Sgt. 1st Class Mario King saving the world one person at a time.
Sgt. 1st Class Mario King, Army Human Resources Command information technology specialist career adviser, is presented the Soldier’s Medal during a ceremony hosted by Maj. Gen. Jason Evans, Army Human Resources Command commanding general. (Master Sgt. Brian Hamilton/Army)
Sgt. 1st Class Mario King and his wife, fellow soldier Sgt. Adriane King, were driving in Kentucky when a movie-like scene unfolded in front of them.
The information technology specialist at Army Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, received the Soldier’s Medal on Friday for his actions that day.
It was May 13, and the Kings were coming back from a surprise visit to Mario’s parents for Mother’s Day. “Normally we take a different route back, but because of all the traffic that weekend, we took a detour,” King told Army Times. They were behind a small car and a fuel truck on a two-lane highway when they noticed the small car had veered off to the left, as if to make a turn.
“But then all of a sudden, it went back to the right in front of the fuel truck, and that’s when the accident occurred,” said King, who has served in the Army for 17 years. He said he thinks the smaller car misjudged how much room it had to get back in front of the truck, which was in a “no-win situation.” The fuel truck carrying 8,000 gallons of fuel swung around, jackknifed and began rolling down the highway before it came to a stop upside down.
“My wife and I looked at each other like, ‘Did we really just see that?’” King said. “This is something you just see in a movie. Like a Michael Bay movie.” The small car had spun around, too, but the driver got out with minor injuries, he said. King and his wife had pulled over at this point and talked to the driver of the small car while others called 911. Then King ran over to the truck and saw the driver, Burl “Doug” Bowling, trying to get out, but he was stuck.
“He was upside down and his feet were stuck under the dash,” King said. “He managed to grab and push out the windshield.” The sergeant first class pulled Bowling out of the vehicle and dragged him about 150 feet away as the truck’s fuel tank was engulfed in flames and its tires were exploding. “The flames hadn’t quite reached the cab of the truck yet, but you could feel the heat from the surrounding flames,” he said.
King’s wife, Adriane, said the way the accident happened, they thought the outcome would be much worse. “We pretty much thought both [drivers] were gone,” she said. “It was a sense of relief to know both of them were still alive.” King said his Army training kicked in when he helped the truck driver out of the burning vehicle. Army Times
Category: Military issues, Real Soldiers
8k gallons of fuel make a heck of a fire.
Tires cooking off make one heck of a boom.
The Army made one heck of a Soldier, to run into that. I hope he and his wife have a -bunch- of kids.
Roger that.
The account of how the accident tells me that the driver who caused the crash should be giving at least half his income to the truck driver for the rest of his life. I don’t know that a guy who were to do that to me wouldn’t just get pancaked, rather than me swerving with a load of fuel to avoid him.
As for SFC King, good job by a good man. How do I know he’s a good man? By his deed.
Bravo Zulu, SFC King!
Big Brass ones required to run TOWARD a burning fuel truck. BZ SFC King
Well Done SFC King. That said I would hate to have to write that job description too many times in one day.
Awesome. He seems to worthwhile of a Soldier to be working in such a wretched hive of scum and villainy as Human Resources Command.
*Too worthwhile. Too much grammar/spelling, Too early in the morning, Too little brain function as of yet.
A fine young man, indeed. If only there were more like him that got the kind of publicity – oh, wait! There are more like him, and his wife. Many more. They are simply quiet souls, doing what is right.
Well done, SFC King.
Nice Grab SFC King.
It’s a wonderful thing to see military personnel springing into action and performing feats of heroism by going into harm’s way. 8K gallons of gasoline would have killed them all within only a few seconds. I’ve seen the effects of such explosions and they are the worst imaginable means of death. Death is a blessing in such incidents. Knowing what could happen, this young man relied on his innate heroism and the heroism acquired from years of being in the Army, regardless of MOS. Hat tip to this warrior who in a few seconds decided to go into a horribly dangerous situation to save a stranger. I’m glad he chose the military. Folks, it doesn’t get much better than this.
WORD!
Hell Yeah!!! Way to go SFC King. I salute you!