On July nineteenth, Specialist Rene J. Rodriguez, an El Paso native and Military fight medic, was acknowledged for his heroic actions throughout a Soldier’s Medal award ceremony for saving a girl from a brutal assault.
Leaving Schofield Barracks that afternoon, Rodriguez was heading to the North Shore for the weekend, when he seen a girl being violently assaulted exterior of a espresso store in Wahiawa.
It wasn’t solely the violent act he noticed, however a crowd of bystanders and onlookers doing nothing to cease it.
With full disregard for his personal security, he made the choice to intervene. Placing himself between the attacker and the lady, Rodriguez took the brunt of the assault, shielding the lady whereas encouraging her to climb into his automobile.
“He [the attacker] comes again round, opens my door, opens the passenger door and pulls the girl out, and begins to beat her once more. I run out of my driver’s aspect, I’m going the passenger aspect and I push him, he pushes me again,” Rodriguez recalled in an interview.
His pushing and shoving allowed the lady to get again within the automobile.
“I’m about to sit down down,” the Military Specialist continued, “and that is when he punches out the window and makes an attempt to drag out. So I look to the aspect. And I see that he’s attempting to unlock the automobile. At this level. That is once I began my automobile, I put it in drive. I simply drove away.”
Launched in July 1926, the Soldier’s Medal is the very best Military particular person ornament honor a Soldier can obtain for an act of valor in a non-combat occasion. Over 18,500 Troopers have obtained the ornament since its inception.
MORE HEROES LIKE RENE: Waffle Home Hero Sees Outpouring of Assist After Elevating Cash For Victims He Defended
Of the 18,500 troopers which have obtained the award, solely 241 within the common Military have been so honored—or round about 1/twentieth of 1% of all troopers on energetic obligation.
“Receiving the Soldier’s Medal is a humbling expertise that jogs my memory of the values we maintain pricey as troopers: braveness, selflessness, and dedication to the higher good,” Rodriquez stated in an announcement.
SHARE This Man’s Heroism With Your Pals On Social Media…