Yuma Marine honored for life-saving efforts

A Yuma Marine has received a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for saving the life of an injured motorist in August.

On his drive home during leave, Cpl. Zian Snyder, a native of Carlisle, Pa., came across an injured motorcyclist, who was also traveling cross-country, on a deserted road between Ozona and Sonora, Texas.

"Late in the evening, I was driving through Texas for a couple of hours and I came over a slope and saw the rider in the middle of the road," said Snyder, a member of Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13.

In the darkness, Snyder barely saw the rider, a former sailor named Tony King. "I almost ran him over."

In the distance, an 18-wheeler approached so Snyder pulled both King and his bike off the road.

King suffered several injuries, including a punctured lung, compound fractures throughout his entire body and severe road rash.

"I put him in my truck and drove to a gas station that was back a few miles," said Snyder.

Despite his injuries, King remained conscious until the ambulance arrived several hours later, at which time he passed out, said Snyder.

"Snyder maintained an exceptional level of poise under a difficult situation and made a decision that preserved a life," said Gunnery Sgt. Timothy Jones, Snyder's staff noncommis- sioned officer in charge. "Snyder demonstrated the highest degree of the Marine Corps' core values."

Helping the rider was something anybody would have done, said Snyder.

"I'm just glad I affected someone's life in a positive way, to make them appreciate life more," Snyder said.

King recovered from most of his injuries and he and Snyder keep in contact via telephone.


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Lance Cpl. M. Daniel Sanchez writes for The Desert Warrior, the newspaper of the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, from which this story is reprinted.