The horrific shooting rampage in Las Vegas — and its mounting death toll — has made it the worst mass shooting event in U.S. history, eclipsing Virginia Tech, the Pulse Nightclub and Sandy Hook Elementary School in its barbarity.
Yet, in the face of such horrors, shining glimmers of hope emerge — among them the courageous police who responded to the incident, and even some veterans in the crowd who sprang into action when the bullets were flying.
Of the approximately 22,000 people in attendance, many were veterans, according to multiple accounts.
Iraq war veteran Colin Donohue told Fox News “I looked around and went ‘Oh crap this is actually happening.’ So I started pushing people out and said ‘Alright, let’s go. You need to go here.” He continues, “We started taking care of those who are injured. There were a lot of people and it gives me chills because there’s nothing I could do. I’m not a doctor, but you have a lot of people out there helping out.”
Russell Bleck, eyewitness at the Route 91 Harvest festival, tells TODAY show “Thank god it was at a country concert, there were so many ex-military there. You saw these men jump into action, their training … not even in uniform. These people just knowing what to do and treating their wounds.”
Veterans on site were giving aid; even plugging bullet hole wounds with their fingers. Bleck concludes “I didn’t see a single one taking cover, these guys were just running directly into the danger zone.
Plugging bullet holes with your fingers has been a tried and true method for quick, improvised aid. Back in 2011, Marine Lt. Col. Karl Trenker, used his fingers to stop blood loss during a robbery.
A man in the middle of the volleys stood up, beer in one hand, raised a middle finger towards the shooter as others begged him to “get the f*ck down” in a video released by The Sun. He’s still unidentified but if it turns out that he was a veteran, I don’t think it’d surprise anyone.
