Easton Map and History

Barry after being shot.

what it was, and (then-Councilman) Marion Barry stumbles into the City Council chambers and sits in my lap, and he says, ‘Darryl, I’ve been shot.’ I thought he was kidding, and he takes his hand away and he has a hole in his chest.”

It was the day a group of Hanafi Muslim terrorists took over City Hall, taking 150 people hostage, killing two people and nearly killing Barry, wounding him just above the heart. Barry had been walking down the main corridor of the fi fth fl oor when he ran toward a commotion and was shot.

Police and other fi rst responders were pinned down in a stairwell and couldn’t get to Hill and Barry.

“Outside, the fi re department tried to send a cherry picker up for Marion, but it wouldn’t reach,” Darryl said. “So I ended up having to carry Marion across the hall through gunfi re and put him on the gurney. I might have saved Marion’s life. He didn’t say anything, but I didn’t expect him to. At least not yet. And I didn’t need him to say anything. That isn’t why I did it.”

Barry had emergency surgery for the wound, and doctors made a statement that he “escaped death by inches.”

Darryl Hill’s time working in Washington, D.C., is characterized by creating opportunities for others in the minority business community. He channeled his life experience breaking barriers on the football fi eld and helped others start businesses in ways the city hadn’t seen before. He worked with people who inspired and helped him, and then he became that fi gure for other small business owners.

His next chapter is an international adventure, going to Russia and beyond. How does helping save Marion Barry’s life connect? Find out next month.

Michael Valliant is the Assistant for Adult Education and Newcomers Ministry at Christ Church Easton. He has worked for non-profi t organizations throughout Talbot County, including the Oxford Community Center, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and Academy Art Museum.