Eagle BELVOIR
Historic water tower removed Page A6
www.belvoireagleonline.com
June 23, 2016
Soldiers recount their good Samaritan efforts to help bus crash victims By Amanda Stewart Staff writer When Sgt. 1st Class Gracie Vaughan and Sgt. 1st Class David Cooper came upon an overturned bus on George Washington Memorial Parkway as they each drove home from work June 14, both said their military training kicked in. Cooper, who was driving home to Fort Belvoir from work at the Pentagon, rushed to help right the overturned bus. Vaughan, also driving home to Belvoir from her job at Fort McNair, arrived as the bus was being turned over and rushed to aid the people who had been trapped beneath it. “My military training is what I lean to for everything in life,” said Vaughan, who has served in the Army for 16 years. “In the military, you learn to keep a level head … and to do what people would think is impossible.” And that’s exactly what Cooper, Vaughan and the others in a group of about 15 passersby who stopped to help the accident victims, did. The crash happened around 5 p.m. June 14, when a shuttle bus carrying 19 Chinese tourists collided head-on with a car. One person died in the crash and 15 were injured. Authorities said the quick action of the good Samaritans who
Up Front Finance offices closed
The Army Finance Offices at forts Belvoir and Myer, and the Pentagon, close Friday at 11 a.m. for the organization’s summer picnic.
TransPARENTING Education Seminar
ACS Family Advocacy Program hosts a TransPARENTING seminar that offers separated parents tools and information to help the family move through the tough periods of significant change associated with divorce. The seminar is from noon to 4 p.m. June 30 at ACS, Bldg. 200, 9800 Belvoir Road. Contact FAP at 703-805-3980 or 703-805-2693 to register and for more information.
Photo by Amanda Stewart
Sgt. 1st Class Gracie Vaughan, who lives at Fort Belvoir and works for Military District of Washington, speaks to reporters at the Fort Belvoir Community Center, June 16. Vaughan was one of several passersby who stopped to help the victims of a bus crash on George Washington Memorial Parkway, June 14. about his experience Thursday at stopped to help likely saved lives. Cooper said he was in the midst of the Fort Belvoir Community Center. his normal evening commute home “I said to myself, ‘Is that an overturned bus?’ … and, as I got closer, when he saw the wreckage. “I was driving south on the I saw that was exactly what it was. “ Cooper said he, a Coast Guard George Washington Parkway when I just saw a big cloud of smoke and officer, and several other people dirt in the air,” said Cooper, who, worked quickly to lift the bus, which with Vaughan, spoke to reporters See CRASH, Page A10
Army Col. Wieman assumes directorship of Fort Belvoir Community Hospital By Alex Snyder FBCH Public Affairs Leadership of Fort Belvoir Community Hospital changed hands for the third time since its August 2011 opening. Col. Jason Wieman assumed directorship from Navy Capt. Jennifer Vedral-Baron Friday at Belvoir’s Thurman Auditorium in front of medical staff, patients, friends and family, during a change of authority ceremony that featured the melding of Navy and Army traditions. Wieman is a family medicine physician and most recently served as commander of Weed Army Community Hospital at Fort Irwin, Calif. He was commissioned in the Army after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1991. Throughout the years, he has served at Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington State; the Army War College; medical director of Wiesbaden Army See WIEMAN, Page A5
Youth Sports summer clinics, camps
Registration is open for weeklong Summer Sports Clinics and Camps. The Golf Clinic starts July 11, for ages 7-15. Registration costs $65 and registration ends July 1. The Tennis Clinic starts Aug. 8, for ages 7-18. The cost is $45 and registration ends July 29. Basketball Camp starts July 11, for ages 5-18. The cost is $30 and registration ends July 1. Football Camp starts July 19, for ages 5-18. The cost is $30 and registration ends July 15. Soccer Camp starts July 18, for ages 5-18, $30, July 8. Cheer Camp starts July 19, ages 5-18, $30, July 15. Register with Youth Sports and Fitness, 9500 Barlow Road, Bldg. 950. Call 703-805-9138 for more information.
Save the date! ACS 51st birthday
Photo by Alexandra Snyder
Army Col. Jason Wieman, right, assumed directorship from Navy Capt. Jennifer Vedral-Baron, Friday in a FBCH change of authority ceremony in Belvoir’s Thurman Auditorium. The ceremony melded Navy and Army traditions in front of an audience of medical staff, patients, friends and family.
Belvoir’s Army Community Service hosts its 51st birthday celebration, July 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at ACS, 9800 Belvoir Road, Bldg. 200. The free event includes pizza, fruit, cake, ice cream, prizes, a scavenger hunt, face painting, and recognition of the longest working Fort Belvoir ACS employee. The celebration is open to everyone and registration is not needed. ACS’s number is 703-805-4590.