Another Homefront Hero

Fort Bliss soldier Chief Warrant Officer 2 Don Schmidt was in Arizona last month. He calls Tuscon home. During a heavy rain storm, he risked his life to save a child:

"I asked my dad, 'Please don't let me die like this. I have a kid in my arms,'" said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Don Schmidt, a Patriot missile system technician here for B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery.

Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Don Schmidt stands outside the B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery headquarters building at Fort Bliss, Texas. Schmidt jumped into a raging, flood-swollen river on the outskirts of Tucson, Ariz., to save a drowning child July 23, 2011. U.S. Army photo (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

These were Schmidt's thoughts before a piece of debris struck him on the head and he lost his grip on 11-year-old Angel Sandoval, resulting in the boy being swept away by raging flash flood waters.

A fierce July 23 rainstorm that’d pummeled the area surrounding Tucson, Ariz., caused Schmidt to risk his life in an attempt to save the boy, named Angel, from drowning.

Many low-lying areas in the southwestern United States flood easily, Schmidt said, because of a combination of intense rain and poor drainage.

Schmidt, who hails from Tucson, said he is well aware of the areas that become dangerous and impassable when severe weather strikes. He had returned home and was visiting his family when dark, thick rain clouds filled the sky.

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