Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Jeffrey Schultze | Senior Airman Terron Matthews, 9th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Assistant Dedicated...... read more read more
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1st Lt. Clay Lancaster
9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --
A Beale Air Force Base Airman was awarded the Airman’s Medal Friday for his heroic actions in saving the life of a fellow Airman here.
Senior Airman Terron Matthews, a 9th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron assistant dedicated crew chief, responded to a friend in need who had sent texts planning to commit suicide.
“He was the type of person where a suicidal thought was the last thing on my mind,” said Matthews. “He hadn’t done anything leading up to the event that made me think that suicide was a possibility.”
After receiving the suicidal texts Matthews rushed over to his friend’s house and found him in the backyard with two handguns. Matthews, while waiting for local law enforcement, was able to convince his friend to surrender one of the two weapons.
“Too much was going through my head; on my way there I didn’t know what to expect,” Matthews said.
“Honestly I was just hoping he was alive. When I did find him and knew he was alive; he had a look on his face I had never seen another man have.”
Once law enforcement arrived the situation quickly developed where his friend attempted to harm himself with the second weapon. Ultimately, Matthews was able to wrestle his friend to the ground where he managed to gain control of the second weapon and prevent bodily harm to his friend and himself.
The Airman’s Medal is awarded for Airmen who distinguish themselves by a heroic act and usually involve members voluntarily risking their own life.
The medal was first known as the Soldier’s Medal and was approved in 1926; it was amended in 1960 by Congress to provide the Air Force with authority to present a distinctive version of the Soldier’s Medal now known as the “Airman’s Medal.”
“You never know what people are going through; they could have the biggest smile on their face but could have problems in their personal life,” Matthews said. “You show a person that you genuinely care and you would be surprised what they open up with.”
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2016 13:54 |
| Story ID: | 205828 |
| Location: | BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, CA, US |
| Hometown: | NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 79 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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