Hero of the Week 104

 Welcome back viewers

This week's hero is...

Tukaram Omble 

Tukaram Omble was born in the year 1954, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. After serving in the Indian Army, he decided to join the police department in the massive city of Mumbai. With a population of over 20 million people, Mumbai is the second largest city in India and the seventh largest in the world. Unfortunately, the city's dense population makes it one of the most difficult cities to maintain law and order. In November of 2008, Constable Tukaram Omble and the Mumbai police department would face the wrath of one of the most vicious terrorist organizations in the 21st century.

November 26, 2008, was a day that began like any other for the citizens of Mumbai. But at 8 PM, gunfire and numerous explosions erupted across the city. Ten heavily armed militants of the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, had snuck into the city from the docks on a hijacked trawler. Each of them were armed with fully automatic AK-47s, six to seven magazines (containing 50 rounds), 400 rounds of ammunition, and eight hand grenades. Within minutes, hundreds of people lay dead or dying in Mumbai's streets. 

Mumbai's police officers attempted to stop the attackers but found themselves severely outgunned. Throughout the night, they did their best to save as many people as they could. Things took a turn for the worse when the gunmen turned their attention to Mumbai's famous hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace and began to massacre the hundreds of tourists and employees inside. In desperation, the Indian special forces were called in. Despite their best efforts, it took a full seven hours to eliminate all the terrorists and rescue all the civilians.

While most of the special forces were focused on saving those in the Taj Mahal Palace, two of the terrorists launched an attack at the city's CST train station. They fired and threw grenades into the tightly packed crowd of pedestrians. Only four policemen were there at the time, and three of them were killed and the fourth severely wounded within seconds of each other. After killing 58 people and wounded 104 in the terminal, the terrorists then carjacked a taxi and tried to drive to a nearby hospital and massacre the patients. 

However, a small group of policemen led by Constable Tukaram Omble spotted the terrorists and quickly blocked the road. They then opened fire on the vehicle with everything they had. Constable Omble then approached the car to try an apprehend the gunmen. One of them opened the passenger side door and put his hands up as if to surrender (the other was dead). 

As Constable Omble approached, the surviving terrorist brandished his AK-47 and aimed it directly at the crowd behind him. Omble reacted almost immediately, he stepped in front of the gun's barrel and grabbed the terrorist by the throat. The terrorist pulled the trigger and fired point blank into Constable Omble's torso. But the latter refused to let go and successfully pulled the terrorist from the car. Other policemen grabbed the gun and finally took the terrorist into custody. Unfortunately, Constable Tukaram Omble had been shot at least 40 times by the burst of the AK-47. Almost immediately after pulling the terrorist from the vehicle, he collapsed and died on the street.

It ultimately took three days for all ten of the terrorists to be killed or apprehended. By then, the attacks of 26/11 (as it would come to be known) had claimed 174 lives (including 29 foreigners) and wounded more than 300. Among the dead were 15 police officers (Omble included) and two commandos. Nine of the terrorists were killed and one (the one apprehended by Omble) was captured. The surviving terrorist was identified as, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab. In 2010, Kasab was convicted on more than 80 counts of murder and sentenced to death. He was executed on November 21, 2012.

For his incredible courage and sacrifice, Tukaram Omble was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra Medal. It is India's highest peacetime decoration for valor. Today he is remembered as one of India's bravest and most noble policemen. It is an honor that could not be more fitting for such a selfless and humble man who gave his life to save others. He should not just be remembered as a hero of India, but of the world. 

https://swarajyamag.com/blogs/it-wouldve-been-sameer-chaudhary-not-ajmal-kasab-heres-how-brave-tukaram-omble-foiled-plans-to-blame-2611-on-hindus

https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/social-relevance/tukaram-omble-26-11-mumbai-terrorist-attack-501153.html

https://www.thebetterindia.com/204021/mumbai-attacks-26-11-hero-tukaram-omble-ashok-chakra-daughter-remembers/

https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/social-relevance/tukaram-omble-26-11-mumbai-terrorist-attack-501153.html

Hero of the Week 103

 Welcome back viewers

This week's hero is...

Lawrence Joel

Lawrence Joel was born on February 22, 1928, in the slums of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Due to his family's poverty, he was forced to live with neighbor's family for much of his early life. Although he was successful at school, Joel did not see many opportunities for him as a civilian in North Carolina. 

After graduating, he joined the merchant marines and served for one year. In 1946, he enlisted in the US Army as a medic and served in the Korean War. By the time American soldiers were being sent to Vietnam, Joel was considered a veteran. However, in nearly twenty years of service Joel had not seen any combat. Although he had treated several wounded soldiers from an accident, his combat experience remained non-existent. All of that would change on November 8, 1965. On that day, Specialist 6 Lawrence Joel would face something he never could have prepared for. 

On that day, Specialist Joel was with a small patrol from the 503rd Infantry Regiment. They were sent to the outskirts of the Vietnamese city of, Bien Hoa to search for Viet Cong guerrillas in the area. This area was part of a 120 square mile zone nicknamed, the Iron Triangle. It was a hot-zone for Viet Cong activity (they were able to launch dozens of ambushes on Americans patrolling the area). Every man in Joel's unit knew that they would likely walk into a deadly ambush as the hours of November 8 ticked by. Around mid-day, it happened.

While crossing a rice paddy, Joel's unit was ambushed by a Viet Cong army that outnumbered them 6 to 1. Caught in the open, nearly all of the American patrol was killed or severely wounded within just the first few minutes. Despite the deadly crossfire, Sp6c. Joel quickly immediately ran to save the wounded. He ran a gauntlet of enemy fire and began treating the wounds of several comrades. As he was running to the wounded, an enemy bullet struck him in his right calf. He quickly bandaged his own wound and then continued his mission. 

Using plasma bottles and all the medical supplies in his pouch, Lawrence Joel continually ran from man to man. By doing so, he not only saved more than a dozen from dying, he also kept the patrol in the fight. When the Viet Cong realized this, the trained all of their gunfire on Joel. As he was running to another wounded soldier, a machine-gun round struck his right thigh. By now, Sp6c. Joel had run out of bandages and plasma. But even this did not stop him, he crawled to the wounded comrade (who was bleeding from a chest wound) and placed a plastic bag over the latter's wound. This allowed the blood to congeal and slow down the bleeding. As a direct result, this soldier not only survived, but continued fighting. 

For the next 24 hours, Lawrence Joel and his comrades successfully fended off the Viet Cong ambush. After suffering more than 400 casualties, the latter retreated. Directly due to Joel's courage and valor most of the patrol survived the ambush. Despite being shot twice and losing almost half his blood volume, Sp6c. Joel had successfully saved 13 American soldiers from dying of their wounds. By doing this, Joel had also saved the whole patrol from being overrun. 

After the ambush, Joel spent the next three months recovering from the wounds to his thigh and calf. On March 9th, 1967, he and his family were invited to the White House, where President Lyndon Baines Johnson awarded Joel the Congressional Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism. He was the first medic to receive it for valor in the Vietnam War and the first living African-American since the the Spanish-American War in 1898. 

Lawrence Joel stayed in the American Army for another six years. He officially retired in 1973. Upon his return to North Carolina, he received hero's welcome from the city of Winston-Salem. When asked about his act of valor, Joel simply answered, "I'm glad to be alive. I just wish I could've done more. I never say that I deserved the medal. That's not just for me to say. It was just my job". Lawrence Joel died due to complications from diabetes on February 4, 1984. He was buried in Section 46 of Arlington National Cemetery.

When the time came for it, Lawrence Joel displayed some of the greatest courage and valor that our servicemen have to offer. He willingly put himself in harm's way to protect his brothers-in-arms and prevented a deadly ambush from wiping out his unit. He truly is someone to be held in high regard.

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/lawrence-joel

https://sofrep.com/news/remembering-lawrence-joel-medal-of-honor-nov-8-1965/

https://www.health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Military-Medical-History/Military-Health-Medal-of-Honor-Recipients/Vietnam-Recipients/Specialist-6-Lawrence-Joel

https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/joel-lawrence

http://www.ljvm.com/ljvm/