WAHIAWA (Eagle News) – U.S. Army Specialist Rene J. Rodriguez, a combat medic currently assigned to the 25th Infantry Division, was awarded the Soldier’s Medal at a ceremony in Schofield Barracks on Wednesday, July 19, for saving a woman from a violent assault.
On October 20, 2022, Rodriguez was heading to Oahu’s North Shore for the weekend, when he noticed a group of bystanders outside of a coffee shop in the nearby town of Wahiawa. They had surrounded a woman being violently assaulted. Rodriguez quickly intervened by putting himself between the attacker and the victim.
As he took the brunt of the attack, the woman was able to escape into the soldier’s vehicle. The attacker, however, continued to pursue them.
“He comes back around, opens my door, opens the passenger door and pulls the lady out and begins to beat her again,” Rodriguez said. “I run out of my driver’s side, I go the passenger side, and I push him. He pushes me back.
“I am about to sit down. And this is when he punches out the window and attempts to pull out. So I look to the side. And I see that he’s trying to unlock the car,” the El Paso, Texas native recalled. “At this point, this is when I started my car. I put it in drive. I just drove away.”
Rodriguez stayed with the woman until law enforcement and emergency services arrived. The suspect was apprehended soon after.
An unnamed eyewitness reported the incident to Rodriguez’s unit chain of command.
“Without question, Specialist Rodriguez risked his life to save the life of another,” said Colonel Robert Shaw, Rodriguez’s brigade commander. “Specialist Rodriguez did what was right, helping a Hawaiian woman he didn’t know. There were others there that day who did not act, but Rene Rodriguez did.”
“This honor is a testament to the bravery and sacrifice displayed by Soldiers who have come before me, as well as those who serve alongside me,” Specialist Rodriguez said in his speech. “Receiving the Soldier’s Medal is a humbling experience that reminds me of the values we hold dear as Soldiers: courage, selflessness and dedication to the greater good.”
In accepting the medal, Rodriguez thanked his family and the Army leadership for their continued support.
Introduced in July 1926, the Soldier’s Medal is the highest Army individual honor a Soldier can receive for an act of valor in a non-combat situation. More than 18,500 Soldiers have since received the said decoration.
(Alfred Acenas, Hawaii-Pacific Bureau, Eagle News Service)