MIESAU, Germany (Nov. 5, 2014) -- For Sgt. Harry Nixon, a recent evening
patrol near Miesau Army Depot led to the South Jersey native helping
save a German man's life.
Nixon, 38, a military police officer at U.S. Army Garrison
Rheinland-Pfalz, was driving his patrol car behind the depot on a
routine security check. It was just before dusk when he passed a man
with a bicycle.
"I was driving along the backside of Meisau, doing a perimeter check. A
lot of local nationals ride their bikes in the forest back there," Nixon
said. "This older gentleman didn't look too healthy. I thought, 'Well,
he's out there trying to ride his bicycle; that's hard core.'"
Still, something didn't seem right. Nixon turned around, just to check.
A few minutes later, as he returned through the area, Nixon saw the
bicycle on the side of the road. The man was gone. Nixon got out of his
vehicle and began to search.
"I wondered where he went that fast. He had a bright orange wind
jacket," Nixon said, adding that he found the man in a ditch not far
from the forest road.
"He had attempted to ride and had fallen over. At first I thought he was
going into cardiac arrest," Nixon said. "'Please don't die on me,' I
was thinking that."
Nixon checked for vital signs and assessed that the man was in shock. He
tried the radio in his patrol car but couldn't reach the provost
marshal's office. He then tried his mobile phone, but had no reception.
He got in the car and drove down the road a bit, where reception was
better, and called his desk sergeant.
German police and ambulance arrived on the scene and determined that the
man was suffering from low blood sugar and was in insulin shock. They
took him to the hospital for further care.
A former armor crewman with 12 years in uniform, Nixon reclassified to
become a military police officer because he wanted to help people. Now
he's assigned to the 92nd Military Police Company at Sembach Kaserne,
which supports U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland Pfalz's local law
enforcement mission.
"Sgt. Nixon's professionalism, quick thinking and thoroughness helped
save a local German man's life," said Lt. Col. George B. Brown III, the
garrison's director of emergency services.
In the past, Army and Air Force conducted joint patrolling. Since
September, Soldiers have carried out security patrols supporting Army
law enforcement efforts. This also meant a shift toward a stronger
community policing presence, Brown said.
Nixon, who is married to a German woman and watches local German news,
said he was just glad he was there to help and didn't have to later hear
about some man dying in the forest.
"You have to be out there and be proactive, as MPs," Nixon said. "The
more we are out there, driving and around and doings things, the more we
can help."
By Rick Scavetta, IMCOM
http://www.army.mil/article/137654/Military_police_officer_saves_local_man_s_life/
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