STAFFORD, Va. (KLFY) – Three Marines, two of which are from Acadiana, received a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for stopping a fight where an instigator pulled a knife.
According to the U.S. Marine Corps, Corporal John W. Darby, of Breaux Bridge, Lance Cpl. Nicholas M. Dural, of Lafayette, and Corporal Bradley J. Feldkamp, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, all students at the Marine Security Guard School in Quantico, Virginia, stopped at a restaurant in Stafford for lunch on April 1.
While the three were eating, a fight broke out in the restaurant and one of the instigators pulled a knife.
“This is serious, this went from one level to a whole different level,” said Dural. “At that point I realized that there are women and children here, I couldn’t let anyone get hurt.”
The U.S. Marine Corps said that Dural grabbed the teen’s arm and took him to the ground while Darby and Feldkamp prevented anyone else from intervening. The knife was then snapped in half during the struggle and Darby quickly grabbed it.
“Basically, as soon as it happened, my only thought was to keep Dural safe,” Darby said. “If anything happens to him, it’s my responsibility to keep him safe. I thought once he involved himself, we all had to.”
The teens then fled the restaurant and were later apprehended by police.
“When the people saw the scuffle, they were going for the doors. So there weren’t many people in there that were trying to help out,” said Feldkamp. “Then suddenly the knife came out and more people got scared. None of us are really scared of a knife, we had to go help somebody out before it got worse.”
Dural, an infantry rifleman, Darby, a flight equipment technician, and Feldkamp, a motor transport operator, all received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal during an awards ceremony in Quantico, Virginia, on April 6.