Three U.S. Marines who were in the right place at the right time may have prevented a bloody scene at a northern Virginia Chick-fil-A last Saturday.
The story goes something like this. Lance Cpl. Nicholas Dural, Cpl. John Darby and Cpl. Bradley Feldkamp, all recent graduates from Marine Corps Base Quantico, were running errands and stopped to get a bite at the local eatery in Stafford, Virginia. While they were there, a couple of teenage boys - 14 and 17, to be exact - approached a seated man and got into a verbal spat. The man shoved one of the kids, and the battle of words turned into a physical fight.
The three Marines immediately intervened, one of them checking on a female bystander who’d been bumped during the brawl while the others held back a fourth man from jumping into the fray. It was then that Dural noticed one of the teens had pulled out a knife.
Reacting on instinct and training, Dural grabbed the kid’s wrist and twisted - hard. So hard, in fact, that the blade of the knife snapped from its handle. The two assailants took off out the door with their victim’s cellphone, but didn’t make it far. Police arrested both juveniles and hauled them off to a detention center, where they’ll wait for their court date. Both have been charged with assault and battery and robbery, with the 17-year-old also facing a charge of attempted felony wounding.
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Meanwhile, Dural, Darby and Feldkamp all received Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals for their bravery, which they credited to their Marine training.
“Our Marine brain just kind of kicked in,” Darby told reporters Thursday.
All three have since left for their posts at U.S. embassies, where they will serve as security guards.
Fitting.
Photo Credit: (Gunnery Sgt. Matthew Bragg/Marine Corps)