Hang Right Politics

Posted by COgirl on April 12th, 2007 in Our Military, Our Heroes

A couple of summers ago I was hiking in the mountains at Breckenridge, Colorado. I was with several members of my family. We’d taken the chairlift up as high as we could go and we were hiking up on a trail (climbing and gasping for air is more like it) to reach the summit of Peak 8. As is often the case, one must stop every now and then to catch your breath and what little oxygen there is. There were several other people on the trail and we’d stop and talk to them on our way up (being friendly, but also an excuse to slow down and breathe).

When we got as high as we were going to go, there was a young man at the top. When we chatted, I observed that he was one of the most respectful young men that I had ever spoken to. And I could tell. . . he was in the military. He was from Michigan and was home from Iraq, taking some vacation time. I was so impressed that I wrote to Don Rumsfeld to let him know how impressed I was with the kind of people that defended our country.

Caleb sent me a story yesterday that reminded me of my experience climbing Peak 8 and I was very touched by it. It says a lot about the character of the men and women in our military. Alpha Company Heroes

Lance Corporals Jared Bolhuis and David Trester were at a subway station in Washington, DC when they realized a man was being assaulted and surrounded by a group of 15 young skateboarders.

“There was a young guy, nicely dressed like he was going out. He was squared off with a skateboarder that looked like he was about 18 years-old. The skateboarder’s friends surrounded the two of them and everyone on the streets was watching this build up,” said Bolhuis, a Zeeland, Mich. Native. “Before I knew it, one of the older skateboarders came from behind and blindsided this guy with a punch right in the temple, knocking him out cold.”

As soon as the victim was hit, the leathernecks rushed to his aid. As the Marines with their high and tight hair cuts approached the victim, the gang of skateboarders quickly dispersed into the crowd.

The two marines quickly put their military training to use. Bolhuis used his terrorist awareness skills to ID the skateboarders as they made their getaway and he summoned the police. Both men then worked to keep the area around the victim clear and to assess his injuries while waiting for help to arrive. While Trester worked with EMTs, Bolhuis jumped in the car with the police officers, in pursuit of the skateboarders. Eventually three were caught and arrested.

Because of their training, their skills and their character, the victim avoided further neck injuries and two of the three arrested are in jail and awaiting trial.

We often hear stories of soldiers who have done something wrong, but rarely do we hear stories like this. I am sure there are many more like this one. These guys and gals don’t seek publicity. They just want to do their jobs. This should make you very proud of the kind of people that represent our country — it did me.

Caleb found the link to this story on Blackfive.