“Something told me ‘you better get some backup'” he said, hearing the crash
“Heeeere’s Johnny!!”
Most 92-year-olds are tragic and easy victims for robberies… Not this one! This story is phenomenal.
Joseph Milspaugh of San Jacinto often struggles with tasks like finding the right key to open his doors, and often needs people to repeat themselves when talking. But you wouldn’t know it from the way he handled a recent attempted break-in at his home.
The 92-year-old World War II veteran sprang to action Sunday morning, Jan. 31, firing one round at a man who had been attempting to enter his home by using an ax.
Milspaugh said it was early Sunday when he heard a loud banging coming from the door to his garage. He said he went to investigate the source of the noise, but not before first grabbing his Smith & Wesson 1911 .45-caliber handgun.
“Something told me, ‘You better get some backup before you have to head back that way,'” he said.
After grabbing his gun, Milspaugh heard glass shatter from a nearby room.
“I didn’t know what to expect with all the broken glass,” he said. “And all of the sudden there’s this face.”
The face belonged to the same man sheriff’s officials say also tried to break down Milspaugh’s door. The man attempted to crawl inside and, as he did so, Milspaugh quickly thought up a plan.
“All this time I am squeezing the trigger and I thought, ‘Hey, I can’t pull the trigger because he’s outdoors, I’m indoors.’ I couldn’t claim that as bodily harm.”
So the 92-year-old fired a shot to the would-be home invader’s right side, scaring him and causing him to take off quickly.
Milspaugh said the man left behind his ax as well as a hat he had been wearing. Sheriff’s officials took both those items into evidence, he said.
The near-home invasion has become both an example of bravery and a cautionary tale to other residents in the neighborhood, said Manuel Demello, Milspaugh’s neighbor of 22 years.
He said residents are glad their elderly neighbor wasn’t injured.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Demello said. “Especially if the guy with the ax had gotten inside the house. The scenario might have played out quite differently.”
If this were in England, Australia or even certain cities in the U.S… This vet very well would have heroically survived World War II, but would have died in the country he fought to protect.
Guns even out the field and save lives for people like this across America every day. If this 92-year-old hadn’t been armed he wouldn’t have stood a chance against a young, strong criminal with an ax.
We have to stand up for our constitution during a time where it is being chipped away piece by piece. The lives of people like this elderly man depend on our Second Amendment.
