A Plainfield Illinois Guardsman was one of two Guardsmen who recently helped victims of a Chicago car accident, earning the commander’s coin, according to a statement from the Illinois National Guard. Spc. Jovonta Devon Duncan and Spc. Johanna Hernandez with the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 405th Brigade Support Battalion, 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade in North Riverside, were returning from a meal on September 14th when they saw a car collide with an SUV at Roosevelt Road and Des Plaines Street.
The SUV rolled, and the pair helped to pull people from the vehicle and offer first aid until first responders arrived on scene. According to Duncan, of Plainfield, “The car was smoking so I knew we had to get the people out of the vehicle as soon as possible.” Hernandez added that soldiers are trailed on survival, first aid and making decisions under pressure.
Both received a commander’s coin from Col. Troy Phillips, the brigade commander. As Phillips put it in a press release, “What these soldiers did embody the National Guard’s motto of ‘Always Ready, Always There.”