling, a fellow Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam.

Zimmerman appeared a little weary from the long plane ride and the emotional experience of having the opportunity to get closer to finding Pepper and Trimble, ending a nine-year ordeal during which he managed to convince the U.S. military to undertake the search. "It's really been a journey," he said as his family took turns hugging him. "It's been a non-stop whirlwind from the time I left." Zimmerman was a 19-year-old Marine helping his unit clean up after a battle at Khe Sanh, South Vietnam, on April 6, 1968. A member of F Company, 2nd Battalion of the 26th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, he was with his unit when he saw the bodies of the two Marines in a ravine. They were members of G Company, the other unit in the battle at Khe Sanh. The image of the two Marines lying in that ravine has been with Zimmerman since 1968, and it heightened in 2009 when he learned their bodies had never been recovered. Since then, he has devoted much of his life to convincing the government and the military to return to the site to search for their remains.

Zimmerman said he has had many restless, sleepless nights and plenty of nightmares over the years. Finding the two Marines will bring peace to him and closure to the families of the two soldiers. "I'm still trying to filter it all," he said. "While I was there, a lot of memories came back to me." Wilmot reminded Zimmerman of the 58,000 Americans killed in Vietnam. "They only got a one-way ticket," Wilmot said. Zimmerman will be notified when the remains of the two Marines are found. He plans to attend their burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The families of Pepper and Trimble have been supportive in his efforts and keep in touch with him. He wishes he could have stayed in Vietnam to aid the search. "They wouldn't let me dig," he said. "I've done all I could. It's up to the search team now."

Retired Pennsylvania Marine Seeks Return of Fallen Comrades | Military.com

 

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Bravery in the line of duty...

Trooper Rescues Driver From Burning Vehicle
August 23, 2016 - With the help of two others, Connecticut State Trooper Thomas Karanda was able to pull a man from a fiery wreck Tuesday morning.

David Bartlett, 58, of Glenwood Drive, was heading east on Route 72 when he lost control, hitting the guardrail and a bridge support column about 10 a.m., state police said. The car, a Pontiac Grand Prix, burst into flames with Bartlett trapped inside, state police said.

With the help of two others, Trooper Thomas Karanda was able to pull a local man out from a burning car Tuesday morning​

Trooper Thomas Karanda was working at a nearby highway construction project and responded. He smashed the driver's window to get access to Bartlett.

With the help of a construction worker and passing motorist, Karanda was able to pull Bartlett from vehicle, state police said. Bartlett was taken by ambulance to Hartford Hospital for evaluation, state police said. Trooper Karanda and the other rescuers were uninjured.

Trooper Helps Pull Driver From Burning Car | Officer.com

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N.J. Officer Catches Baby Dropped From Fire
August 23, 2016 - Sayreville Police Officer Brian Gay caught a 1-month old baby boy dropped from a fire and helped others escape the burning home Monday afternoon.

Officer Brian Gay was the first to respond to the residence at 11 Jacobsen Street around 2 p.m. when a young girl outside who had escaped told him that four more people were trapped on the second floor, according to NJ.com. He said he tried to enter the home through stairs on the exterior of the home, but the top was engulfed in flames. With the help of neighbor Daniel Hockenjos and Sayreville Fire Department First Assistant Chief George Gawron, Gay helped the remaining occupants exit the home through a window.

Sayreville Police Officer Brian Gay caught a 1-month old baby boy dropped from a fire and helped others escape the burning home Monday afternoon.​

The officer broke the fall of a girl who jumped and then caught another. Gay stood ready as the 1-month-old boy was dropped to him in a carrier seat. A ladder was against the house and the woman exited the window and fell down the ladder before she was brought to the ground by Gay and Gowron. None of the occupants suffered any serious injuries and were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick as a precaution.

Sayreville Police Capt. Glenn Skarzynski said the brave efforts of Gay is a "testament to our department and departments around the nation who perform selfless acts like this every day." The 13-year veteran of the force said it was one of the most daring acts he's performed as an officer. "I'm a little shaken up, but I'll be alright," he told the newspaper. "I'm glad to see that they're okay."

New Jersey Officer Catches Baby Dropped From Fire | Officer.com

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Deputies Rescue Man Struck by Lightning
August 18, 2016 - Two Charlotte County Sheriff's deputies are being credited with saving the life of a man reportedly struck by lightning while jet skiing near Englewood.

Around 6:40 p.m. Sunday, the Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a 22-year-old man floating face down in gulf waters. Charlotte County Sheriff's spokesman Skip Conroy said deputy James Mills removed his duty belt and jumped in the water, "shoes and all," and swam to the man about 60 to 80 yards away. Mills dragged the man back to a floating dock where Deputy Seth Pelfry helped pull him from the water.

Deputy James Mills, left, and Deputy Seth Pelfry​

Both deputies performed CPR on the man until emergency medical personnel arrived. They later discovered the victim was riding a jet ski in the gulf when a "violent thunderstorm" moved into the area, and he was hit by lightning. "Heroic is an understatement," Conroy said. "Take into the consideration the violent thunderstorm that came through; lightning and thunder at that point was pretty scary. For those guys (Mills and Pelfry) to do what they do is absolutely unbelievable. They both performed CPR on that man. He's alive today because of that. It's above and beyond."

The man was transported to an area hospital, where Conroy said he is recovering from his injuries.

Florida Deputies Rescue Man Struck by Lightning | Officer.com

 

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Yes, Virginia, there really are good cops in the world...

Troopers Care for Baby Found During Arrest
August 25, 2016 - Troopers B.R. Wood and D.C. Graham bathed the baby, who was discovered covered in vomit in the backseat of an alleged DUI driver's vehicle.

A baby discovered covered in vomit in the backseat of an alleged DUI driver's vehicle found a safe haven and compassionate caregivers at the West Virginia State Police Princeton detachment Tuesday evening. Around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Princeton troopers made a Driving Under the Influence arrest about a mile from their headquarters on Oakvale Road. "We made an arrest for DUI," said trooper B.R. Wood, with the Princeton detachment. "The 1-year-old baby boy was in the backseat covered in vomit. The vehicle was disabled, so we brought the baby boy back to the detachment."

Trooper D.C. Graham washed up the 1-year-old baby boy in the break room, wrapped him in a towel and held him until child protective services arrived.​

Wood said Senior Trooper D.C. Graham gave the baby a bath in the sink of the detachment's break room/kitchenette, wrapped him in a towel, and then cradled him until Child Protective Service officials arrived. "He was the best little baby. He had just started to nod off when CPS (Child Protective Services) arrived," Wood said. Wood said the baby had been sick for some time. "Apparently, he had been under the weather for a bit." "The baby has now been placed with a legal guardian," Wood said "He is safe at this time and under the supervision of CPS."

Wood said the baby was in a car seat at the time of the traffic stop. Wood said the driver of the vehicle faces a charge of DUI with a minor, which carries a misdemeanor penalty of not less than two days or more than 12 months in jail, and a fine of not less than $200 or more than $1,000.

West Virginia Troopers Care for Baby Found During DUI Arrest

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Officer Undergoes Surgery After Fire Rescue
August 25, 2016 - A Pittsburg officer who helped rescue a blind man from a burning house underwent surgery to repair serious injuries to his forearm Thursday morning.

The officer punched open a window with his bare hand after residents in the first block of West 11th Street told police that a man was inside a house consumed with smoke and flames Wednesday night. The 65-year-old inside suffered smoke inhalation but is expected to survive. Police have not identified either man. "This is definitely a reunion, down the road, that we'll love to have," Pittsburg police spokesman Capt. Ron Raman said. "It wasn't just this officer, either. There were several involved."

Police were the first ones to the fire, which began around 7:25 p.m. According to Raman, the officer who punched the glass did so to get inside. But the injury prevented it, and he began to kick in a nearby front door with other officers. It took several kicks to the door to get it open, Raman said. "The door opens and there's about two feet of crawl space underneath dark, really thick smoke," Raman said.

A Pittsburg police officer who helped rescue a blind man from a burning house underwent surgery Thursday morning to repair serious injuries to his forearm.​

Another officer crawled through the front door and underneath the smoke until he felt the resident inside. Then that officer and three others -- including the injured one -- carried the man out of the house. He was unconscious and unresponsive initially, and officers struggled to find a pulse, Raman said. They began CPR, and eventually the man's pulse returned.

Fire crews gave the man oxygen, and an ambulance took him to the hospital. "It wasn't until the officers gave him a few breaths during the CPR that he finally came back," Raman said. "It did not look good at all when they pulled him from the house." Fire officials have not said what caused the fire, but it appeared to have started accidentally in the rear of the home, said Robert Marshall, a Fire Marshal and spokesman for the Contra Costa Fire Protection District. The fire caused about $202,000 to the house, and it was unclear whether it could be salvaged.

California Police Officer Undergoes Surgery After Fire Rescue

 

[waltky]

Honoring the honorable...

Sports star Travis Rudolph joins autistic boy for lunch
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 - A Florida American Football star chose to eat lunch with a lonely autistic child, moving the boy's mother to tears.

The mother of an autistic child said she was moved to tears when a visiting American Football star joined her son, who was eating alone at school. Travis Rudolph, a wide receiver for Florida State, was visiting a school in Tallahassee on Tuesday when he saw Bo Paske sitting by himself. His mother, Leah, posted a photo to Facebook, where it quickly went viral. She said that since that day her son had had no problem finding people to have lunch with him. "This is one day I didn't have to worry if my sweet boy ate lunch alone," she said. "He sat across from someone who is a hero in many eyes. Travis Rudolph thank you so much, you made this momma exceedingly happy, and have made us fans for life!"

Travis Rudolph, the wide receiver for Florida State, eating lunch with Bo Paske​

She also wrote about her memories of middle school being difficult, and how she worries about Bo. "Sometimes I'm grateful for his autism. That may sound like a terrible thing to say, but in some ways I think, I hope, it shields him. "He doesn't seem to notice when people stare at him when he flaps his hands. He doesn't seem to notice that he doesn't get invited to birthday parties anymore. And he doesn't seem to mind if he eats lunch alone." She said the small moment captured in the photo has had a "huge impact".

The small act of kindness was picked up by both local and national newspapers. Rudolph, one of several players visiting the school that day, said he wasn't expecting the huge reaction. "We just had a great conversation. He started off, telling me his name was Bo, telling me how much he loves Florida State. We went from there,'' said the West Palm Beach, Florida, native, now beginning his junior season. "I just wanted to go say hi to the kid, because I saw him eating alone. I didn't even know anybody took a photo of it,'' he said. "I'm glad it can bring awareness to helping others.'' "It was real easy... you'd never think anything was wrong with him. He had a nice smile on his face. Just a really warm person." Leah Paske says her son now has no shortage of lunch companions, and "everyone was super welcoming." Bo was also excited by all the attention. "It's been awesome. Everyone was so proud of me,'' he said.

Sports star Travis Rudolph joins autistic boy for lunch - BBC News

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Officer Honored for Saving Woman's Life
August 31, 2016 - Oxford Police Officer Andrew Miller on Tuesday stood before the Oxford City Council, Oxford residents and several fellow officers as Oxford police Chief Bill Partridge bestowed the city's Life Saving Commendation upon him for his quick.

On Aug. 10, Oxford police Officer Andrew Miller walked into roll call at 6 p.m., then was immediately sent to a home on Eden Place in the Knoxville community, he said Tuesday. "We were in the door and right back out the door," Miller said, turning over a clear plastic case in his hand, a red pin with a gold cross inside. "It came out as a basic shots-fired call. We didn't know what it was we were going into. On the way we got more information that people had actually been shot." When Miller arrived, he said, he discovered Sirita Spell on her front lawn, a gunshot wound in each leg. Miller pulled the tourniquet from his belt and another from a medical kit and put one each on Spell's legs just above the gunshot wounds, he said, a decision that ultimately allowed her to make it to UAB Hospital without dying of blood loss.

Miller on Tuesday stood before the Oxford City Council, Oxford residents and several fellow officers as Oxford police Chief Bill Partridge bestowed the city's Life Saving Commendation upon him for his quick thinking. It is the first time the award has been given to an Oxford officer in the nine years Partridge has been chief, he said by phone last week. A domestic dispute between Spell and her husband, Reginald Tyrone Spell, 41, led neighbors to call 911 that day, Oxford Capt. L.G. Owens said earlier this month. When Miller arrived at the home, Reginald Spell was dead, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the couple's daughter was nearby, said Ketrina Wright, Sirita Spell's older sister. Reginald Spell had shot his wife then fatally shot himself, Owens said.

Oxford Police Officer Andrew Miller on Tuesday stood before the Oxford City Council, Oxford residents and several fellow officers as Oxford police Chief Bill Partridge bestowed the city's Life Saving Commendation upon him for his quick.​

Wright, who was at the award ceremony on behalf of her sister, said she felt blessed Miller was the one to respond. "If he wasn't there, she probably would have bled out at the scene, and her daughter was there so it just means so much to us," Wright said, wiping tears from her face. "Just happy to have someone like that to step up and take charge and save her." Wright said Spell has made improvements and is currently undergoing physical therapy. "We are just praying she will make a full recovery," she said.

Partridge said that this kind of incident and response happens every day. "Today we are able to honor an individual who doesn't look for accolades, just like the 99.9 percent of the other officers across america," the chief said. "This is the type of stuff that we need to let America know about, this is what we do every day. I always say quality police officers, quality training and quality equipment saves lives." Miller echoed Partridge's comments. "We don't go out looking for trouble," he said. "We're here to help people and that one event made all the other mess worth it. That's what we live for. That's the call we live for. Making a difference and someone gets to go home to their family because of that."

Alabama Officer Honored for Saving Woman's Life | Officer.com

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Medal of Honor Recipient Serenaded on 92nd Birthday
Sep 01, 2016 — A Medal of Honor recipient has celebrated his 92nd birthday with the help of 50 Navy petty officers who serenaded him outside his home.

The sailors sang "Happy Birthday" and "Anchors Aweigh" to former Navy combat pilot Capt. Thomas Hudner, then presented him with a birthday cake and shook his hand during the ceremony Wednesday at his home in Concord, Massachusetts.

Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Thomas Hudner, who was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Truman, poses on the porch at his home in Concord, Mass.​

Hudner did not speak, but he stood and saluted. His son, Thomas Hudner III, said his father was "humbled and moved" by the show of affection.

Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Korean War after his plane came under enemy fire and he crash-landed in an unsuccessful effort to save the life of his wingman and friend, Ensign Jesse Brown, the Navy's first black combat pilot.

Medal of Honor Recipient Serenaded on 92nd Birthday | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Too young to be this sick...

Community honors firefighter battling cancer in a big way
Tuesday, September 13th 2016 - Highview Fire Maj. Kevin Bayens was inducted to the Fairdale High School Fire & EMS Academy as he battles cancer.

Tucked away inside the halls of Fairdale High School is the Fire & EMS Academy. It's the launchpad for teens interested in a life of service—the life of a first responders. "It exposes the kids to some of the work our emergency responders do and prepares them for careers in those fields," said Jefferey Birt, Fairdale High School Fire and EMS Academy instructor. The Fire and EMS Academy has been around for nearly two decades. During that time, countless teens have received their diplomas as well as real-world training. Many of them have gone on to be professional firefighters.

But one graduate of the program, in particular, has made his mark. "When you think of the fire service, you think of Kevin Bayens," said Jordan Yuodis, a fireman with the Buechel Fire Department. "His name is so big in the community." Added Highview Fire Chief Dave Goldsmith: "He's not just a firefighter. He's not just a major. He's not just our fire marshal. He's a family member." Bayens is the man his fellow firefighters can't stop raving about. "If there's anybody in the fire service these students should strive to be, it's Kevin," Yuodis said. Bayens graduated from the Fire & EMS Academy back in 1999. He jumped from the classroom to fighting fires with the Highview Fire Department right after getting his diploma.

Highview Fire Department Maj. Kevin Bayens was diagnosed with cancer last Thanksgiving.​

He's risen to the rank of major of the Highview Fire Department. He was recently promoted to fire marshal, and has racked up several awards and saved countless lives along the way. Bayens also regularly volunteers to train the next wave of first responders; he comes back to the academy to teach eager high school students. By all accounts, he's a stand-up guy and a true hero in the community. But every story has a villain and this one has a familiar foe: cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer on Thanksgiving Day last year. Doctors warn his days are numbered. For the guys who know him, it's been a hard pill to swallow. But instead of getting down when they heard to news, his fellow firefighters got to action.

Yuodis organized a big surprise that hid behind a small banner, hung on the walls of the Fire & EMS Academy. "I knew at some point he wouldn't be around," Yuodis said. "I didn't want the students who are coming through this program now and future students to not know who Kevin was." That's when they decided to honor Bayens by inducting him into the Fire & EMS Academy Hall of Fame, but first they had to start one. After months of planning, Bayens was finally presented the honor in front of dozens of students, fellow firefighters, his chief, his family, and most importantly, his wife. "The reason we are here today is to induct Major Kevin Bayens of the Highview Fire Department into the Fire & EMS Academy Hall of Fame," Yuodis announced to a roar of applause.

With that, Bayens' name was etched into history. The look of shock, gratitude and amazement was visible on his face. "I had no clue ... kinda shocked," Bayens said. "I knew something was up when I saw my wife." His wife Hillary was in on the surprise. She said she's thankful for the community's support and that his legacy will now live on forever. "I want them to know Kevin's legacy - that he loved helping everyone," she said. "That's what the fire service is all about."

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[waltky]

The littlest superhero with the biggest heart...

Superheroes honor school shooting victim dressed as Batman
October 5, 2016 — Six-year-old Jacob Hall was dressed as Batman for his funeral on Wednesday, and many of more than 1,000 mourners appeared as superheroes to honor the school shooting victim. The first-grader's mother, choking back tears, wore a Robin costume.

Jacob's family had asked mourners to celebrate the boy's life by dressing as the superheroes he loved, and so they did. Captain Americas and Wonder Women filed past his small blue casket, along with Supermen and Supergirls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. His teachers came in handmade blue capes with a Ninja Turtle face and Jacob's name. Jacob loved to pretend he was a superhero, imagining himself as the good guy, the Rev. David Blizzard recalled. He encouraged mourners to honor his wishes by forgiving the 14-year-old boy charged with killing him at Townville Elementary School. "Preacher, I know what Jacob would say to me," Blizzard said Jacob's mother, Renae Hall, told him. "He'd say, 'Mama, forgive that boy and love him like Jesus loves him because Jesus loves him.' That's exactly what Jacob would probably say."

Blizzard also referred to the nine people killed in last year's church shooting inside the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, reminding the crowd that their families forgave that shooter. "We have the same Jesus that Mother Emanuel had, and we can do the same thing if we choose to," Blizzard said, because "a superhero story is about good versus evil. The good always wins. We live in a dark world, but the good's going to win." Jacob died Saturday from a bullet that struck the main artery in his thigh. Authorities said the 14-year-old killed his own father, then drove to the school and sprayed gunfire. Jacob's classmate and a first-grade teacher also were struck by bullets, and were treated and released from a hospital. The teen faces charges of murder, attempted murder and weapons possession.

Starr Henderson, 12, of Belton, cries after seeing her nephew Jacob Hall during a wake service at Oakdale Baptist Church in Townville, S.C., Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Jacob, a classmate and a teacher were shot last Wednesday as they left for recess. Authorities say the suspect, a 14-year-old boy, had shot his father to death before driving to Townville Elementary. The other student and teacher were treated and released from a hospital that day.​

A capacity crowd of more than 500 squeezed into the church's sanctuary. Hundreds more watched live feeds in the gym and the youth building, and still others waited outside the Oakdale Baptist Church. A thousand programs were handed out before the funeral began. A 6-year-old friend from church, Lily Gunby, wore a pink and black Superman shirt. She said Jacob "was really sweet," and "knew a lot about Jesus." Lily's uncle Derek Gunby says Jacob was "the cutest thing ever" at Bible school.John Buckland drove his Batmobile from West Virginia to attend the funeral. Wearing full Batman garb, he gave the kids posters saying "Tough things make me stronger." "Keep an eye on each other. Care about each other, love each other. If someone's in trouble, reach out and give them the help they need, because Jacob would," Buckland said.

Students won't return to Townville Elementary until Thursday. But the district's other five schools planned to honor Jacob by participating in Superhero Day, with all employees and students invited to come to school in costume. A Facebook page created for Superhero Day said schools across the state planned to participate, but in central and coastal South Carolina, schools were closed in advance of Hurricane Matthew District Superintendent Joanne Avery also announced a moment of silence at 1:42 p.m. Wednesday, to mark one week since the shooting.

Superheroes honor school shooting victim dressed as Batman

 

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Just in the nick of time...

Ark. Deputy Rescues Man From Fiery Wreck
October 10, 2016 - Pulaski County Deputy Sam Brandon pulled a man from a burning vehicle Sunday afternoon.

Deputy Sam Brandon spotted a white SUV drive off McCain Boulevard and into a North Little Rock Shell station around 4 p.m., according to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Officials said that the vehicle and a pool of gasoline surrounding it immediately went up in flames as the male driver inside sat unconscious. "I U-turned, and thankfully, there was a parking lot full of good Samaritans," Brandon told the newspaper.

Pulaski County Deputy Sam Brandon pulled a man from a burning vehicle Sunday afternoon.​

The deputy parked his patrol car and ran to the burning vehicle, but the door wouldn't open. He then crawled through the window, cut off the man;s seat belt and attempted to pull him through a window, but was unsuccessful. As smoke filled the SUV, several of the people in the lot helped control the fire and assisted in the rescue. A tow truck arrived as Brandon struggled to remove the victim and, with the assistance to the tow truck driver, he hooked the tow truck to the door to break open the door.

The tactic worked and Brandon moved the man to safety before an ambulance transported him to a local hospital. The man's wife later told Brandon that her husband has a history of seizures, which could have caused the crash. Brand was quick to give credit to those who assisted in the rescue, saying that he's not a hero. "This wasn't a one-man job," he said.

Arkansas Deputy Rescues Man From Fiery Wreck | Officer.com

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Trooper Buys Meal for Couple in Need
October 6, 2016 - Trooper Sean Wallace asked the man to take a seat in his cruiser and went back inside the store and soon returned to the car with a chicken the man was panhandling to buy.

Saturday evening, a New Jersey State Police trooper was on patrol when he was called about a panhandler outside a food store in Hainesport Township. When Trooper Sean Wallace arrived about 9:30 p.m., the store manager expressed concern about the man outside who had been asking customers for money. Earlier in the day, the manager explained, he had asked the man to leave. A two-minute police video, posted on the state police Facebook page (www.facebook.com/NewJerseyStatePolice), tells the rest of the story:

"What's going on?" the trooper asks the unidentified man. The man says he needs money to buy a rotisserie chicken for him and his wife. "That's my only problem," he says. He and his wife had not eaten since using the last of their money for breakfast at Burger King, he adds. The trooper asks him to take a seat in his cruiser and then goes back inside the store. Soon, the trooper returns to the car with a chicken he purchased, telling the man, "C'mon, let's go."

Loitering and panhandling are not allowed, Wallace tells the man, urging him to go home with the food and warning him not to return to panhandle, or "It's going to be different, all right?" The man agrees, turning briefly toward police, "Thanks guys." The Facebook post notes that the trooper, with less than two years on the force, "handled this situation like a 20-year veteran with a heart of gold."

Trooper Wallace was not available for an interview Wednesday, and it was unclear whose camera captured his encounter with the man soliciting outside the food store. As of Wednesday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 80,000 times and shared more than 700 times. The hundreds of comments on the post include these: "Love and support from one man to another" and "God bless that Trooper. He showed the core values of the New Jersey State Police which is Honor Duty and Fidelity."

Video: New Jersey Trooper Buys Meal for Couple in Need | Officer.com

 

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Norton's Children's Hospital is the former Kosair Children's Hosp. - the premier pediatric hospital in this region...

Off-Duty Trooper Helps Save Young Girl's Life
November 18, 2016 - Kentucky State Police Trooper Josh Cummings was on his way home from a gym about 3 p.m. when he drove up on a one-vehicle accident Wednesday.

An off-duty Kentucky State Police trooper helped save the life of a 4-year-old girl Wednesday afternoon in Elizabethtown. Trooper Josh Cummings was on his way home from a gym about 3 p.m. when he drove up on a one-vehicle accident on the U.S. 31 West bypass, according to state police. Several people had already stopped to check on the people in the vehicle.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Josh Cummings was on his way home from a gym about 3 p.m. when he drove up on a one-vehicle accident Wednesday.​

When Cummings stopped to help, he saw Mark Wood holding a 4-year-old girl who wasn't breathing, according to state police. The men began giving the girl CPR, with Cummings giving chest compressions and Wood giving rescue breaths, according to state police. They were able to get the girl to start breathing and kept her breathing until an ambulance arrived.

The girl was eventually flown to Norton Children's Hospital, according to state police. She is now listed in stable condition. The crash is under investigation by the Elizabethtown police.

Off-Duty Trooper Helps Save Young Girl's Life | Officer.com

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Girl Forgoes Birthday to Buy Vests for K-9's
November 18, 2016 - For the past few years, Alexis Mattingly has asked for charitable donations instead of birthday gifts and this year chose to donate to Spike's K9 Fund.

For the past few years, Alexis Mattingly has asked for charitable donations instead of birthday gifts. The SPCA, Humane Society, Hope 4 Life, and Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia are some of the previous recipients of her generosity. This year, for her 10th birthday, she decided on a new one after watching the news on TV. "I saw Anderson Cooper talking about them," said Alexis, a fourth grader at John B. Dey Elementary School in Virginia Beach. The longtime CNN anchor was talking about ballistic vests for K-9 officers. Cooper donated all of his fees from a Norfolk speaking event earlier this year to Spike's K9 Fund after learning about the death of Krijger, a Norfolk K-9 officer killed during a police standoff in January. More donations poured in when Cooper tweeted about Krijger to his 7 million Twitter followers.

Alexis decided she wanted to help too. She told her mother, Holly, about her plans in August, two months before her Oct. 9 birthday. She also broke the news about the cost of each vest: $2,500. "When she told me I said, 'Oh, we should start now and maybe by the time you're 12 we'll have enough," Holly Mattingly said. "But once she starts something, she doesn't stop." Alexis' cousins, Coryn Sandler, 9, and Reese Sandler, 8, joined in. The three baked cookies, brownies, fudge, homemade dog and cat treats and made various crafts to sell. Family members advertised their efforts on Facebook. "People were so inspired by what she was doing and about how these dogs needed the vests," Holly Mattingly said. "They were very generous. Cookies went for like $20."

For the past few years, Alexis Mattingly has asked for charitable donations instead of birthday gifts and this year chose to donate to Spike's K9 Fund.​

Within a month, well before her birthday, Alexis and her cousins had raised all the money needed. But they kept fundraising and collected $3,500 in all. On Wednesday, they presented a check to Jake Jacocks, a retired police chief and president of the Virginia Beach Police Foundation. The foundation has been helping raise funds for the vests. The girls and other recent donors then got a chance to see some of the K-9s in their vests. As a result of donations like theirs and Cooper's, all 61 police dogs in Hampton Roads now have ballistic vests, said Jimmy Hatch, a retired Navy SEAL and founder of Spike's K9 Fund. Virginia Beach has enough for all 16 of its current K-9 officers and for five future ones, Jacocks said. The department retires an average of two dogs per year and the vests must be specifically fitted for each. The vest that Alexis paid for will go to one of the future K-9 officers and will have her name embroidered on it, Jacocks said.

Holly Mattingly credited the girls' grandmother, Arlene Owens, as being the one who taught them to be so giving. Owens takes them to the Foodbank every summer and works with them to make food bags for the homeless. "I've always tried to teach them about 'tzedaka' -- about charity," Owens said. "There is always someone less fortunate than you and their role is to give back."

Girl Forgoes Birthday to Buy Vests for K-9s | Officer.com

 

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Major Bayens loses battle with pancreatic cancer...

Local firefighters say goodbye to one of their own
November 27, 2016 - Local firefighters say goodbye to one of their own

This morning firefighters in Jefferson County are saying their final goodbyes to one of their own. Thirty-five-year-old Major Kevin Bayens of the Highview Fire Department died last week after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Bayens started his career back in 1999 and worked with firefighters from around the world. He even had ties to us here at WHAS11, co-hosting the Fire Service television program “In the Line of Fire” with meteorologist Reed Yadon.

Visitation will be held today from noon until 8 p.m. at Resthaven Funeral Home on Bardstown Road. His funeral is set for Monday morning at 10 at the Highview Baptist Church on Fegenbush Lane.

http://www.whas11.com/news/local-firefighters-say-goodbye-to-one-of-their-own/356224814[/quote]

 

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Families of Slain Officers assisted by Assist the Officer...

Charities Step Up for Families of Slain Officers
December 20, 2016 - On Tuesday, Dallas city officials and two private foundations will announce that they raised a total of $10 million in the aftermath of the downtown attack.

Emily Thompson didn't think much about finances after her new husband was killed in the July 7 ambush. She didn't think much about anything beyond her grief. "It was probably a couple weeks because my mind was so jumbled for quite a while. Everybody was the adults in Charlie Brown," she said. "Everything that they said was 'wah-wah-wah.' I was completely detached." But now, Thompson, who is also a police officer, won't have to think about money. She won't have to worry about working overtime and being away from her 2-year-old son and paying her mortgage.

Private donors from all over the world have given the families a soft landing in the hardest of times. On Tuesday, Dallas city officials and two private foundations will announce that they raised a total of $10 million in the aftermath of the downtown attack. That money will go into trusts for the family members of the five officers killed: Brent Thompson, a Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer, 43; Dallas police Sgt. Michael Smith, 55; Senior Cpl. Lorne Ahrens, 48; Officers Michael Krol, 40, and Patrick Zamarripa, 32. Some of the money will go to the nine people injured in the attack.

New York-based Tunnel to Towers Foundation announced Monday that it would pay off the mortgages of the families of the five officers killed or give them money to buy homes.​

All told, the Dallas Foundation and the Assist the Officer Foundation received thousands of contributions from all 50 states, Australia, the United Kingdom and Italy. Donations ranged from $5 to more than $250,000. "It has been amazing to see the generosity," Emily Thompson said. More details will be announced at a 1 p.m. news conference featuring Mayor Mike Rawlings, interim Police Chief David Pughes, DART Police Chief J.D. Spiller and foundation leaders.

In a prepared statement, Rawlings said he is "so honored by the amount of people who have stepped forward to properly assist our fallen and injured officers." "We owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to the officers who lost or risked their lives to keep us safe," he said. "Out of one of the darkest days in our city's history, we have seen an incredible outpouring of love and support from organizations and individuals all over the world."

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Officers Replace Girl's Stolen Birthday Presents
December 20, 2016 - Two big-hearted police officers saved a little girl's fourth birthday by replacing gifts that were stolen from the Graniteville family's minivan over the weekend.

On Saturday, the Sietz family celebrated little Samantha (Sammi) Sietz's birthday with a party at the Staten Island Children's Museum in Livingston. "It was a perfect day. Sammi was so excited," said her mother, Kim Briano Sietz. She said the party helped take her mind off her late husband, Matthew, who died three years ago of a brain aneurysm; he would have turned 46 on Saturday.

With Sammi's birthday presents still wrapped and out of sight in the back of the family's Sienna minivan, the family stopped at Perkin's restaurant in Graniteville on the way home, Sietz said. They were inside the restaurant from 7:30 until about 9 p.m., she said. When the family returned to their minivan, they found the rear passenger window had been shattered and someone had taken all of Sammi's gifts, leaving behind only the discarded wrapping paper.

Two big-hearted police officers saved a little girl's fourth birthday by replacing gifts that were stolen from the Graniteville family's minivan over the weekend.​

The whole family, including Sammi's older siblings, Sarah, 21, Shawn, 18, and Joshua, 14, and Sietz's mother-in-law, Marsha, were horrified; Sammi was heartbroken, Sietz said. Officers Frank Callaghan and Michael McAvoy of the 121st Precinct responded to the scene and took a report, including the family's address. "Sammi just looked at them and asked if they could find her presents. They said they'd see what they could do," Sietz said.

On Sunday, the family returned home from dropping off Sietz's mother-in-law to find an NYPD patrol car sitting in front of their Graniteville home. Callaghan and McAvoy got out of the car and popped open the trunk to reveal dozens of new toys, which they helped carry into the house. "Sammi was so happy. She said, 'Look Momma, they found my presents,'" Sietz said. "These officers, it was like they were sent to me to restore my faith, that there are some thoughtful people in the world and they outnumber the bad." Sietz said she wanted to make sure the two officers were recognized for their good deed. "They made our day," she said. "They gave my daughter, and all of us, a gift we will never forget."

Officers Replace Girl's Stolen Birthday Presents | Officer.com

 

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Giving credit where credit is due...

Conn. Trooper Helps Deliver Baby on Highway
December 26, 2016 - Trooper First Class Greg Capps said he had just pulled over into the breakdown lane on Route 2 when dispatch called to tell him a 911 call had come in reporting that a car with a woman in labor had pulled over near exit 5D.

A state trooper busy keeping the roads safe for holiday travelers took on another important task on Saturday: He delivered a baby. It happened on Route 2 in Glastonbury about 9:15 a.m. Trooper Kelly Grant, a state police spokeswoman said Itohan Oyabure-Okafur was on her way to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, being driven by her brother, Chris Broderick, when she realized her baby was ready to be born. Trooper First Class Greg Capps said he had just pulled over into the breakdown lane on Route 2 when dispatch called to tell him a 911 call had come in reporting that a car with a woman in labor had pulled over near exit 5D.

Trooper First Class Greg Capps said he had just pulled over into the breakdown lane on Route 2 when dispatch called to tell him a 911 call had come in reporting that a car with a woman in labor had pulled over near exit 5D.​

When Capps got to the car, he said, the baby's head was already crowning and all he had time to do was put on a pair of latex gloves before delivering the baby. "She pushed one more time and the baby came out," he said. "I barely had time to get the gloves on." Not long afterward, Oyabure-Okafur was resting at St. Francis with her new baby boy, 6 pound, two-ounce Ebenezer Okafur. "It was a great childbirth," Capps said. "Mom did a great job." Ebenezer was born four days early, and already has an 18-month-old brother, according to St. Francis spokeswoman Fiona Phelan.

Capps, a trooper for more than 15 years and the father of three grown children, said that he has been teaching child-birthing for years and that his training just kicked in. He said he he texted his children to let them know about his interesting morning. As for the 911 call, Capps urged anyone who ends up in an emergency situation to be aware of where they are on the road in order to give police a good location to find and assist them. Oyabure-Okafur is originally from Nigeria and lives in Hartford. She declined to be interviewed. Phelan said the family is doing well and enjoying the early Christmas gift.

Connecticut Trooper Helps Deliver Baby on Highway | Officer.com

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Deputy, Wife Pay Off Student Lunch Balances
December 22, 2016 - Cpl. Matt Stoner and his wife, Gabriela, paid off delinquent meal accounts for an entire high school in Gwinnett County.

A Gwinnett County sheriff’s deputy and his wife decided to share their good fortune and help struggling families, the sheriff’s office said. Cpl. Matt Stoner and his wife, Gabriela, paid off delinquent meal accounts for an entire high school in Gwinnett County.

Cpl. Matt Stoner and his wife, Gabriela, paid off delinquent meal accounts for an entire high school in Gwinnett County.​

Their family had quietly made the decision to not buy Christmas presents for each other this year, instead creating a special family memory by doing something to help others, the sheriff’s office shared on Facebook.

But when media outlets started asking questions, the Stoners admitted what they’d done to help students of Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville. “We share their story of generosity in the hopes that it inspires others to do something kind for someone during this season of giving,” the Facebook post said.

Deputy, Wife Pay Off Student Lunch Balances | Officer.com

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S.C. Trooper's Small Act Had Lasting Impact
December 22, 2016 - Sgt. Quest Hallman remembers little about the minor crash he worked in Lexington County more than a decade ago, but the little boy he posed with for a picture before continuing his patrol that day remembers.[/i]

In fact, Hallman last week posed for another picture with that same boy, who is now 21 years old and has a uniform and badge just like Hallman's. After his S.C. Highway Patrol graduation last week, Trooper Joseph Ragsdale met the trooper who inspired him to join the agency. "He looked similar, but I didn't fully recognize him," Ragsdale said of their first interaction in 14 years. Ragsdale and his mother were in a minor crash in Lexington County when Ragsdale was in elementary school. Hallman responded to the crash and made a report.

Ragsdale, who said he always had a respect and fascination with law enforcement and the armed forces growing up, was too shy to ask Hallman to take a picture with him and asked his father to make the request. "He said, 'Of course,' " Ragsdale recalled. "It meant a lot of me. I know the trooper had a busy day. He took a few minutes just to stand right there and get a photo with me." Ragsdale said that as he grew older and considered a career in law enforcement, he kept remembering that picture. "I was so amazed at how the trooper held himself, his uniform that he wore, the kindness that he showed to my family," he said. "I wanted to be like that trooper that impacted my life. I want to go out and impact the lives in our community."

Trooper Joseph Ragsdale and Sgt. Quest Hallman​

Robin Ragsdale said she could see a love in her son's eyes whenever he saw someone wearing a military or law enforcement uniform. "Anytime we were in a restaurant or a store and he'd see them, he'd always say, 'Mom, mom, can I go over there and shake his hand? Can I talk to him?' " she said. She tears up recalling her pride seeing Ragsdale graduate last week and said that with the pride comes fear for her son's safety as he patrols Richland County. "Like any mama whose son is going out there to serve and protect our country or the state of South Carolina, you're wary when he leaves out the door," she said. "Is he gonna come home at night?"

Hallman, who works now in Saluda, McCormick and Edgefield counties, says he was just doing his job by posing for a picture with the younger Ragsdale. He said he doesn't see himself as a role model. He implored the new trooper to "treat folks the same way I treated you." Hallman said law enforcement officers are trained always to be ready to act and to remember that no call is routine. "You're gonna have an impact on somebody one way or another, bad or good," Hallman said. "It might as well be good."

Trooper's Small Act Had Lasting Impact on Boy | Officer.com

 

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Officer dies trying to save suicidal woman...

Nashville Officer Dies Trying to Save Woman
February 2, 2017 - Nashville Police Officer Eric Mumaw died after jumping into the Cumberland River to rescue a suicidal woman early Thursday morning.

A Nashville police officer died after jumping into the Cumberland River to rescue a suicidal woman Thursday morning. Officer Eric Mumaw responded to a report around 4:19 a.m. that that 40-year-old Juli Glisson was suicidal and at the Peeler Park boat ramp, according to The Tennesean. Mumaw and Officer Nick Diamond attempted to talk to the woman, who was in the driver's seat of a vehicle at the edge of the boat ramp.

Officer Eric Mumaw​

The officers believed they had the woman convinced her to step out of the car and when the driver's door opened and the car went out of park and into the water. The officers raced into water to try to save Glisson, but didn't realize the edge of the submerged boat ramp ended and both officers fell into the water as Glisson remained in the driver’s seat. The motion of the vehicle caused the officers to be swept further out. Diamond attempted to grab Mumaw, but he slipped from his grasp. Both Diamond and Glisson were able to swim ashore. The body of the 44-year-old officer was recovered by a diver later in the morning.

Diamond is recovering and in stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Glisson was transported to TriStar Skyline Medical Center. "I know he died doing what he loves. He loved his midnight shift and he gave his life," Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson told reporters. "I know his whole detail is over there. They're grieving. They're going to miss him." Officials said that Mumaw, an 18-year veteran of the Nashville Police Department, twice received awards for acts of heroism. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Nashville Police Officer Drowns Trying to Save Woman | Officer.com

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Off-Duty Cop Helps Save Driver in Fiery Crash
February 3, 2017 - New York Highway Patrol Officer Thomas Mutarelli and Elmont volunteer firefighter Jeffrey Dupoux happened to be nearby when Melissa Ortiz's SUV collided with a National Grid truck Wednesday morning.

A Suffolk County police officer and an off-duty firefighter were hailed as “guardian angels” Wednesday for rescuing a Medford woman from a fiery crash on the Long Island Expressway, authorities said. Melissa Ortiz, 23, was heading east on the LIE in Ronkonkoma when her Ford Expedition collided with a National Grid truck at about 10:50 a.m. The impact caused the SUV to overturn and burst into flames in the HOV lane, police said. Ortiz was trapped, but Highway Patrol Officer Thomas Mutarelli and Elmont volunteer firefighter Jeffrey Dupoux happened to be nearby.

They pulled over and teamed up to free Ortiz, pulling her to safety through a broken window with help from at least one other Good Samaritan. “I was on the inside, Jeffrey was on the outside unleashing the woman from her seat belt,” Mutarelli recalled afterward. “We smelled the fire from inside the vehicle.” Dupoux said: “The engine compartment just had a small fire, but as we were pulling her out it started to grow.” Ortiz and the driver of the National Grid truck, identified as Frederick Foote, 36, of Yaphank, were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where they were treated and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Suffolk Police Commissioner Timothy Sini called the rescuers “guardian angels who were at the right place, at the right time.” “This is truly an act of bravery and professionalism,” Sini said. Mutarelli said he was on his way home from court, in uniform but off duty, and was approaching Exit 60 when he witnessed the crash. The SUV landed on its roof, skidding to a stop, the officer said. “The utility truck started fishtailing and taking up all four lanes of the expressway, losing equipment that was on it — ladders and cones, and other metal objects that were flying off of it,” Mutarelli said.

He pulled over and blocked the HOV lane to prevent other motorists from hitting the SUV. Then he said he ran to the passenger side of the vehicle, getting there as Dupoux reached the other side. “We got down onto the ground,” the officer said. “We noticed there was one woman inside. She was trapped.” Dupoux unhooked the woman’s seat belt, and Mutarelli said he “cradled her and pulled her out of the passenger side window.” Mutarelli remembered thinking it was “paramount” that they get the driver out quickly. “As soon as we exited the vehicle ... and we were moving her away from the vehicle ... [the SUV] was fully involved,” he said.

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Woman who caused death of officer charged...

Woman Officer Died Trying to Save Charged
February 7, 2017 - The woman that a Nashville police officer died trying to save was arrested Monday morning on the same day a memorial service was held for the fallen hero.

Juli Glisson was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide in connection to the Feb. 2 death of Officer Eric Mumaw, according to The Tennessean.

Juli Glisson, left, and Officer Eric Mumaw​

The 44-year-old officer died just before sunrise while attempting to rescue the woman, who was reportedly suicidal, after her vehicle went into the freezing waters of the Cumberland River in Madison. Mumaw's body was recovered by divers several hours after he went missing.

Glisson was jailed on $150,000. A newly released arrest warrant revealed that her blood alcohol content at the time of the officer's death was nearly three times the legal limit of .08. She is due in Davidson County court Thursday for a hearing.

Woman Fallen Officer Attempted to Save Charged in His Death

 

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Air Force NCO Wins Silver Star for Heroism in battle to re-take Kunduz...

Air Force NCO Awarded Silver Star for Heroism in Afghanistan
7 Apr 2017 | WASHINGTON – Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brian Claughsey was awarded the Silver Star for his heroism in battle protecting U.S. special forces.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brian Claughsey was awarded the Silver Star on Friday for his heroism in battle protecting U.S. special forces during a fierce, four-day firefight in Kunduz, Afghanistan. It was September 28, 2015 when Claughsey's combat-controller team "got a call early morning saying that Kunduz was under attack by the Taliban and we needed to go up and help the special forces team that was up there," he said Friday in a phone call with reporters. For four days, with no sleep and under constant fire from Taliban guns or mortars, Claughsey directed U.S. airstrikes during the battle. The first firefight broke out overnight as Claughsey's team joined Army Special Forces at a forward operating base near the Kunduz airfield. By morning, U.S. forces had retaken the airfield from Taliban fighters, though they received word that the city of Kunduz had fallen.

The combat controllers and Army Special Forces geared up to enter the city center, borrowing "a bunch of trucks from the Afghan National Army" and formed a 50-vehicle convoy. Claughsey said he was in the fourth vehicle, an unarmored Afghan pickup truck, along with a fellow combat controller, an Army Special Forces soldier and an Afghan army officer. "As soon as we got past the airfield, we started taking fire from a building," he said. From inside the truck, Claughsey directed an overhead AC-130 gunship to protect the convoy. He also returned fire with his M4 assault rifle as the convoy "reacted to the entire route being covered with Taliban," he said. The convoy was ambushed twice and encountered Taliban every 100 to 200 meters, he said. Claughsey directed "several airstrikes along the way. One of the strikes ended up being 70 meters from our location. The AC-130 did phenomenal job putting rounds down to allow us to continue on."

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brian Claughsey was presented the Silver Star for his heroics in the battle to retake Kunduz from the Taliban in 2015​

As the convoy traveled deeper into the city, insurgents set off a bomb-laden vehicle in their path to trap them. Claughsey's truck was stopped at an intersection. "Where my vehicle ended up stopping, we got opened up on by two enemy machine guns from really close locations," he said. The pickup truck would not have survived that assault, Claughsey said, but two Army Special Forces soldiers quickly maneuvered their own armored vehicle in front of the truck to protect the team and returned fire with a heavy machine gun mounted on their vehicle.

The convoy got to its destination, the compound of the Kunduz chief of police, but was quickly surrounded by enemy fighters. Two more days of mortars and gunfire ensued. With no sleep, exhaustion set in. "The Taliban was making their final affront to try to take over the compound – we were attacked from three sides," Claughsey said. A call for help came in, Army Special Forces not far from Claughsey's position were pinned down by mortar fire. Claughsey and another special forces soldier responded. Claughsey would mark the spot where the mortar fire was coming so aircraft could destroy it. The men climbed to the roof to direct an airstrike and "we were immediately pinned down," Claughsey said. The men fought from the roof for another hour, returning fire with rifles and a grenade launcher to create an opportunity to mark the target for an F-16 fighter jet to destroy it.

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Coast Guard Hero's Legacy Epitomizes Bond of Sea Services
7 Apr 2017 | The sacrifice of Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro exemplifies the bond shared by all those wearing the uniform, past and present.

The branches of the armed forces share a special bond. We serve the same public and take the same oath to support and defend the Constitution. The sacrifice of Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro gets at the very core of the relationship. But more importantly, it epitomizes the bond shared by all those wearing the uniform, past and present. The bond of service. On Sept. 27, 1942, Munro volunteered to lead the evacuation and rescue of a battalion of Marines trapped by enemy forces. Munro maneuvered his boat to provide cover for the Marines and was fatally wounded. Munro sacrificed his own life to save those Marines -- men who went on to change the world. One Marine whose life was saved was the battalion commander of those stranded leathernecks, Lt. Col. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller.

Munro's story of heroism, courage and final sacrifice are taught to our newest Coast Guard members, often on the first day of training. He is the ultimate forebearer of our service's core values. In his fight to save those 500 Marines, Munro didn't face fire alone. By his side in combat were Samuel Roberts and Raymond Evans. Navy Coxswain Samuel Roberts volunteered to join Munro and go back to rescue the battalion. Roberts maneuvered his boat in front of enemy forces, drawing their fire. His plan was effective and instrumental in saving those lives. As he was about to withdraw, Roberts' boat was hit and he was mortally wounded. His heroism is memorialized by the service of the USS Samuel B. Roberts.

Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro.​

And Cmdr. Ray Evans, who enlisted on the same day at the same Seattle recruiting station as Munro, was there to hear Munro's final words: "Did they get off?" Munro gave his life so those men could live and his final breath was for them. The unbreakable service bond is evident in this last act by Douglas Munro: the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard side by side. The events of Guadalcanal illustrate the seamless partnership between our nation's sea services. It is a bond we shared then, just as we do today. The Coast Guard is, first and foremost, an armed service. Coast Guard men and women have served in every armed conflict since our nation's founding, and throughout history, these selfless men and women serve to preserve the American way of life.

The Department of Defense and the Coast Guard share a complementary and mutually reinforcing relationship. We leverage our respective roles and authorities to best accomplish the mission -- to ready our national defense and ensure our national security. Success requires this partnership. As our newest National Security Cutter enters the fleet and serves as Munro's namesake, we honor this partnership. National Security Cutter Munro joins our growing fleet of capable and interoperable assets that will go after threats, now and well into the future. We celebrate the legacy that is Douglas Munro. He is a Coast Guard hero. He is a Marine Corps hero. He is a uniquely American hero.

Coast Guard Hero's Legacy Epitomizes Bond of Sea Services | Military.com

*Adm. Paul F. Zukunft is commandant of the Coast Guard.