A U.S. Army soldier stationed in Hawaii received the military’s highest noncombat award for heroism Wednesday after he saved a woman from being beaten by a man last year in Wahiawa.
The Soldier’s Medal was awarded to Spc. Rene Rodriguez for involving himself in a situation where there is a “clearly recognizable personal hazard or danger and the voluntary risk of life,” according to the medal’s requirements.
He told CNN that he was driving home from work last October when he saw a group of bystanders watching as a man was punching a woman.
“I thought to myself, ‘What’s the right thing to do? Like what would my dad do?’” Spc. Rodriguez told the network. “And I stopped and turned my car around.”
The soldier jumped into action after seeing the woman bleeding from her face and crying as the man continued to assault her.
“Rodriguez, with complete disregard for his own safety, swiftly moved to protect a woman enduring a violent assault,” reads his award citation. “He used his body as a shield, endured numerous strikes from the assailant, all while moving the woman into his vehicle to depart the scene.”
Before Spc. Rodriguez could drive away, the assailant pulled the woman out of the vehicle and resumed beating her.
The soldier fought the man off again, helped the woman get in the car and locked the doors. As he drove away, the assailant began “punching the window out” on the passenger side door and tried to “drag her out of the car,” Spc. Rodriguez told CNN.
Police arrived shortly after and pursued the man, who tried to flee into the Hawaiian jungle. The man, who was not identified, was arrested shortly after.
Maj. Gen. Joseph A. Ryan, commander of the Army’s 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, commended Spc. Rodriguez in a video announcement of the award, saying, “He did the right thing because he had a bias for action, and we’re damn proud of him.”
Spc. Rodriguez, a 22-year-old medic from El Paso, Texas, received his medal at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.