Home

Michigan National Guard

Menu
  • About
    • Units and Leadership
    • Close
  • News
  • Employment
      • Federal Resources
      • Join the Guard
      • eBenefits Careers
      • Federal Jobs
      • Michigan Resources
      • Michigan Guard Jobs
      • State of Michigan Jobs
    • Close
  • Installations
    • Army
      • Camp Grayling
      • Fort Custer
    • Air
      • Alpena
      • Battle Creek
      • Selfridge
    • Close
  • Resources
    • Family Programs
      • Child and Youth Programs
      • Buddy-to-Buddy
      • Family Assistance Center
      • Family Fund
      • Family Readiness Support Assistant
      • Behavioral Health
      • State Support Chaplain
      • Military OneSource
      • Sexual Harassment Assault Response Prevention
      • Survivor Outreach
      • Service Member, Veteran and Family Assistance Center
      • Transition Assistance
      • Yellow Ribbon
    • General
      • Newsletters
      • Education Benefits
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Wolverine Guard
      • UPARs
      • Aviation TBOS
      • Army Career and Alumni Program
      • Records
      • Joint Family Support Assistance Program
      • Retirees
      • Fallen Heroes
    • Directorates
      • The Office of Equality Diversity & Inclusion
      • Retention
      • Recruiting
      • Human Resources
      • Inspector General
      • Judge Advocate General
      • ID Cards
      • State Support Chaplain
    • Close
  • Contact
    • Website Feedback
    • Report TAPS
    • Submit Story
    • Submit HTNR
    • Close
You are here: Home / National Guard Soldier distributing water saves Flint resident’s life

National Guard Soldier distributing water saves Flint resident’s life

February 17, 2016

Story written by Tegan Kucera

Spc. Charles Colwell stands outside his assigned distribution site, Fire Station 1, Flint, Michigan, Feb. 12, 2016. Colwell played an instrumental role in providing assistance to a Flint resident last week. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Vega/Released).

You can see more photos at a higher resolution on our Flickr site.
FLINT, Mich. --

While helping to hand out water to the citizens of Flint, a
National Guard Soldier helped save a Flint resident’s life.

“This is why I joined the military, to help people,” said Spc. Charles Colwell,
a medic with the Headquarters Company of the 125th Infantry
Battalion attached to Alpha Company from Detroit, Mich. He is one of 65
Soldiers helping distribute water resources after Gov. Rick Snyder activated
the National Guard to help with the Flint water emergency.

Because of his actions on Feb. 1, Colwell is being recommended for the
Michigan Lifesaving Medal by his squad leader.

While on duty at Fire Station #1 in downtown Flint, Pfc. Zacharry Burrell
greeted the resident who was there to return recyclables. Noticing that she
was short of breath and struggling for her inhaler, Burrell ascertained the
resident was clearly having a medical condition and needed immediate
assistance.

“She stood there for a minute and it kind of looked like she was looking for
something in her bag and then she bent down and put her hands on her knees
and began coughing uncontrollably and I saw she had an inhaler in her hand,”
said Burrell.

Burrell brought Colwell out to the woman, who immediately started
assessing her condition. She had been walking with some women to the
firehouse. They told Colwell the woman had used her inhaler twice and it was
nearly empty. He determined she was also suffering from severe bronchitis,
so he called 911.

It wasn’t until the next day the other Soldiers realized how much he had
done when she came back to the firehouse to thank Colwell for saving her
life.

Colwell who has been a medic with the Michigan National Guard for the last
two years is also a trained emergency medical technician on the civilian
side in the city of Detroit.

“I do this so much every day and everyone else is kind of blowing it up,”
explained a humble Colwell, who doesn’t understand why the other Soldiers he
is working with thinks he deserves the Michigan Lifesaving Medal.

“I couldn’t be more proud of him,” said his squad leader, Sgt. Brandon
Lewis. “That’s why I put him in for the highest award that I could possibly
recommend for him for doing that.”

Colwell went beyond his normal duties while in Flint and his actions made
what could have been a bad situation a positive one.

“If it wasn’t for him, one of us might have misjudged the situation and just
thought she was sick,” said Lewis. “Not only did he immediately seek her
out, but he did everything he could to make her comfortable and by the time
the EMTs and paramedics got here he already had an assessment to hand over
to them so they were a few steps ahead.”

The 125th Infantry Battalion includes Soldiers from different companies from
around the state who have volunteered to assist the citizens of Flint during
this time. They are stationed at water resource sites at the five fire
stations, handing out water, water filters and water testing kits.

Comments

  1. Dream2long says

    February 17, 2016 at 5:26 pm

    Break through inhalers are not meant to be used repetitively. Two puffs every 4 hours max. You can actually overdose on an inhaler and die.

    Reply
  2. Bob Milstein says

    February 17, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    Spc Colwell,

    No need to be so humble. You did a service to a person in need. That’s what it’s all about. Your medical training paid off in, no doubt, helping to save this woman from a potentially severe medical condition. Thank you!! And as a Red Cross volunteer who worked at Fire Station 3 several weeks ago handing out faucet and pitcher filters, cartridges, and “lead testing” kits I greatly appreciated all the work the members of the National Guard did in distributing cases of water. As a 70 year old I never would have survived a single day if I had to lift all the cases of water that you do and it’s done with a smile. Thanks ever so much!!

    Reply
  3. Pat Baldwin says

    February 18, 2016 at 8:53 am

    This is what I call an everyday hero. A man doing his job and helping people. He does it everyday and every so often what he does comes to the public eye, and everybody makes a fuss and he can’t understand why. He just says “It’s just my job and I do this kind of thing every day”. These men and women are doing the heroic day in and day out. Everyday hero’s.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect Online

RSS
Follow by Email
Facebook
Facebook
GOOGLE
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow
YOUTUBE
INSTAGRAM

Feature Video

Northern Strike 2017
Movie

FCTC Solar Farm

Check out the Fort Custer Solar Array Website. You will be able to view the data readings of the solar farm, its project information and learn how it works!

Community Relations Request

Please fill out the DD2536 form for all community event requests. Fill out the DD2535 form if your request requires any aviation assets. Submit the completed DD2535 and DD2536 forms to ng.mi.miarng.list.pao@mail.mil. A notice of 30 days is required on all requests and they are approved in the order they are received.

Request Public Affairs Support

Please fill out the Public Affairs Support Form and submit to ng.mi.miarng.list.pao@mail.mil. We will reach out to you regarding your request.

Northern Strike

For news and events from Northern Strike 2017, visit ns.minationalguard.com.

Recent Posts

  • The Virgin Islands and Michigan develop unique partnership
  • President Trump Announces Presidential Delegation to Monrovia to Attend the Presidential Inauguration of His Excellency George Weah, President-elect of the Republic of Liberia
  • Largest Funeral Honors Phase 2 course held in Michigan
  • Michigan Air National Guard not selected in latest round to receive F-35s
    Selfridge Air National Guard Base was a finalist to receive the new aircraft
  • National Guard, Home Guard Continue International Relationship
    Danish officer awarded for work with partnership

Subscribe to Updates

To sign up for the Wolverine Guard and other updates enter your contact information below.
---

News Archives

  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015

Portal Links

  • OWA Webmail
  • Army Portal
  • Air Portal










Webmaster Sgt. Charles Stefan

Michigan Agencies

  • Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
  • Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency
  • State of Michigan
  • Michigan Volunteer Defense Force
  • Michigan Youth Challenge Academy

Copyright © 2018 Michigan National Guard · Legal · Log in