One cold day: Four warm hearts

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cortney Paxton
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  It could easily be said that Airmen in the United States Air Force are prepared to go out of their way to make sacrifices for their country. But most Airmen don't just go out of their way while on duty and wearing their uniforms - some Airmen go out of their way to do the right thing all the time.

Four of Malmstrom's 341st Logistics Readiness Squadron Airmen were on their way back to base from a morale-building skiing day with their flight when they noticed something out of the norm. The driver of the vehicle, Tech. Sgt. Martin Edwards; NCO in charge of general purpose vehicle maintenance; noticed an elderly woman who seemed to be in distress.

"I saw her trunk was open and it was just parked out in her driveway; that's what caught my eye," he said. "So when her trunk was open and I didn't see anyone around the vehicle, I just looked up at the porch as we went by. All I could see ... was her slumped over hanging out of the door with the door closed on her. I started to slow down and I was like 'did I see what I thought I saw?' So I looked really quick and there was no one behind us so I just floored it backwards over to the side of road and we all bailed out and ran over there."

Edwards along with three of his 341st LRS colleagues, Tech. Sgt. John Lamar, resource advisor; Senior Airman Danielle Bunyea, and Airman 1st Class Elliot Packingham, both vehicle maintenance and analysis members; all ran to the woman's aid ready to help in any way they could.

Upon reaching the woman, the team of four realized that she was shaking violently and was unable to get up. According to the group, she was on her hands and knees closed in her door with about three bags of groceries beneath her. She told the group that she was only there for about five minutes but that this had happened before - an incident that had previously broken one of her legs.

"She was just in a position where she couldn't get herself back up," Lamar said. "And if it would've gotten dark who knows what could've happened. I just think it's nothing anybody else wouldn't have done."

"I feel the same way," Bunyea added. "I think that if anybody would've seen it they would've stopped."

Edwards felt the elderly woman was a little embarrassed when they got there to help her, but was extremely thankful for their help. After helping her to her feet, they unloaded the rest of her groceries from her car, closed up her vehicle and shoveled a path from her porch to her car for easy access.

The team of four just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And although all four members were on board to help just because it was the right thing to do, it was so much more than that to them.

"If that was my mother or grandmother I'd like somebody to help her out in the same way," Packingham said.

"I hope that sometime when I'm not around and my family needs help, someone would stop and help them," Edwards said. "That's not why you help people, but you hope what comes around goes around. I think we do it all the time. I don't drive through town in the winter and not help somebody out almost daily because someone is almost always stuck."

These four Airmen are the prime example of service before self. Their commitment to helping in this situation was only one way to show that there are people willing to go out of their way every day.

"It's always better to just try to help people out," Lamar said. "We're all here for each other. Don't look the other way or don't think that somebody else will get it."

There's never a wrong time to do the right thing.