|
NAVAL AIR STATION JOINT RESERVE BASE FORT WORTH, Texas -- A
Marine was awarded the nation's second highest award Sunday for a
life-threatening act of heroism, in a ceremony here.
To the
average passerby, Lance Cpl. Bryan Daniels looked like any other
driver sitting in traffic on the President George Bush Turnpike in
Grand Prairie, Texas, on the afternoon of August 3, 2013. Daniels, a
21-year-old food delivery truck driver from Keller, Texas, was
driving his normal route when a tractor-trailer careened off of the
overpass above and into the lane of traffic ahead of him. That's
when Daniels distinguished himself from the other drivers. He jumped
from his truck and ran toward the billows of smoke ahead as other
drivers turned around and fled in the opposite direction.
|
Fort Worth, Texas - Col. Michael Gann,
commanding officer, 14th Marine Regiment, presents Lance Cpl. Bryan
Daniels of Keller, Texas, with the Navy and Marine Corps Medal in an
official ceremony May 18, 2014. Daniels is a reserve motor transport
operator at Headquarters Battery, 14th Marine Regiment. The Navy and
Marine Corps Medal is the highest non-combat decoration awarded for
heroism by the United States Department of the Navy to the members
of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. (Official
Marine Corps Photo by Staff Sgt. Joel Chaverri)
|
“On the surveillance video, you can see other cars
pull over, but nobody gets out to help,” said Gunnery Sgt.
Rodney Fountain, motor transport chief with Headquarters
Battery, 14th Marine Regiment, where Daniels also serves as
a motor transport operator. “People just pass by; some even
turn around and take off in the other direction. But then
you see Daniels, alone, running towards the truck.”
He reacted by doing everything in his power to attempt to
save the life of the driver but unknown to Daniels at the
time, it was already too late.
“In my mind there was no choice but
to act,” said Daniels. “I had to see if there was someone
still inside.”
For his actions, the Marine Corps
awarded Daniels the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, one of the
nation's highest honors for acts of heroism. When awarded
for an act of life-saving or attempted life-saving, the
action must be performed at the risk of one's own life to
qualify, which is exactly what happened that day.
“I
think he used his training as a Marine to help him stay calm
and think clearly in the situation,” said Fountain. “He did
what we all hope we would do if we were put in that same
situation.”
As the first responder to arrive at the
scene of the gruesome accident, Daniels assessed the
situation and looked for signs of the driver outside the
wreckage. Finding none, he approached the burning vehicle,
finding the passenger side completely smashed into the
ground and the driver's side up in the air.
“The car
was smashed. It was hard to see through all the debris,”
said Daniels. “There was glass, oil, metal and God knows
what else all over the place, but I did my best to get to
him.”
Daniels couldn't initially see the driver,
later identified as James Long from Clarksville, Tennessee,
so Daniels peeled back the glass from the shattered
windshield and reached into the cab, slicing the skin on his
arms and hands on the glass and metal while calling out to
the victim and attempting to reach him. Daniels was only
able to reach the bottom of his boot due to the position of
the driver in the truck's twisted metal but relentlessly
tried to rescue him from the burning truck.
“We train
our Marines to act, not to stand idly by in the face of
danger,” said Col. Michael Gann, commanding officer, 14th
Marine Regiment. “It doesn't matter if you're on active duty
or in the Reserve, whether you're on duty or out in your
regular life, we are always Marines.”
Despite
Daniels' efforts, as well as help from officers with the
Grand Prairie Police Department and a retired firefighter
who stopped to assist, they were unable to control the fire,
and before long it consumed the cabin of the vehicle. Being
completely committed to saving the driver, Daniels had to be
pulled away from the wreckage seconds before the vehicle
exploded, catching the entire trailer on fire.
“I've
gotten to know Daniels since being assigned to the unit, and
I'm not surprised in the least by his actions,” said 1st
Sgt. Robert Larez, Headquarters Battery, 14th Marine
Regiment. “It speaks to his character, and who he is as a
man and as a Marine.”
Tragically, the driver could
not be saved but Daniels' deeds were not forgotten. The
Grand Prairie Police Department notified Headquarters
Battery of his actions, leading directly to the award.
“I didn't ever expect anything like this after the
incident happened,” said Daniels. “Honestly it's kind of
hard for me to accept people making a big deal out of it...I
wasn't being a hero. I was just trying to help another
person.”
At the ceremony aboard NAS Fort Worth JRB,
the 14th Marines Regiment commanding officer spoke to a
crowd of Marines, family members, and officers from the
Grand Prairie Police Department about the significance of
being a Marine 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
“Lance
Cpl. Daniels was in his everyday life, driving a delivery
truck, and it would have been easy for him to turn the other
way,” said Gann. “But when the moment came he acted
selflessly and without hesitation. What Daniels did
exemplifies the values we uphold as Marines.”
By U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Joel Chaverri
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
Comment on this article |
