They could have just done their job. But Branch County Sheriff’s deputies went beyond the call of duty to help a disabled vet who was stranded and broke in a very remote rest area in Coldwater, Michigan.
The three deputies –without a word to anyone– fed the man, put him in a hotel and got him gas to go home.
According to the Daily Reporter, a disheveled, middle-aged man was found wandering around the I-69 rest area for three days. Rest area staff alerted the police after they saw the man in the facilities and just “hanging around.”
Deputy Greg Ware, a military police veteran himself, found out the man was also a vet, who was suffering from PTSD.
The man had apparently driven too far from his home in Indiana, and ended up broke and out of gas. With no family to call, and no help around, he just stayed at the rest stop.
Ware and fellow deputies Frank Barker and Dave Fillmore reportedly used their own money to buy 8 gallons of gas for the man’s trip back home, plus a few more dollars for food.
State Senator Mike Shirkey (District 16) wrote the officers a letter commending them for their actions and asking them to keep up the great leadership —“boldly and without fear.”
The local paper praised the act of true humanity, which “added to the true reputation of law enforcement in our country.”
