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SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Sifting through wreckage caused by a truck ripping through an occupied home almost a year and a half ago, Staff Sgt. James DeLeo reverted to his training as an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Marine to control the chaotic situation.
DeLeo, now an ARFF section leader at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, was returning to his office in Albany, Ore., after spending the day recruiting at a local high school, when he was forced to detour onto a rural road. It was on this desolate stretch of asphalt that DeLeo noticed a utilities vehicle following dangerously close to a moving truck.
With no warning, the vehicle whipped around the moving truck, attempting to overtake it in a no-passing area, like a Nascar driver attempting to win the last lap of the race on a yellow flag.
The truck driver veered onto the soft shoulder of the road in a quick attempt to steer clear of danger, but overcorrected and shot back across the road at a ninety degree angle directly into the house.
At that moment, DeLeo’s training kicked in.
DeLeo’s natural reaction was to screech to a halt and sprint toward the wreckage, throwing debris off the vehicle to get to the operator compartment of the wrecked vehicle, he explained.
DeLeo pulled two adult males from the front of the truck and found a 19 year old male unrestrained in the back seat. Although shaken and scared, the driver and passengers survived relatively unscathed.
They had been thrown around a bit, but got away with a few cuts and bruises, said DeLeo.
After ensuring the three members in the truck were in no immediate danger, DeLeo searched the ravaged house looking for anyone inside in need of attention.
“There was one person in the house who was actually in the room that the vehicle impacted,” said DeLeo. “He had just seen the vehicle out of the corner of his eye and had gotten away.”
Geoffrey Taylor, a Summit, Ore. native, was working on a novel in his home when the out of control moving van tore into it.
“It was wonderful that the first person rendering aid on scene was a Marine,” said Taylor. “There are angels in the Marine Corps.”
DeLeo applied basic first aid to the shaken victims, maintaining the tense situation until authorities arrived almost an hour later. Poor cellular reception caused the severe delay.
Taylor has not spoken with DeLeo since the accident, but he tells everyone he meets what happened that day and about DeLeo’s unselfish acts.
“I drove by the house a few months later, they didn’t have to tear it down but it had gotten a lot of work.” said DeLeo.
Now at Miramar, DeLeo will use what he did that day to train his Marines on situations they could face and how quick reactions can mean everything.
| Date Taken: | 11.03.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 11.03.2010 13:05 |
| Story ID: | 59362 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 74 |
| Downloads: | 9 |
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