Army Sergeants First Class David Cooper and Gracie Vaughan saving the world

CWORet sends us a link to the story of a pair of Army Sergeants First Class who happened to come across a bus accident on the George Washington Expressway near Fort Belvoir, Virginia the other day. The bus was packed full of Chinese tourists and it had turned on it’s side after skidding on the wet roadway. From the Washington Post;

Cooper said he ran to the back of the bus to throw open the rear door, but to his horror found it bolted.

Cooper returned to the bus hatch, helping the Coast Guard officer who by then had crawled insideto reach passengers and get them off.

But it would take more to free those remaining, Cooper said he eventually realized.

“We have to lift the bus up!” Cooper recalled shouting.

Cooper said he, the Coast Guard officer and two other men counted down and then heaved. The bus slid a couple of feet.

They positioned themselves again.

“This time it seemed like the bus didn’t weigh anything,” Cooper said.

Army Sgt. Gracie Vaughan said she arrived on the scene at that moment as the bus was righted, hearing it land back on its wheels with a thud.

“To me, it was amazing,” Vaughan said of the feat.

When asked how four men were able to lift the bus, the brawny Cooper was at a loss.

“Adrenaline,” he said. “Grace of God. I don’t know.”

Unfortunately, one passenger who had been under the bus passed on.

Cooper and Vaughan declined to call themselves heroes on Thursday.

“I just see it as doing what should be done,” Vaughan said.

Category: Real Soldiers