A soldier’s story?
There’s an article that C-Rat sent us this morning, that I found interesting. A young National Guardsman, a specialist, tells the local news that he rescued a woman from attackers with his handgun. He was pretty descriptive about how he used his Army training to prevent the attack and then held the hoodlums until the police arrived and corralled them off to jail.
I was suspicious about the story when it began with a “proud father’s” phone call to the media. I can certainly believe that the father is proud of his son for stepping up and doing the right thing. But that’s not normally how the media finds out about these kinds of stories.
After reading the whole story I got to this line – because it’s a great story that you would enjoy;
We’ve contacted Chattanooga police to verify Walker’s story, and find out more about the arrests, but have not yet heard back.
Yeah, I’ve contacted the author and she still hasn’t heard back from the police. I called the police, too, and no one I talked to had heard the story, which seems strange to me…it seems to me that this would be a topic of conversation among the cops and there’s no other mention of the story anywhere else in the media.
So if anyone knows folks in Chattanooga who can verify this story, I’d love to write about young Bradley Walker’s heroic day, but in the meantime, I’m skeptical…but I’ve gotten cynical about this shit since I started this blog and I doubt everything no matter where it’s printed.
By the way, I’ve got a screen shot of the article in case I need it later.
Category: Military issues
wow, how do you guys keep finding shit like this? He used his “military training”…. funny as heck. Did he pull out his ROE card and shout in Aribic?
Did you check and dig up his shite to see if he’s really been deployed, or played Call of Duty or whatever that game is.
Oh criminy, he’s from my old Regiment.
@CI Roller Dude: He likely deployed with us for OIF X. Which means he most likely was running convoys.
OK-I’m the MEDOPs NCO for 230th Sustainment Brigade, and I’m pretty certain that I know this individual (hard to tell exactly from the picture). If it’s the guy I’m thinking of he was with us on our deployment last year to Kuwait and worked in the SOC (sustainment operations center) as the RTO. I know AKO has him as part of 278th Cav, but he put in to transfer while we were deployed and probably hasn’t started to drill with them yet (I know this because I talked to him about this because I used to be in HHT 3rd squadron and offered him what advice I could about the transfer).
He also convoyed up into Iraq at least once that I know of and maybe other times as well (can’t confirm more than one mission across the border, but he was a pretty hard charger and anyone who wanted to go north was given plenty of chance to do so), so it seems fair enough to me that what the story says that he “served in Iraq” is correct. The rest of it, I have no knowledge of. My impression is that he is a pretty good troop and that he would have no reason to lie.
Call me old and cynical too, Jonn. I find it hard to believe that he’d do that this day and age an not end up at least escorted down to the station for questioning and/or to give a witness statement. But my background isn’t law enforcement. Perhaps one of our current/former law-enforcement professionals that frequent here can offer insight?
Damn. That should read “. . . do that this day and age and not end up . . . “
“I pulled out my military ID to show him, ‘Hey, I’m military, I know how to use this weapon.'”
Really?
So assuming what he said is true, he had no proof that the men were actually DOING anything but walking in the same direction as the woman. On her word that they are attempting to harm her, having not SEEN anything himself, he holds them at gunpoint? Isn’t that holding someone against their will through threat of force kidnapping? I don’t get it.
And why did the paper print this story until it was verified?
Slow learners, aren’t they?
“…story *before* it was…”
Sorry.
Former FED LEO says, “a not exactly how to go about it Tropper”.
Humorous editorial with common sence embedded.
“I just used my escalation of force (technique),” said Walker. “That’s something I learned two, three years ago and it’s still stuck in my head.” >>> IN LE THE GOOD GUY DOES NOT ESCALATE … THE ACTIONS OF THE BAD GUY CAUSES AN ESCALATION … DE-ESCALATE IS THE RULE IN LE >>> ESCALATE IS THE EXCEPTION.
The first step in “escalation of force” is to scare them. Walker says he pulled out an unloaded gun he stores in his glove compartment. >>>> NO >>>> ESCALATION DOES NOT DO ANYTHING BUT ESCALATE AND PISS CRIMINALS OFF. ESCALATING WITH AN UNLOADED WEAPON IS … WELL … NOT ESCALATING … IN FACT I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS … AND IT IS DANGEROUS TOO … BECAUSE THEY COULD HAVE WEAPONS … AND YOUR WEAPON IS UNLOADED. I AM GETTING A HEADACHE NOW!
“I went ahead and I racked the magazine in there, to see if I could scare him away and get her in the car and to safety, and that point he kept coming.” YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO USE THE, “LET’S SEE IF THIS WILL SCARE THEM OFF TECHNIQUE.” … ALWAYS CARRY YOUR WEAPON FULLY LOADED …
So Walker says he loaded his gun and pointed it at the man. He says he shielded the woman, and that’s when he noticed bruises on her arm. OK … HE LOADED HIS GUN ….. WAITING ….
“I pulled out my military ID to show him, ‘Hey, I’m military, I know how to use this weapon.” NEVER ID YOURSELF TO A SUSPECT OR CRIMINAL … THEY MAY COME BACK AND KILL YOU … BECAUSE NOW THEY KNOW YOUR NAME. AND NEVER DECLARE WAR AGAINST A STREET CRIMINAL OR SUSPECT BY SHOWING YOUR MILITARY ID … THEY DON’T CARE … IN ADDITION, THE STATE GUARD OAND DOD MAY NOT APPROVE.
Other than that, I think he did a great job!
He pulled out an UNLOADED weapon? Hell of a bluff to pull when the lives of you and that person you’re supposedly helping. My philosophy as far as pulling a gun out of the holster is like a samurai and his sword…only as a last resort, because once you pull it out it ain’t going back in until blood has been shed.
Put me in the cynical column. My question is, how far behind this gal were the guys ‘chasing’ her? It seems to me they must have been a ways back for the Spec to have had the time to do all this talking and ‘racking’ and noticing and showing. And maybe I’m picking nits but “he explained to police what happened” and drove away?!
A few years ago I was hanging out with my brother. We were on our way to the hardware store and as we pulled in the parking lot we noticed a guy and lady wrestling around. The guy knocked down the lady and grabbed a kid from the car and put her in his truck. As my brother got out of the truck the guy turned and pulled a knife. My brother reached in the cab and pulled his .45. We were there for weeell over an hour! We didn’t get to just drive away.
Just an observation.
Yeah, showing a weapon to “scare” someone is always the best option. Then thinking about actually loading it is nice. And, there is no need to ID oneself, and it can bite you in the ass, as MCPO said.
As for the statement, it can be taken at the scene, especially if the stater has good ID. There’s no need to transport them anywhere. I find it strange that, at least 18 hours later, there’s no follow-up story on this.
@4 (68W58): I was in the brigade you guys replaced in March 2011 at Arifjan. It’s a small world. I loved when, at the TOA ceremony, COL Hart said, “The 230th will git r done.”
Bem-small world indeed, what did you do for 1st SB? I enjoyed our mission-all of my previous deployments were to Iraq/Kuwait and I was happy to get to help put it to bed. When “the waterfall” finally came (October and November, several months later than expected) we had a big job, but I think we did it well-1st TSC said that we moved more freight than the famous “Red Ball Express” over a comparable time frame.
If you think that that was an interesting speech, then you should have been there when we TOA’ed with 113th SB in December. I can’t say more, but the old man knows how to memorably use a turn of phrase.
I am very proud of him this happens to be my nephew and my brother called me told me what happen its true what happen the girl is a life because of him he is very brave and courages I am very proud to say this and say he’s my nephew not m any would have got involved so im grateful for his compassion for life I know she is thank you
Ms. Brown, please forgive us for being skeptical but having dealt with so many “posers” (non-vets claiming to be vets or vets pumping up their records, etc) we’ve become a bit cynical. As posted above, there are too many things in this story that don’t fit the “military training” we received. Heck, they don’t fit the training required for a CCW permit.
I finally realized (duh) that there is video that goes with this story and this is not the person that I thought it was, so what I said in post #4 is not relevant.
Still no word from the author or from the police department verifying this article.
@18 in NYS if an article appeared about a CCW permitted resident who pulled a stunt like that. The jurisdiction would pull his permit in a nano second.
Jonn; Nooo…really?!? WOW am I shocked or what?
I realize this is a bit late. I completely understand skeptics. I am one myself on every source I read. If anyone has any questions I’ll be glad to fill them in. I still remember it like yesterday.