'Military Guys' Instinctively Protected Other Students During Ohio State Attack

Military guys stood guard, shielded students from potential attacker

A group of graduate students described as “military men” are being celebrated for their decision to protect their classmates during the standoff with the alleged Ohio State University student who went on a stabbing rampage on Monday.

The student was shot and killed by police after he allegedly drove a car into pedestrians then stabbed multiple people at the OSU campus in Columbus, ABC News reported. In total 11 people were taken to nearby hospitals and one victim was in critical condition. Thankfully, one group of students had extra help from their classmates, who happened to have military training.

The Independent Journal Review covered a CNN interview in which one student told the story of the silent heroes in her class. “We have quite a few military men in our class, who are actually all standing by the doors, keeping us safe,” OSU student Molly Clarke said. “I’m feeling pretty good about that.” IJR thinks it’s possible Clarke was referring to Ohio State ROTC cadets.

The story of these unnamed students’ bravery was also told by journalist John Gray, who shared the inspiring encounter on his Facebook page. “About an hour into it, when everyone was “sheltering in place” all over campus, CNN took a phone call from a young woman who was locked inside a classroom right near where the suspect was hurting people,” he wrote. “She said she was a graduate student and she and many others were huddled together scared and not sure what was happening outside.”

Gray goes on to explain that the story she shared made him tear up. “She said casually to the TV anchor over the phone, ‘But we happened to have a few ‘military guys’ in my class and the minute we got the text message alert of an ‘active shooter on campus’ they moved the rest of us away from the door and then all of them stood guard right by the door,'” he reported. “She said they were standing there as she spoke making certain if a shooter or someone with a knife or whatever calamity tried to come through that door, they would be the first thing he’d see and they’d stop it and protect the other students or die trying.”

How lucky were these students to be surrounded by individuals who immediately went into protection mode? We can only assume that they, like their classmates, were on campus for class, but didn’t hesitate to do what was necessary to keep everyone safe. As Gray writes, we don’t know that much about them: “These guys weren’t armed, I’m guessing they weren’t in uniform, they were just students who happened to have military training.” But none of that matters really because they did what they believed to be the right thing.

“Those ‘military guys’ instantly put themselves on the clock and assumed the position to protect those unarmed, vulnerable students,” Gray shared. “I thought that was impressive. I thought that was brave. I thought that was oh so very American.”