Fire Controlman 3rd Class Tyler Swain saw the car crash right in front of him and rushed to help.
A car speeding at 100 mph was being chased by two police cruisers Nov. 15 in Norfolk, VirginiaVa., when it hit struck a truck, The force flippinged the truck over. The truck it landed on its side on top of a sport utility vehicle.
Swain and his mother Frances ran to the truck. Frances opened the truck door. Swain climbed onto the truck's side and pulled the driver out of the wreck and helped him to safety.
Later, the shaken driver came by to thank Swain.
"He came over and shook my hand, thanked me, asked me my name, and wanted to tell me he appreciated everything I did," Swain said, according to a Nov. 23 Defense Department release recognizing Swain's heroism.
As it happened, Swain deployed the next day from Norfolk aboard destroyer Bulkeley, and his action quickly became the talk of the ship.
"I thought it was pretty cool," FC2 Matthew McMeans, a Bulkeley shipmate, said, according to the DoD release. "He told me the story and I thought, 'Heck of a last day in port.' "
