This weeks hero is...
Leslie Coffelt
Leslie Coffelt was born on August 15, 1910. He became a police officer in Washington DC in 1929. He was assigned to Precinct 3 along K Street. He later left the police force to serve in the Army during World War II. When the war was over, Coffelt returned to Washington to resume his career as a cop. He was eventually posted at the White House to serve as a secret service agent to President Harry Truman in 1945. He served there without serious incident for the next five years. However, nothing could have prepared him for what would happen on November 1, 1950.
On that day, President Truman was staying in a small townhouse in DC called the, Blair House. This was due to renovations being made at the White House that year. Coffelt was one of a number of agents that were standing guard outside the house. That afternoon, two armed men approached the Blair House and opened fire. The guards immediately returned fire and a two minute gunfight ensued.
During the gunfight, Agent Coffelt was shot three times by one of the assailants. Despite the severity of his wounds, he managed to draw his weapon and kill his attacker with a shot to the head. The second gunman was taken down by other agents.
When it was over, one man (an assassin) was dead and four (three agents and one assassin) had been severely wounded. Leslie Coffelt was rushed to the hospital where doctors tried to save his life. Sadly he died there four hours after he had been shot. He was 40 years old. The other two agents both survived their wounds and the surviving assassin was sentenced to life in prison. President Truman was unharmed during the whole incident. Investigations later revealed that the two assassins were far-left nationalists from Puerto Rico who were angry at the US. They had hoped to gain attention for their cause by assassinating President Truman.
Agent Leslie Coffelt was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was the first and only individual to date who died while protecting the President of the United States from assassins. President Truman never forgot Agent Coffelt's sacrifice and stayed in contact with the latter's family for the rest of his life. For the last two centuries, many men and women have given their time and energy to protecting the president of the United States. Today, most people forget the courage and self-sacrifice that members of the Secret Service give. Agent Coffelt was one of those individuals. He gave his life to protect his president from a lethal assassin. He is definitely someone to be held in high regard.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lcoffelt.htm
https://aproundtable.org/blog/secret-service-officer-leslie-coffelt/
