Civil engineers save a life

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Wesley Wright and Tech. Sgt. Danielle Johnston
  • 442nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  For a reservist here, an early morning phone call -- a literal cry for help one March morning-- changed a life forever.

March 9, Senior Airman Zachariah E. Sierks, a 442nd Civil Engineers Squadron firefighter here, started off his morning unlike any other...Until he received a phone call from a friend who said he was contemplating suicide.

The man, a longtime friend and mentor to Sierks, said he had a gun and wanted to end his life -- but Sierks could hear a tiny thread of hope still in his friend's voice.

"I became really anxious when he called," Sierks said. "Then he told me, 'Maybe you can save my life.'"

It was at that pivotol moment that Sierks' resiliency training kicked in, but he knew he needed back up.

He called two of his fellow Reserve firefighters in his squadron, Staff Sgt. Dustin Miller and Tech. Sgt. Matthew Croteau. The reservists immediately called law enforcement to go to the man's house while Sierks remained on the phone with him.

The man was eventually talked down by the sheriff's deputies and was taken to get the care he needed. He called Sierks a few days afterward and thanked Sierks for saving his life.

Sierks said, as a Reserve firefighter, he trains on a monthly basis to save lives and help those around him, but it was resiliency training and the wingman concept that guided him through the course of events that day. He knew to stay calm, and he knew to call for back up.

"It's very important to have an open-door policy with your Airmen," Croteau said, "That way they can trust you with whatever they need to help them and their families."

Without that openness and trust, Sierks knows the situation could have ended much differently.

"Honestly, I would trust (Miller and Croteau) with my own life," he said. "I am very thankful for what they did that day. They helped me get through a tough situation so I could help someone else. I took a lot of the weight off my shoulders so I could make good decisions."

That day three Reserve firefighters didn't save someone from a fire -- but they did save his life.

"We train our firefighters to respond -- to care more than they should and to respond faster than they can," said Maj. Ross McAfee, 442nd CES commander. "That's exactly what they did. This is a story about courage and teamwork. These are three Citizen Airmen of whom we can be very proud."