The U.S. Army awarded medals to soldiers who addressed an active shooter incident at Georgia’s Fort Stewart.
First Sgt. Joshua Arnold, Master Sgt. Justin Thomas, Staff Sgt. Melissa Taylor, Staff Sgt. Robert Pacheco, Staff Sergeant Aaron Turner, and Sergeant Eve Rodarte received recognition for their action.
“One of the things I can say unequivocally is that the fast action of these soldiers under stress and under trauma and under fire absolutely saved lives from being lost,” said U.S. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll. “On behalf of President Trump, Vice President Vance, Secretary Hegseth, they wanted me to tell these soldiers, their families, and this community, that the entire federal government stands by and stands ready to take care of these soldiers and their families.”
“One of the soldiers tackled the person, so just think about this, they were unarmed and ran at and tackled an armed person who they knew was actively shooting their buddies, their colleagues, their fellow soldiers,” Driscoll added. “Another soldier jumped on top of the person to subdue them until federal law enforcement arrived. The other soldiers, using their training that they developed over years and years, started to take care of mass casualties.”
Five soldiers were wounded in the active shooter incident. The Army said on August 6: “Five soldiers were shot today in an active shooter incident in the 2nd ABCT complex at 10:56 a.m. All Soldiers were treated on-site and moved to Winn Army Community Hospital for further treatment. There is no active threat to the community. Law enforcement was dispatched for a possible shooting in the 2nd ABCT complex at 10:56 a.m. The shooter was apprehended at 11:35 a.m.”
