The events of this past week have many people wondering if there’s any hope that mankind will survive all the violence that’s occurring around the world. I’ve heard the question asked, “How can people be so cruel to each other and have so little regard for human life?
I was struggling with the same questions as I tried getting to sleep on the Monday night of the Boston Marathon bombings. People seem to be intent on killing everyone who doesn’t think, believe, or do what they think, believe, and do. We could take away every gun, bomb, knife, bat, club, pointed stick, rock, broken bottle, or any other item that we could use to kill each other and the last two people left on earth would still find a way to strangle or break the neck of the other. Those are some pretty pessimistic thoughts.
Then I thought of something Mr. Rogers said his mother told him when he saw scary things. “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Yes, we can’t understand how someone could hurt innocent people, but look at all the good people who jumped in and helped the injured, with no regard for their own safety.”
Some people ran to get away from the area, afraid that more explosions would take place. Others ran to help the wounded, comforted them, and saved lives by performing emergency first aid. A friend wondered which person they would have been if they had been there.
I told my friend that no one knows the answer to that question unless they’re confronted with the choice. I didn’t tell them that I had once wondered the same thing. In an emergency situation, would I react and try to help, or would I panic and do nothing?
Many of you know that I was an army medic during the Vietnam War. After twelve months of intensive training we graduated as 91B20’s–army medical specialists. But I think we all wondered how we would react and perform our duties when a real situation presented itself and bullets were flying. It didn’t take long to find out the answer.
After medical training, twenty of us returned to Fort Lewis, Washington and rejoined the units of the 4th Infantry that we had gone through basic training with. Everyone received a two-week leave to go home before returning to Fort Lewis and shipping out for Vietnam.
One evening, 1,000 of us who would be in the advance party of the 4th Infantry, were let loose to head for the Sea-Tac Airport where we would get flights and fly home. My friend Reagan, also a medic, and I managed to get near the front of one of the long lines at the ticket counter. Most of us were flying standby to save money. Can you imagine a thousand army guys trying to get a flight at the same time?
When only a couple more people were ahead of me, gunshots suddenly rang out to the right of us. Our first reaction was to crouch down, just like we’d all been trained to do. Then many people started scrambling away from the shots. People were yelling, “Medic!” Reagan, I, and several of our friends, headed in the direction of the shooting. I don’t remember even thinking, “What should I do?” It was just instinct. I saw two of our guys struggling with another soldier. Our friends joined them and threw the guy to the ground as Reagan and I went to help two people lying on the floor. An MP had blood pouring from a wound in his thigh. We went to work, trying to stop the flow of blood. Then I went to the other man who had been shot in the hand. One finger was gone, and two others hung by shreds. We were oblivious to everything around us. We weren’t aware that airport security had arrived and cordoned off the area around us. Someone brought us a first aid kit. Soon the EMT’s arrived and took over. Reagan and I helped them until a policeman grabbed us and told us to get out of the way. We complied.
We stood there for a few minutes, our hands and clothes covered with blood. Then we retrieved our bags and went to a restroom to wash up and change uniforms. By the time we returned to the line, most people had their tickets. We had to buy full-fare, instead of stand-by tickets if we wanted a flight that night. It was a bittersweet moment. We had done what we had been trained to do, but in the end had been rudely told to get out of the area, and had to pay a lot more money for tickets because of it.
At least we both felt more confident that we’d be able to react and do what we had to in a stressful situation. Our friends told us later that the soldier who did the shooting had gone AWOL and was being returned by the MP’s. We never heard another word about the incident.
Yes, it’s easy to be cynical and pessimistic when so much violence seems to be occurring. But try to think of the many people who are trying to help others, not the few trying to hurt them. There’s still a lot of good in the world.
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