Plucky Yank Saves Cop

While on liberty from the USS Towers in Hong Kong harbor (1985 or 1986?)

That was the headline of the newspaper in Hong Kong the day before we were supposed to leave. A shipmate on the USS Towers happened to be down the street from a shootout as a jewelry store robbery went bad in Kowloon.

The bad guys were surprised to find cops waiting on them as they left the store and they opened fire. One of the cops was hit in the chest. As soon as the shooting stopped this shipmate, I belive it was FN Land,  ran down the street - and started to treat the wounded officer. His life-threatening injury was a sucking chest wound. By the time an ambulance arrived, the bleeding was under control and the cigarette/plastic wrap was in use - saving the cop's life.

What made it all so funny, was this shipmate was the kind of guy that shared what he thought, even if no one asked... he'd say anything, even to the Captain. So he had a reputation and a bit of a record as a troublemaker, so when the HK Police Chief came aboard to present the guy with a medal... The past was forgotten (temporarily)!

Is there a lesson out there with this?  I don’t know, but I do know the more training you have to deal with things - the better prepared you are to actually deal with them.  It seems odd, but I hear the phrase; “The life you save, may be your own.” 

The USS Towers got some great press for the US Navy, the cop got his life and the shipmate got a medal. 

I've looked online for archive versions of that story - but it pre-dates the Hong Kong newspaper's online searches. If someone out there has a copy of that article, I'd love to have it to post here.