Meet Specialist Darrell Dressler, shown here receiving the Soldier's Medal on July 7 from MG General Durbin, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas.
Specialist Darrell Dressler, receives the Soldier's Medal on July 7 from MG Durbin, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division. The Soldier's Medal is the Army's highest decoration for acts of bravery, other than combat. US Army photo by Specialist Francisca Vega.
Then-Private First Class Darrell Dressler displayed his Army values and courage by saving two strangers' lives in a train wreck on May 6, 2007. He was passing by Grant Gate, on Fort Riley, near the Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard (of which he is a member) stables when he noticed that the bridge had begun to collapse due to rain-swollen waters. The two lead engines of the train collided, crashing into the flooding river. Trapped inside were the engineer and conductor, disoriented and unable to find their way out.
Dressler, without hesitating, jumped a fence and climbed the bridge to get to the train. He discovered the engineer and conductor trapped inside the engine. Both engines were in the creek bed with one of them leaking fuel when Dressler helped both people escape through the only opening not blocked by wreckage, the conductor's window.
Well done, Specialist Dressler! If you're going to be one, be a Big Red One! Almost literally, in this case, given the uniform...
]]>
Dressler, without hesitating, jumped a fence and climbed the bridge to get to the train. He discovered the engineer and conductor trapped inside the engine. Both engines were in the creek bed with one of them leaking fuel when Dressler helped both people escape through the only opening not blocked by wreckage, the conductor's window.
Well done, Specialist Dressler! If you're going to be one, be a Big Red One! Almost literally, in this case, given the uniform...