Leadership, Faith, Honesty and other examples of Goodness

A first responder who stopped the shooter at Forest High School on Friday morning has been identified as a member of the local sheriff's office.

Deputy Jim Long is posted full-time at the school located in Ocala, Florida, and was on the scene this morning during the shooting, the Marion County Sheriff's Office confirmed to Newsweek.

The scene unfolded shortly after 8:30 a.m. EDT, when the school resource officer heard a loud sound and reacted, Sheriff Billy Woods said during a press conference. A 17-year-old student sustained injuries that were not life-threatening and a suspect, who is 19 and not a student, was taken into custody.

The entire incident lasted only a few minutes: The first responders "basically, in three minutes, engaged the shooter, took him into custody," according to Woods, who called the shooting "intentional."

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Captain Ed W. Freeman, United States Army, distinguished hinself by numerous acts of conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary intrepidity on 14 November 1965 while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). As a flight leaderand second in command of a 16-helicopter lift unit, he supported a heavily engaged American Infantry battalion at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam. The infantry unit was almost out of ammunition after taking some of the heaviest casualties of the war, fighting off a relentless attack from a highly motivated, heavily armed enemy force. When the infantry commander closed the helicopter landing zone due to intense direct enemy fire, Captain Freeman risked his own life by flying his unarmed helicopter through a gauntlet of enemy fire time after time, delivering critically needed ammunition, water, and medical supplies to the besieged battalion. His flights had a direct impact on the battle's outcome by providing the engaged units with timely supplies of ammunition critical to thier survival, without which they would almost surely have experienced a much greater loss of life. After medical evacuation helicopters refused to fly into the area due to intense enemt fire, Captain Freeman flew 14 separate rescue missions, providing life-saving evacuation of an estimated 30 seriously wounded soldiers -- some of whom would not have survived had he not acted. All flights were made into a small emergency landing zone within 100 to 200 meters of the defensive perimeter where heavily committed units were perilously holding off the attacking elements. Captain Freeman's selfless acts of great valor, extraordinary perseverance, and intrepidity were far above and beyond the call of duty or mission and set a superb example of leadership and courage for all of his peers. Captain Freeman's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Robert Smalls was an enslaved African American who escaped to freedom in a Confederate supply ship and eventually became a sea captain for the Union Navy. After the war, he became a successful businessman and politician serving in both houses of the South Carolina legislature. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1875

At the outbreak of the Civil War, in March 1861, Smalls was hired as a deckhand on the Confederate supply ship the Planter, a converted cotton steamer that carried supplies between forts in Charleston Harbor. Over the course of several months, Smalls learned all he could about navigating the ship and waited for an opportunity to escape.

In the predawn hours of May 13, 1862, while the white officers and crew slept in Charleston, Smalls and a crew of eight men, along with five women, and three children (including Smalls's wife and two children), quietly slipped the Planter out of Charleston Harbor. Over the next few hours, Smalls successfully navigated the ship through five checkpoints, offering the correct signal to pass each, and then headed out to open waters and the Union blockade. It was daring and dangerous, and if caught, the crew was prepared to blow up the vessel.

The startled crew of the USS Onward, the first ship in the blockade to spot the Planter, almost fired on it before Smalls had the Confederate flag struck and raised a white bed sheet, signaling surrender. The ship’s treasure of guns, ammunition, and important documents proved to be a wealth of information, telling the Union commanders of shipping routes, mine locations and the times that Confederate ships docked and departed