Locals guard recruiting center
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
July 21, 2015
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/locals-guard-recruiting-center/article_a511621a-5ae8-11e7-92e2-10604b9f0f42.html
Kat Russell / The Paducah Sun
In the wake of Thursday's shootings that killed four Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a Paducah couple have taken it upon themselves to stand guard outside the military recruiting center on Village Square Drive.
Armed with .38 caliber revolvers and a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol, Vietnam veteran and Paducah resident Michael Swinford and his wife, Patricia Neal Swinford, arrived at the recruiting center around 8 a.m. Monday and stood sentry while the office was open.
"I was watching the news coming out of Chattanooga, and it started boiling on my mind a little bit because the federal government will not allow these men and women that are in recruiting stations to arm themselves - they're just sitting ducks," Michael Swinford said.
"We're mostly here as a deterrent," Swinford said as he scanned the parking lot in front of the building. "We're not going to have another Chattanooga here in Paducah, not if we can help it."
"It doesn't feel right that military personnel, who are better trained than most civilians, cannot carry weapons to protect themselves," Patricia Swinford added. "I think it's kind of odd now that the civilians are protecting the military. It just doesn't seem right."
She added that her family is almost entirely military, with members in each branch of service, and it worries her that they are left unprotected.
Before heading out to the recruiting station, Michael Swinford said he contacted the Paducah Police Department to explain what they were doing. He said he was given a letter from one of the "department's higher-ups" acknowledging their plans.
The veteran said the police department laid down some parameters, such as keeping the chambers of their weapons empty to avoid accidental discharges, making sure that anyone standing guard is licensed to carry a weapon and that no more than three people are on guard at a time.
According to the FBI, the Chattanooga shooter, 24-year-old Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, first drove to a Combined Armed Forces Recruiting Center on Thursday and opened fire from his vehicle, wounding one Marine.
Abdulazeez then drove seven miles to a Naval Operational Support Center and Marine Reserve Center, crashed his car through the facility's gate, entered the building and killed four Marines, officials said. A fire fight then broke out between the shooter and local police, which left an officer, a sailor and a Marine wounded. The sailor died Saturday. Abdulazeez was killed.
Swinford said he talked to each of the surrounding businesses so as not to cause alarm.
Freddie Cheah, owner of Spicy Ginger Asian Cuisine, which sits one door down from the recruiting center, said he had never worried about being so close to a military facility until Chattanooga.
"I have been here almost five years now and never worried about being next door," he said. "But now, I'm scared, too."
Knowing that the building now has armed guards, Cheah added, makes him feel safer.
"That's why we're here," Swinford said. "We're here to protect them and in doing so, we're protecting the other businesses, too." Swinford said he hopes more veterans and citizens will join him and his wife, which would allow them to work in shifts and guarantee the office was always under guard.
The veteran said he will continue to stand guard until "the federal government relents" and allows recruiters to protect themselves.
Until then, he said, "If the federal government isn't going to do it, the Vietnam vets will."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
Armed with .38 caliber revolvers and a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol, Vietnam veteran and Paducah resident Michael Swinford and his wife, Patricia Neal Swinford, arrived at the recruiting center around 8 a.m. Monday and stood sentry while the office was open.
"I was watching the news coming out of Chattanooga, and it started boiling on my mind a little bit because the federal government will not allow these men and women that are in recruiting stations to arm themselves - they're just sitting ducks," Michael Swinford said.
"We're mostly here as a deterrent," Swinford said as he scanned the parking lot in front of the building. "We're not going to have another Chattanooga here in Paducah, not if we can help it."
"It doesn't feel right that military personnel, who are better trained than most civilians, cannot carry weapons to protect themselves," Patricia Swinford added. "I think it's kind of odd now that the civilians are protecting the military. It just doesn't seem right."
She added that her family is almost entirely military, with members in each branch of service, and it worries her that they are left unprotected.
Before heading out to the recruiting station, Michael Swinford said he contacted the Paducah Police Department to explain what they were doing. He said he was given a letter from one of the "department's higher-ups" acknowledging their plans.
The veteran said the police department laid down some parameters, such as keeping the chambers of their weapons empty to avoid accidental discharges, making sure that anyone standing guard is licensed to carry a weapon and that no more than three people are on guard at a time.
According to the FBI, the Chattanooga shooter, 24-year-old Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, first drove to a Combined Armed Forces Recruiting Center on Thursday and opened fire from his vehicle, wounding one Marine.
Abdulazeez then drove seven miles to a Naval Operational Support Center and Marine Reserve Center, crashed his car through the facility's gate, entered the building and killed four Marines, officials said. A fire fight then broke out between the shooter and local police, which left an officer, a sailor and a Marine wounded. The sailor died Saturday. Abdulazeez was killed.
Swinford said he talked to each of the surrounding businesses so as not to cause alarm.
Freddie Cheah, owner of Spicy Ginger Asian Cuisine, which sits one door down from the recruiting center, said he had never worried about being so close to a military facility until Chattanooga.
"I have been here almost five years now and never worried about being next door," he said. "But now, I'm scared, too."
Knowing that the building now has armed guards, Cheah added, makes him feel safer.
"That's why we're here," Swinford said. "We're here to protect them and in doing so, we're protecting the other businesses, too." Swinford said he hopes more veterans and citizens will join him and his wife, which would allow them to work in shifts and guarantee the office was always under guard.
The veteran said he will continue to stand guard until "the federal government relents" and allows recruiters to protect themselves.
Until then, he said, "If the federal government isn't going to do it, the Vietnam vets will."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
