FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Staff Sergeant Nicholas “Bruce” Davis, a cannon crew member and section chief assigned to C Battery, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division Artillery, 101st Airborne Division, has earned a nomination for the Soldier’s Medal from his unit for heroism in saving two lives on June 9, 2017, according to a report from the Army’s official website. The Soldier’s Medal is a military award that recognizes peacetime acts of valor where a Soldier voluntarily puts himself or herself in personal danger. The report says that on June 9, Davis was driving east on I-24 with his son and his friend when he noticed a man on the side of the road near mile marker 23. He then saw a car overturned on the side of the road. Davis pulled over and got out of his truck to see if he could help. He discovered that the engine was on fire and used a glass buster on his knife to break a window, since two people were still inside the vehicle.
The accident had flung a gas can from the back of the vehicle into the passenger compartment. It was dangerously close to the engine fire. So he reached in, grabbed the can, and tossed it away from the vehicle. Other bystanders rendering aid moved the container further from the flames.
Someone had also managed to open the door facing up enough for Davis, who was inside the car, to start helping Rick out of the car, as he simultaneously tried to help Sharon exit the vehicle. At this point the car was engulfed in flames and Davis rushed to push Rick Steiert out of the car and then drag Sharon Steiert out after him. Sharon was on fire from the waist down and Davis used his shirt to put out the flames with the help of a bystander. With help from a person with a fire extinguisher they put out the flames. Davis and the other bystanders then waited for the ambulances and police to arrive at the scene of the accident. From there, Rick and Davis left for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the same ambulance after EMTs administered pain medication. A life flight helicopter took Sharon to the hospital. At the hospital Davis received treatment for his burns and the doctors monitored him for other injuries. He sustained second-degree burns that were nearly third-degree burns over 75 percent of his right leg. Davis is working hard to recover and return to duty. Monday was the first day he could do physical training with the unit again and Davis’s goal is to go back to leading troops as soon as possible. Davis, Rick and Sharon all sustained injuries, and Sharon’s were severe. Rick and Sharon Steiert managed to get in contact with Davis through the doctors, and in the time since the accident they have grown to be close friends. The Steierts consider Davis a hero and new member of their family. Sharon’s children, Britney Balduc and Scott Capodice, are both thankful. For Davis though, his job is not done as he helps Rick and Sharon make it through a difficult recovery that will have an impact on them not only physically, but financially.
