[NFBF-L] BEST OF THE WEB, A military veteran rescues people at a Colorado nightclub

[PLipovsky]

'I'm Not a Hero'
A military veteran rescues people at a Colorado nightclub.

By James Freeman
Nov. 22, 2022 2:04 pm ET

More than any other month, November is a time for thanking veterans for
their service and this week many Americans will be giving thanks for the
veterans who continue to serve long after leaving the military. One veteran
in particular saved numerous lives last weekend in Colorado.

The Journal's Ginger Adams Otis reports:

Jess Fierro and her husband, Richard Fierro, went to Club Q in Colorado
Springs, Colo., Saturday night to celebrate a friend's birthday with dancing
and a drag show...
Their group, which included the couple's daughter, Kassy Fierro, and her
boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance, watched a performance by the younger Ms.
Fierro's best friend and were on the dance floor when shots rang out,
according to Jess Fierro...
According to officials, alleged gunman Anderson Lee Aldrich entered Club Q
wearing body armor and opened fire using an AR-15-style rifle. Ms. Fierro
said he was also carrying a pistol.
Mr. Vance was among five people killed, and 19 others were wounded. Ms. Otis
adds:

Eventually, the shooter turned away from the dance floor to head toward the
patio, said Ms. Fierro. Her 45-year-old husband, a U.S. Army veteran, then
jumped on the shooter's back and knocked him to the floor, she said.
Stephanie Earls quotes Mr. Fierro in the Colorado Springs Gazette:

"I wasn't thinking. I just ran over there, got him," he said, recalling the
thoughts that were pounding in his head: "I got to get this guy. He's going
to kill my kid. He's going to kill my wife."
Fierro recounted how he and a fellow club attendee were able to overpower
the shooter and separate the man from his weapon.
"I grabbed him by the back of his little, cheap-ass armor thing and pulled
him down," he said. "I said, 'Move the AR, get the AR away from him,' and
the kid did it."
Ms. Earls adds:

"Everyone in that room, everyone in that building, is going to have to live
with that now," said Fierro, who served three combat tours in Iraq and one
in Afghanistan. "They got to live with this until they're able to deal with
it. I feel for every person in that room. I feel no joy. I'm not happy. I'm
not excited. I'm not a hero."
Amir Vera of CNN has more on the hero:

"I don't want to ever do this," Fierro said of using his combat skills. "I
was done doing this stuff, it was too much," he said. "It lives in you. If
you actually do this stuff, it's in you . I'm not a GI Joe, I'm just a
normal guy."
In the New York Times Dave Philipps adds:

Mr. Fierro was trying to get better at going out. In Iraq and Afghanistan
he'd been shot at, seen roadside bombs shred trucks in his platoon, and lost
friends. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star.
The wars were both past and still present. There were things he would never
forget. For a long time after coming home, crowds put him on edge. He
couldn't help to be vigilant. In restaurants he sat against the wall, facing
the door. No matter how much he tried to relax, part of him was always ready
for an attack, like an itch that could not be scratched.
He certainly was ready on Saturday.

***

On Thursday many Americans will also be reflecting with gratitude upon the
soldiers who never came back from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2014
Scott Smith told the remarkable story of Adam Brown in Investor's Business
Daily:

In his early 20s, he stole to support his meth and cocaine habit.
After cleaning up his act, he convinced the Navy to waive his shaky record
and joined the sea, air and land special operations force (SEALs).
In battle, he lost vision in his right eye. His right hand got crushed, so
he learned to shoot with his left.
By 33, he had arthritis, a bad back, a broken leg and surgery on both ankles
to offset years of pounding.
But nothing could stop him from going after the bad guys while he served the
country as part of the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group (aka
DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six) until he was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. He was
36.
This week Adam Brown's daughter Savannah Brown, now a junior at the
University of Arkansas Honors College, is thanking the Special Operations
Warrior Foundation for allowing her "to go to college completely free of the
worry of finances." She writes of her father:

He was my best friend, and although I didn't get to see him very often, when
he was home he made sure to show me how much he loved and cared for me. My
favorite memory that I have with him is our last daddy-daughter date that we
had before he passed. I had begged him to let me get my ears pierced, and
even though he didn't want me to grow up, he told me he would take me
because he wanted to be the one who was there when I got them done...
My father was one of the most selfless, charismatic, and determined people I
knew, and I can say without a doubt that giving his life for his country is
something he was proud to do.
***


https://www.wsj.com/articles/im-not-a-hero-11669143850?mod=hp_opin_pos_2#cxr
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