School Story:
After graduation, I worked crappy jobs and was a volunteer fire fight with Akron and a EMT.
I joined the Navy in March 1984. Was in San Diego, than on to Great Lakes were I married and had my two sons.
I seperated from active duty in June 1988 and moved back to Akron for like 9 months. Than me and than wife and kids moved ot Oregon while she was acgtive duty in the Navy. This is were we got a divorce and I started my business.
We have remianed good friends and parents to our sons. I have since become a little successfull in my enterprises and have also retired from the Navy reserves after 22 years in May 2006. As a HM1, Hospital Corpsmand (E-6). I also was ordained as a Christian Pastor in APril 2001.
I look forward to catching up with many of you and possibly seeing you at the 25th.
Take care and my God Bless you.
Dan
"Forever Humbled"
Friday, August 08, 2008
By Laura McVicker, Columbian Staff Writer:
Beyond the glow of flames, Dan Szmania could make out a face inside the overturned Jeep.
The man’s brown eyes appeared lifeless; his body crumpled. Fire danced from the top of the vehicle downward.
Szmania’s adrenaline kicked in. “We can’t let him burn!” he shouted.
Another bystander had already attempted to free the man from the vehicle without success. So Szmania crawled halfway inside the fiery vehicle and tugged at the victim’s shoulders. He didn’t budge.
That’s when Szmania and two other bystanders grabbed a tow chain from a vehicle, placed it around the man’s wrist and yanked with all their strength: five or six times, and, finally, the man came free. But it was too late.
James Jason Skelton had died instantly in a head-on collision.
The accident occurred about 8 a.m. last Saturday near Brush Prairie.(WA) The driver of another vehicle apparently lost control and crossed the center line of Rawson Road, striking the 30-year-old Battle Ground man’s Jeep Wrangler. An investigation is continuing.
While passing drivers and neighbors couldn’t save Skelton’s life, their efforts did bring assurance and peace to the grieving family. Not only can his family give his body a respectful burial, but Skelton’s wife, Tanya, said they have the knowledge there wasn’t more anyone could have done.
These strangers’ kindness didn’t go unnoticed, she said.
“Not everybody would have done that,” Tanya Skelton said. “Knowing that there’s people out there to help and knowing that he didn’t burn in that fire … it was better for me knowing he was out.”
Several people helped. In addition to those who pulled Skelton from the wreckage, some of the strangers performed traffic control. Others called 911.
A couple of them were burned, including Szmania. He spent the latter part of the day in the emergency room being treated for burns on his face and hands.
Firefighters called the bystanders’ acts heroic, but also warned of the inherent dangers when citizens become the first responders.
“I wouldn’t encourage anyone to put themselves in harm’s way,” said Clark County Fire District 3 battalion chief Dave O’Brien. “Part of it is human nature, too. People are going to help if they can.”
That’s how Szmania and several others crossed paths.
Jeep on fire, skid marks
At about 8 a.m. Saturday, Sterling Hersey, who lives a mile from the wreck scene, was driving on Rawson Road.
“I saw two cars, smoke and a fire (in one of the cars), and thought, ‘Oh, no,’ ” Hersey said. “It just kicked in: ‘Hey, I need to do something.’ ”
So he stopped and recognized one of his neighbors was already on scene. The neighbor yelled for him to call 911.
Hersey placed a 911 call, but the flames were growing. He decided to drive to a nearby Clark County Fire District 3 station to retrieve a fire extinguisher. There he found a volunteer firefighter already heading to the crash. Hersey followed the fire engine in his car.
Meanwhile, Szmania was driving by in his car and stopped. He spotted another man next to the fiery Jeep, reaching inside.
As the flames reached 30 feet in the air, Szmania felt compelled to crawl inside the Jeep as well.
He said he thought about the victim’s family — would they want their son to die in a fire?
“Seeing him go in there gave me the courage to go in,” Szmania said.
Szmania and the other man couldn’t free Skelton. That’s when the two of them and the bystander’s grandson grabbed the tow chain from one of their vehicles. After several attempts, they extricated Skelton.
At the same time, the first fire engine drove up — with the volunteer firefighter inside.
That firefighter instantly began treating Skelton. Szmania grabbed a fire hose from the engine to quell the flames. All of a sudden, an explosion blasted Szmania off the street and into foliage. A gas can in the back of the Jeep had exploded.
Seconds later, he opened his eyes and felt a searing pain on his face and hands. His whole body was smoking. The other bystander grabbed the hose and began battling the blaze. Other firefighters arrived and took over, extinguishing it quickly.
As more paramedics, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies arrived, Szmania was whisked away to Southwest Washington Medical Center to be treated for his burns. He hardly had a chance to speak with the other bystanders or even introduce himself.
He knew the victim was already dead, but knew little more. He would later find out Skelton had two daughters, a 9-year-old and 9-month-old, and a wife.
But Szmania hopes someday he can meet the other Samaritans to say thank you and tell them that their efforts inspired him to be his best.
There needs to be more people in the world like them, Szmania said.
“They were my heroes.”
Laura McVicker can be reached at 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
Dan Szmania of Brush Prairie suffered burns as a result of trying to save a man from a burning Jeep Aug. 2. He and three other bystanders tried to rescue James Skelton.(Photo by Steven Lane/The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/08/08082008_Good-Samaritans-heroics-comforting-to-family.cfm
http://www.columbian.com/multimedia
June 2008 to Januray 2012, litigated against the crooks commonly known as Countrywide and Bank of America. Federal case NO. 3:11-CV-05330-RJB & I took the Countrywide case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court NO. 11-6137. (Not too bad for a fromer "D" grade student. Lol!)
