This is a discussion on Returning Vet gets an unwelcome homecoming within the In the News: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly forums, part of the The Back Porch category; Ohio.com - Airman shot in face in Akron after surviving tour in Iraq This just sucks...
Array
“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.”
Patrick Henry
Originally Posted by UnklFungus
Airman shot in face in Akron after surviving tour in Iraq
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 08:36 p.m. EDT, Sep 23, 2009
The cruel irony lingers over the Taylor home, punctuated by pictures of a son in uniform adorning the living room.
Vincent Taylor II, a U.S. Air Force airman, survived a tour in Iraq earlier this year.
But when he returned home this week to Akron to celebrate his 23rd birthday, Taylor wound up shot in the face by would-be robbers.
Taylor is recovering at a local hospital. Meanwhile, Akron police detectives are seeking the public's help in apprehending the two robbers.
The airman's parents, Vince and Nellie Taylor of Akron, paused from their vigil with their son to meet with reporters Wednesday. They said the family's faith will carry them.
The war in Iraq, they said, pales in some ways to the war on the streets of Akron, where assaults are escalating in record numbers and their son is the latest casualty.
''There's a war right here, a war right here in this city that we must attend to, that we need to do something about,'' Nellie Taylor said.
''You know when he's in Iraq, you know who he's fighting against and he has his brothers to help him,'' she said. ''But when you're here in this war, you don't know exactly who you're fighting against, and there's no cause to do what people are doing, which is killing.''
Vincent Taylor, a Central-Hower High School graduate, entered the military about 18 months ago. His goal, his parents said, was to find direction in his life by escaping the streets of Akron and the crime that comes with the territory.
''He knew what was going on here wasn't what he really wanted,'' his mother said.
The airman served his tour in Iraq, providing security protection from January to July. He came home to Akron briefly this summer and returned to Moody Air Force base in Valdosta, Ga.
On Saturday, he drove to Akron to be with family. He turned 23 on Monday.
Early Wednesday morning, Taylor and his brother, Preston Harris, 30, went to Whispers Night Club on East South Street.
As they were leaving, about 2:20 a.m., two males, apparently teenagers, engaged the brothers in conversation.
Taylor walked to his 2003 Cadillac DeVille and got into the passenger seat. His brother got behind the wheel. The males continued to follow and talk and eventually made robbery demands.
One of the males pulled a gun and put it inside the passenger window. The brothers were trying to drive away when Taylor was shot just below his right eye.
Taylor fell into his brother's lap as the two sped toward a hospital. His condition is serious but stable, his parents said.
Nellie and Vince Taylor say they have already forgiven their son's assailants. They are praying for those men as well as their son.
''I pray for them, too. I forgive them, yet there's consequences for everything you do,'' Vince Taylor said. ''They must pay the consequences. We pray that they turn their lives [around] and become better persons. Because there's just too much of this going on here. Too much.''
The suspects are described as two black males in their late teens. Each stands about 5-feet-7 and weighs about 145 pounds. They were wearing black skullcaps and black hooded sweatshirts.
The suspects drove a late 1990s gray Pontiac Bonneville with four doors and missing hubcaps.
Anyone with information is asked to call Akron police detectives at 330-375-2490. Anonymous tips can be made at City of Akron Police Division Anonymous Tips.
Very sad situation for the airman and my prayers for a speedy recovery for him go out!
Sucks to be a victim of some stick-up thug after serving his country. Thank the lord he wasn't killed!
-Bark'n
Semper Fi
"The gun is the great equalizer... For it is the gun, that allows the meek to repel the monsters; Whom are bigger, stronger and without conscience, prey on those who without one, would surely perish."
Array
I too am really thankful he is still alive!
“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.”
Patrick Henry
Array
Akron keeps getting worse and worse. There's a shooting everyday now, and they just laid off 90 officers. The PD was short-staffed to begin with.
Exodus 22:2 "If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed"
Array
Thats just plain terrible.
Im glad the parents can forgive, but I wouldnt....
I think these low lifes need the **** stomped outta them for starters.
Im sure the victim really feel like crap, just got home from a deployment, now he is home and thinks he's safe then BANG..
The world is a very dangerous place, nomatter where you are.
A young military man shot (although trouble lingers at bars at 2:30 A.M.) by even younger teens...very sad indeed.
The thugs deserve to become unable to use O2...I hope the airman can make a full recovery.
"That I cannot do."
"Give this to, uh, Clemenza. I want reliable people, people who aren't going to be carried away. After all we're not murderers in spite of what this undertaker thinks."
***********************************
Certified Glock Armorer
NRA Life Member
Array
I work with a guy who is from Akron and he says the same thing. He doesn't even like going there to visit family.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. ~ Albert Einstein
Sig P229 DAK - .40 S&W
Ruger SP101 - .357 Mag
Array
Condolences to the man. I hope he can retain his idyllic view of America despite what was rubbed in his face, after his return.
It's nice to know that a generic street armed robbery wasn't actually related to his homecoming. That would really have been disrespectful.Returning Vet gets an unwelcome homecoming
The cowards who pulled the gun on him deserve what they get. They're predators, preying on others and getting off on the power trip they're feeling. They're going to be stopped ... sooner or later. May it be prior to anyone being harmed by these animals.
They should have terminated 90 bureaucrats and kept the beat cops. Nobody's murder gets overlooked by a cop. They come running ... and they bring their friends.
Bureaucrats, on the other hand ...
Akron, Ohio, can't find ~$5M/yr in savings from firing bureaucrats and closing down unnecessary, wasteful services? Baloney. The citizens of Akron are, unfortunately, going to quickly be able to determine the value of $5M in their city's budget.
Your best weapon is your brain. Don't leave home without it.
Thoughts: Justifiable self defense.
Explain: How does disarming victims reduce the number of victims?
Reason over Force: The Gun is Civilization (Marko Kloos).
NRA, GOA, OFF, ACLDN.
Array
Prayers for a speedy recovery go out to the Airman.
Don't believe what you hear and only half of what you see!
-Tony Soprano
Array
Wow - sad story. I hope he recovers quickly and the dirt bags meet swift justice.
Tim
BE PREPARED - Noah didn't build the Ark when it was raining!
Si vis pacem, para bellum
________
NRA Life Member
Array
Sad story.... wish the best for him and a speedy recovery.
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
