Old men doing the jobs that younger men are afraid to
I remember when I first heard about Wesley Autrey, the man who risked his life to save a man who had fallen onto the subway tracks in NY, one of my first thoughts was, “I’ll be he is a Veteran”.
And he is (U.S. Navy).
Almost every time I hear a news story about a citizen performing heroic acts, I always assume that they are a veteran. And more-often-than-not, they are.
The military attracts and then trains certain types of men. Men who are not afraid to do the right or difficult or dangerous thing when immediate action is called for. Men who will risk their lives for others without a second thought on a moments notice.
Like these two guys (one a retired Marine, the other a retired NY police commander and former Navy Seal):
Hayden, a 65-year-old former police commander, had enlisted a gray-haired gentleman sitting next to him to assist. The man turned out to be a former US Marine.
“I had looked around the plane for help, and all the younger guys had averted their eyes. When I asked the guy next to me if he was up to it, all he said was, ‘Retired captain. USMC.’ I said, ‘You’ll do,’ ” Hayden recalled. “So, basically, a couple of grandfathers took care of the situation.”
And then they acted, on behalf of everyone else on the plane. On behalf of a lot of people too afraid, too timid, or too indifferent to do the same.
Those young men should be ashamed of themselves. Maybe if some of those cowardly younger men had been able to read The Dangerous Book for Boys
My favorite part of the story is the reaction from the wife of the former cop/Navy Seal:
Hayden’s wife of 42 years, Katie, who was also on the flight, was less impressed. Even as her husband struggled with the agitated passenger, she barely looked up from “The Richest Man in Babylon,” the book she was reading.
“The woman sitting in front of us was very upset and asked me how I could just sit there reading,” Katie Hayden said. “Bob’s been shot at. He’s been stabbed. He’s taken knives away. He knows how to handle those situations. I figured he would go up there and step on somebody’s neck, and that would be the end of it. I knew how that situation would end. I didn’t know how the book would end.”
That is one of the best things I’ve read in a very long time.
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OTHERS:
- Flopping Aces — Another Probe Of Our Airline Security?
- PoliPundit.com — “Graying duo keep passenger in check”
- Blue Crab Boulevard — Those That Can — The old saying, “those that can, do …
- BlackFive — RETIRED MARINE AND POLICE CHIEF SAVE THE DAY ON
- The Belmont Club — “Sometimes it’s not the years. It’s the mileage.”
Truly classic!