Paratrooper awarded with the Soldier's Medal
EAST.
>> YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO
BE IN COMBAT IN ORDER TO BECOME
A HERO. AND THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE
CALLING. LIEUTENANT JOSEPH
GUERRA, THE NEWEST RECIPIENT
OF THE SOLDIER'S MEDAL JUST
BECAUSE HIS ACTIONS THAT HE
TOOK WHEN A GUNMAN OPENED FIRE
ON A CROWD IN GEORGIA, WRAL,
FAYETTEVILLE, REPORTER GILBERT
BAYS, TALKED WITH A SOLDIER
ABOUT THAT NIGHT WHEN DOCTORS
SAY HE SAVED 4 WIVES.
WELL, THE CEREMONY HERE IN THE
FALL OF HEROES WAS EXTREMELY
BRIEF, BUT THE AWARD IS
SOMETHING THE SOLDIER SAYS HE
WILL REMEMBER FOR A MY MOST
PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED HEROES,
LIEUTENANT JOSEPH HERRERA IS
HUMBLED BY ALL THE ATTENTION.
I JUST AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT
THE RIGHT TIME. THEY'RE CALLING
YOU A HERO. WHAT YOU SAY?
>> I THINK ANY OF THE GUYS THAT
ARE IN UNIFORM HERE WOULD HAVE
DONE THE SAME THING.
>> THEY'RE PUT IN THAT
SITUATION. WELL, YOU BE THE
JUDGE IN JUNE OF 2021, THE
YOUNG LIEUTENANT WAS WITH
FRIENDS IN COLUMBUS, GEORGIA,
CELEBRATING BECOMING OFFICERS
WHEN A GUNMAN STARTED FIRING ON
THE CROWD. HE PUSHED A FELLOW
SOLDIER TO THE GROUND AND
COVERED HER WITH HIS BODY, THEN
STARTED TREATING THE WOUNDED
AFTER THE SHOOTER FLED THE
SCENE. I RAN
>> BEGAN TREATING MY OTHER
FRIENDS HAVE ANOTHER
ESTABLISHMENT THAT THEY PULL
THEM INTO ONCE THEY FOUND THEM
THAT HE WAS SHOT, TREATED HIM.
AND I WAS TOLD THAT A WOMAN
WAS SHOT THAT WAS BEHIND THE
RESTAURANT THAT WE WERE INSIDE
OF. I WENT BACK THERE AND BEGAN
TREATING HER ONE OF THE
SOLDIERS HE SAVED, READ HIS
AWARD CITATION.
>> A FORMER ARMY MEDIC. DOCTORS
SAY IN ALL HE SAVED 4 LIVES
THAT DAY. THAT ENDED YEARS
PIECE OF HIS FELLOW SOLDIER WHO
WAS VERY SHORT. HE TOLD THEM HE
TRAINING BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW
WHEN THAT RAIN MAY COME IN
HANDY TO HELP SAVE A LIFE.
AND FOR LIBERTY, GILBERT BAYS,
WRAL, NEWS JUST
>> TO ACT IN THAT MOMENT.
YOU KNOW, IT'S ALWAYS THE MOST
HEROIC PEOPLE WHO DON'T WANT
TO BE CALLED HEROES. DON'T WANT
THE ATTENTION. BUT WHAT HE DID
WAS UNBELIEVABLE SHIELDING HER
BODY GOODNESS.
>> SO THERE'S METAL IS ACTUALLY
THE HIGHEST LEVEL AWARD THAT A
SOLDIER CAN RECEIVE DURING
PEACE TIME FOR HEROISM. IT'S
BEEN AWARDED MORE THAN 18,000