Bay Ridge

Brooklyn’s London attack hero in line for ROTC award

Schumer, Donovan urge military to honor Mark Kindschuh

July 28, 2017 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Mark Kindschuh accepts congratulations from Councilmember Vincent Gentile (at microphone) during a ceremony in the City Council chambers. Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and members of the council’s Brooklyn delegation attended the ceremony. Photo courtesy of Gentile’s office
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The accolades keep coming for Mark Kindschuh, the Bay Ridge native who helped save a man’s life during the horrific terror attack in London last month.

Fresh from winning a City Council Proclamation for his bravery, Kindschuh is being recommended for the U.S. Army Medal of Heroism by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Dan Donovan (R-C-Southwest Brooklyn-Staten Island).

Kindschuh, a 19-year-old Boston College student, is an ROTC cadet.

Schumer and Donovan have written a letter to Acting Secretary of the Army Robert M. Speer urging him to give the Brooklyn hero the Medal of Heroism, the ROTC’s highest honor.

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Kindschuh was with friends in the Borough Market area of London on the night of June 3 when the attack took place. Terrorists plowed a van into a crowd of pedestrians and then savagely attacked diners and pub patrons with long knives. 

While in hiding, Kindschuh noticed a man lying in a pool of blood. Kindschuh left his hiding space to help the man and noticed that the bleeding was coming from a wound in the back of the man’s head. Kindschuh worked as a lifeguard as a teenager and used his emergency training skills to help save the man. He took off his belt and wrapped it around the man’s head to stop the bleeding.

Kindschuh then ran outside the pub in search of medical help at the same moment police were shooting the attackers. He was successfully able to summon medical assistance.

“On that fateful day, Mark risked his own life by running towards the danger, not away from it, to save the life of a complete stranger and because of his actions, that man is alive today,” Schumer said in a statement. 

Donovan also praised Kindschuh’s actions. “This young man’s heroics made his city and country proud. Mark’s quick and decisive action saved a stranger’s life, and it’s that kind of selfless courage that makes our armed forces the greatest in the world,” Donovan said.

The U.S. Army Medal of Heroism is a U.S. military decoration awarded by the Department of the Army to an ROTC cadet who performs an act of heroism. The achievement must be an accomplishment so exceptional and outstanding that it sets the individual apart from fellow students.

The recommendation from Schumer and Donovan comes after Councilmember Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-parts of Bensonhurst) presented Kindschuh with an award during a ceremony in the City Council chambers at City Hall. 

“A person’s true character is often revealed in emergencies, and in this instance Mark Ryan Kindschuh has displayed unwavering heroism for his efforts during the horrific terrorist attack in London, England. I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to honor a man of such kindness and integrity, a true representation of the very best of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in the Council Chambers of City Hall,” Gentile told the Brooklyn Eagle via email. 

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and member of the Council’s Brooklyn delegation attended the ceremony, as did members of Kindschuh’s family.

 


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