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Dover Reservists first on scene, save victim

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Nathan Rivard

Two 512th Airlift Wing reservists helped pull a woman to safety following a car crash June 11 in Dover, Delaware.

Senior Airman Travis Beebe, 512th Memorial Affairs Squadron, and Staff Sgt. Lawrence Tungol, 512th Maintenance Squadron, were first on the scene of a two-vehicle accident involving an overturned car. The two were presented the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations safety coin June 15 for their actions that Saturday afternoon.

 “I noticed this guy was backing out (of a driveway), and this lady swerved out of the way,” said Beebe, a traditional reservist training at AFMAO this week. “When she swerved, he continued to back out, lifting her car up and flipping it over. We stopped about 30 meters back and just bolted over to her car.”

“Natural instinct just kicked in,” said Tungol.

“We stopped, got out and just ran,” said the reserve sergeant who’s also a base civilian contractor. “As we were running, my first instinct was to call 911. “While I was taking care of that, (Beebe) went on and did what he had to do.”

Beebe said he could see that the driver was upside down and airbags had deployed, so he thought she was ok, but he wanted to make sure.

 “She was very upset with her hands across her face. I made sure she was alright and looked around for hazards.”

“I wasn’t able to get to her from the front door, so I had to crawl through the back window,” said Beebe. “Once I was able to get in, I noticed there was smoke coming from the passenger’s side, so I told her, ‘listen, there is some smoke in the car, we have to get out.’ I was able to maneuver the bag out of the way, open the door and get her out of the car and over to the sidewalk.”

Beebe said he physically had to push on the airbag until it burst.

Meanwhile, Tungol was calling emergency services.

“Perhaps, it was the adrenaline, I didn’t even think about it,” said Tungol, who detailed the scene to a dispatcher.

AFMAO leadership learned of their actions after Beebe informed his supervisor at his annual tour-training location on base. Beebe is a services specialist who has spent the last couple of weeks training and supporting the mortuary mission.

“We are here to send the fallen home with dignity, honor and respect,” he said. “And, (my supervisor) helped me see that I was able to prevent someone’s family from having to deal with this – and, remember to not take life for granted.”

Beebe said, their actions that day may have been brief, but will have a lasting impact on him.

“I was making sure she was ok when I got to her and when the police said, ‘cool we have it,’ it was time to go,” said Beebe. “I don’t think she will even recognize me on the street and to be quite honest I don’t think I’ll forget her.”

Col. Daniel Merry, the AFMAO commander, wanted to showcase their good deed by presenting the Airmen with a new coin.  

“AFMAO initiated a safety coin in recognition of our commitment to safety and making sure safety became part of the daily dialogue wherever possible,” said Merry. “The coin is presented to those who went out of their way to report a safety concern, fix a safety problem, or engage in the process to make things safer for all of us. Special acts are certainly considered, as we are doing today.”

About 30 AFMAO and 512th AW members attended the presentation.

“The Airmen are deserving (of the coin), because they saw something and acted on impulse ... probably a combination of training and being good Citizen Airmen -- paying attention and engaging to make things better,” said Merry. “In this case, (they saved) a woman from an overturned car, which could have easily been fatal.”

“It was just kind of natural for us to help,” said Tungol. “I think it was something anyone would do – hopefully.”