Airman saves a life from across the world

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William A. O'Brien
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Talking with an Airman from his previous assignment at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., a maintenance squadron Airman stationed here noticed something was wrong.

"I was on the (instant messaging) communicator talking to a friend back at Minot, and I was really cheery, and she wasn't cheery back. I asked what was going on, and she said some things that set off some alarms. Like she said she was tired of this life," explained Senior Airman Patrick J. Allen, 39th Maintenance Squadron. "I asked if she was tired of being in the military, and she just responded with 'I guess.'"

Continuing with the conversation, Allen decided to dig deeper to see if his friend was having a bad day or if there might be deeper issues.

"I started talking to her a little more, and asked her if she was thinking about doing anything crazy -- if she was thinking about hurting herself, and she didn't say no, but she didn't say yes either," said Allen. "Then she told me she had been thinking about life after death and all this other stuff, so I just tried to keep talking to her."

Knowing he needed to take action but unsure what to do, Allen turned to his supervisor for advice.

"I brought it up to my supervision and asked for my supervisor's help. I was like 'Sir, what do you think about this, because it's setting off some alarms to me. Should I tell somebody?'" Allen said.

Allen's supervisor read the messages and suggested he tell someone. The senior airman took action to contact his friend's first sergeant to warn of the potential dangers this Airman faced.

"The first person I thought of to talk to was her first sergeant," Allen recalled, "so I used my chain of command to figure out who her first sergeant was and then I called him.

"I talked to him and I told him I was calling from Incirlik Air Base, and I made sure the Airman was one of his and then I explained to him that I had been talking to this Airman and they sent me some messages that set off some alarms and I want to make sure she's alright," he said.

After divulging the instant message transcripts to the Airman's first sergeant, Allen was nervous. He wasn't sure how his friend would take the news that he was revealing their private conversations to others.

"I didn't know if she was going to be angry at me," said Allen. "Then when I got home, I had a message on facebook from a mutual friend who told me (my friend) was very thankful and that nobody would've known something was wrong if I hadn't have said something."

The Airman's first sergeant talked to the troubled Airman about her problems, and she then sought help from her problems from various base agencies. She eventually thanked Allen for his help.

"I think that a lot of people think that if they say something in a situation like this, people are going to be mad at you for bringing their personal stuff up because it's their business," said Allen.

Rather, not acting when a friend or co-worker seems distraught can bring unwanted circumstances.

During a recent commander's call, Col. Chris Craige, 39th Air Base Wing commander, recognized Allen for his actions.

Allen said he's happy that his situation brought better awareness to the issue of suicide.

"At first I was kind of against (getting recognized for it), but then I talked to my first sergeant and ... I realized that a lot of people do think people will be mad at you for bringing up their personal business; and even though you go through the resiliency training and all that, it's rare you hear of any real-life examples of people routing through their chain of command and asking for help with something like this," said the Airman.

Allen said people can learn from his situation that no matter where you are, you can be a good wingman in someone's life. Risking upsetting someone by sharing your concerns is worth saving his or her life.

"The biggest thing is you can affect someone else's life and give them the help they need from any distance," said Allen. "I'm on the opposite side of the world here at Incirlik Air Base, and I helped somebody out that was at Minot back in the states.

"I would rather take the risk now, knowing and bringing something like that up to people's attention than not say anything at all because ... the individual isn't going to be mad at you; and if they are, they'll get over it," said Allen.

Allen's first sergeant echoed that sentiment.

"In the end, even if she was mad at him and never talked to him again, at least she'd be alive and mad at him," added Master Sgt. Lonnie J. Stamper, 39th MXS first sergeant.

The first sergeant said he's proud to see his Airman went the extra mile to ensure another Airman got the help she needs.

"He's busy with a stressful job of his own but was able to recognize that and do the right thing," said Stamper.