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***image1***If you asked Sgt. 1st Class Michael Alden’s wife to describe him in one word, it would be “selfless.” If you asked his co-worker – it would be “hero.” If you asked Alden, it would probably be “normal.”
But what Sergeant Alden did Feb. 21 was anything but normal – it was nothing short of heroism at its finest. And for that, Sergeant Alden received a Soldier’s Medal Aug. 28 at the recruiting office on Pulaski Barracks.
“I was driving to training in Grafenwöhr,” said Sergeant Alden, a senior guidance counselor assigned to Europe Military Entrance Processing. “I was traveling on the A6 and around the A6/A81 junction, I saw some smoke or something coming across the autobahn.”
Sergeant Alden traveled a bit further down the road, only to discover a vehicle accident on the opposite side of the autobahn. A passenger car had been crushed by a tanker truck.
“I pulled over and grabbed my first aid kit,” he explained. “Then I ran across the autobahn to see if I could help. The first person I saw was a man and he was on fire.”
Sergeant Alden quickly helped extinguish the fire and noticed that the man had second and third degree burns covering the upper half of his body.
While Sergeant Alden was asking the victim if there was anyone else in the car, a woman had stopped to help. Sergeant Alden left the man in her care while he went to rescue the man’s female companion still trapped in the burning vehicle.
“By this time, there were several truck drivers on hand with extinguishers trying to put out the fire,” Sergeant Alden stated. “While they sprayed, I tried to remove the woman from the car. I couldn’t tell if she was alive or not – she wasn’t conscious and she wasn’t moving. I felt that she had probably already died of her
injuries from the accident.”
Sergeant Alden did all he could to free the woman, but the fire was engulfing the car, and he made the only decision he could to protect the others and himself from
igniting with the blaze – they had to back off.
“I knew we were in danger from the fire and I knew I couldn’t get the woman free,” he said.
Sergeant Alden quickly resumed treating the injured man by using scissors to remove his charred clothing and was checking his mental status when another
passerby arrived. The man was a doctor and asked Sergeant Alden his level of training.
“I told him that in the states, I am a volunteer firefighter and EMT (Emergency Medical Technician),” Sergeant Alden explained.
Together, the men cared for the victim, providing him with an IV and covering the victim with a burn blanket to keep his wounds from becoming further contaminated. Shortly thereafter, the German fire department and Polizei arrived on scene and took over.
Sergeant Alden continued on to training, but the events would leave him torn for quite awhile.
“It was rough making that choice between who lives and who dies,” Sergeant Alden explained. “I was sure she (the other victim) was dead of her injuries, but it was there – that thought that maybe she wasn’t.”
Eventually, Sergeant Alden came to terms with the incident and even found a silver lining in it all.
“My sister died the same way as this woman had,” Sergeant Alden said. “In a way, what happened provided me with some closure. I know I did all I could to save that woman and I know that those on scene with my sister had done the same.”
Sergeant Alden’s wife, Kim, said while the incident hung over her husband, he never let it get him completely down.
“He is amazing. He’s a great father and husband, and as much as this bothered him, he never let it affect his time with the kids, with me or at work,” she said. “I’d never seen him so torn, but he just kept on and dealt with it. He came to terms with it.”
Just days after the accident, Sergeant Alden was asked to write a memorandum for the record, outlining the events of that afternoon. This memo told the story of a hero – one who’d eventually be awarded a medal that few have ever seen.
The Soldier’s Medal is awarded to any person of the armed forces who distinguishes him or herself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy. The heroic act must have involved personal hazard and the voluntary risk of life. It is the highest award a Soldier can receive for a noncombat act of heroism.
Sergeant Alden admitted he was proud of the award, but really didn’t think what he did was all that special.
“It was no big deal. I was doing what I thought was right,” he said. “People downrange do it all the time and they don’t get recognized for that.”
While Sergeant Alden may not classify himself as a hero, his coworker Sgt. 1st Class Shane Jefferies sure does.
“He never said a word about it. I came here after it happened and had never heard the story before,” Sergeant Jefferies said. “In fact, the first I heard of it was when he said he’d be getting the medal. I wasn’t surprised though. He’s got that ‘total Soldier’ concept and he’s a hero. It’s engrained in him.”
Sergeant Alden’s wife agreed.
“It takes a special person to be willing to lay their life down for a total stranger, and he did it. We’ve been on scene for accidents before and this is just his way. I am in awe of him.”
