Beale Airman Receives Airman’s Medal for Saving Friend

An airman from Beale AFB, Calif., recently received the Airman’s Medal for saving a friend. SrA. Terron Matthews, a 9th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron assistant crew chief, recently received texts from a friend who said he was planning to commit suicide. “He was the type of person where a suicidal thought was the last thing on my mind,” Matthews said, in a Beale news release. “He hadn’t done anything leading up to the event that made me think suicide was a possibility.” Matthews went to his friend’s house, where he was in the backyard with two handguns, and was able to talk him into dropping one while law enforcement was on its way. When police arrived, the friend tried to harm himself with the second gun. Matthews wrestled him to the ground and was able to grab the gun. “You never know what people are going through; they could have the biggest smile on their face but could have problems in their personal life,” Matthews said. “You show a person that you genuinely care and you would be surprised what they open up with.”