A Navy petty officer helped save a mother and her two young sons Monday after their car careened into a water-filled ditch in Indiana, the sea service said in a press release.
Culinary Specialist (Submarine) 1st Class Bobby Weaver was driving to his recruiting gig in Valparaiso, Indiana, when he saw the car in front of him lose control, strike a stationary emergency vehicle and veer off the road into a deep ditch.
“I couldn’t see the car, but I saw a splash come up, so I knew I needed to get down there,” Weaver said.
He scrambled down the ditch and saw a woman climbing out of the passenger window as the car filled with water.
The driver told Weaver that her 5-year-old and 2-year-old sons were still in the backseat, and the sailor rescued them, according to the Navy release.
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“It caught me off guard how deep it was,” he said. “I helped her get the 2-year-old on top of the car, and then I grabbed the 5-year-old. I held on to both of them and then told her to hold on to me, while we swam out.”
Weaver put the woman and her boys in his truck as they waited for first responders.
He feared they were in shock as Weaver helped the woman contact her parents, and emergency personnel started arriving.
“I was sopping wet, and had mud and leaves all over me,” Weaver recalled. “I called my (leading petty officer) and told him what happened. Then I went home, took a shower and put on some PT gear, and went to work.”
Cmdr. Matthew Sass, the head of Navy Talent Acquisition Group Great Lakes, lauded Weaver’s valor.
“CSS1 Weaver, in no uncertain terms, is a hero,” Sass said in a statement. “We are often judged by how we react in a crisis. CSS1 scored a perfect 10.”
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
