Enterprise Vet says saving elderly neighbor from house fire was instinct: ‘I'm not a hero'
'I'd never expected to receive anything remotely close to a national award. I just thought it was the right thing to do, I never expected it to reach this point,' said Marvin Pinckney
Pinckney sprang into action to save his elderly neighbor, Mary Griffin, and her caretaker, Angie Byrd.
After returning from a motorcycle ride, Pinckney noticed smoke coming from the Griffins' home on Bellwood Road, so he instructed his wife to call 911. While waiting, he decided to go to his neighbor's house to inform them that the house is on fire and that they need to get out.
Enterprise vet honored with national award for saving neighbor from burning home
'When I entered the house, they were like What's going on? Where? In the garage, and what made them think it was on fire, the lights went out, and the alarm started blaring, and my only thoughts were to get us out of that situation,' said Pinckney
That's when Pinckney was able to lift Griffin, who was strapped into a wheelchair, to push her through a window along with her caretaker with the help of Pinckney's wife and other neighbors before fire and rescue showed up to fight the blaze.
While Pinckney did put his own life at risk, he says it was a no-brainer to leap into action, especially after serving in the military for 30 years.
'We are expected to put our lives on the line for our fellow man, and just being a decent person, knowing they were elderly. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing they perished,' said Pinckney.
Pinckney says Griffin was beyond thankful for saving her life and always showed her appreciation. He often went to visit her after the fire, took her some oatmeal cookies because that's what she liked, and every time they sat with her, it was a big kiss and a thank you.
He says he wants to thank the city of Enterprise and the Carnegie Foundation for this honor.
'I'm not a hero, just someone who wanted to help the fellow man,' said Pinckney.
The Carnegie Medal, awarded by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, is given to citizens who demonstrate bravery while saving another.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
5 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Family of Korean War MIA from Aurora gather for road dedication and to fill in missing pieces of longtime mystery
The family of Army Sgt. First Class Ogden Neil Thompson descended on Aurora this weekend from across the country – South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Washington – to pay tribute to this local hero, but also to tackle a mystery. On Saturday morning, a portion of Route 25 from Sullivan Road to Ashland Avenue was dedicated in honor of Thompson, the second of four such events to keep alive the memories of those from the Fox Valley who paid the ultimate sacrifice for this country. Thompson served in the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and was stationed near Unsan, North Korea, when, on Nov. 1, 1950, during a surprise Chinese offensive, his unit was overrun in one of the most intense battles of the Korean War. Thompson's body was never recovered and he was officially declared presumed dead on Dec. 31, 1953, making him one of 394 Illinois service members still missing from this war. According to state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, who sponsored legislation for these road signs, the 20-year-old Aurora soldier 'went missing during the ensuing chaos and was never recovered, with eyewitness accounts suggesting he was killed while attempting to evade enemy forces.' The fact there is not even a grave to visit had to make his death even tougher for Thompson's hard-working parents, Freeda and Homer, who worked at Burgess-Norton in Geneva, as well as their eight surviving children. Because Thompson died so young, many of those descendants, including Ogden's nieces and nephews who were born long after their uncle was killed, knew little about him. 'Our mother didn't say a whole lot … just that he was killed in the Korean War,' said Tammy Kitchen, who drove to Aurora from South Carolina with her cousin Sherry Waddell for the Saturday ceremony. 'It's the way it was back then. They didn't talk about the hard stuff. They just soldiered on.' Most everyone in the family, however, knew one compelling fact which has led to a 'mystery' they hope to one day solve. While he was serving overseas, Ogden Thompson fell in love with a Japanese woman he nicknamed Tiny and the couple, who married in a civil ceremony there, had a baby boy named Michael. From the accounts of Ogden's mother, and then a treasure trove of loving letters that were found after her death in 1999, the family knew that the written permission she and her husband had to give to their underage son so he could bring Tiny to this country and marry her here were returned unopened. Eleven days earlier, he was reported missing. 'That's the real mystery,' said Kathy Asbill, who made the trip from Virginia with her father Irvin Thompson, Ogden's last surviving brother. Despite plenty of attempts to locate the fallen soldier's family in Japan – letters to politicians and other officials, contact with embassies, documentation searches and Korean War internet postings – all efforts came up short. But Thompson's family is hoping this weekend's activities, which have brought close to a couple dozen together with North Aurora nephew Bill Perrin hosting, will provide the incentive to keep searching. 'The story is to be continued,' insisted Kitchen. Certainly sifting through a table filled with photos, letters and other memorabilia has helped ignite the desire to keep the fallen hero's memory and legacy alive. Particularly compelling is the loving correspondence between Ogden and his parents as they shared bits of news about life in Aurora and about his siblings, including oldest brother Arthur, who was serving in the Navy during the same war. Fortunately, the two brothers managed to meet in Japan on a mutual leave at one point. The fact those later letters never reached Ogden – one was written by his mother the day before they were notified he was missing – only adds to the emotional narrative that has come to mean so much for his family. 'I cannot even imagine how hard it must have been' to get those returned letters, especially the one giving consent to have their son's wife and child come to the United States,' noted Asbill. 'What a difference one letter could have made in everyone's life, especially Mike.' Now 88 years old, Irvin Thompson – a Navy veteran like three of his brothers – still recalls that day his parents received word his big brother was not coming home. Nearly 14 at the time, he climbed alone into the attic of the family's home on North Sumner Avenue. 'And I just cried,' he told me. 'It was the first time I'd cried in a long time. 'It was like an emptiness.' Irvin remembers his brother, who never graduated from high school but was determined to join the military, as 'very outgoing' and who 'could do a lot of things.' That included starting to build a cabin when he was only 12 years old with the goal of finishing the project when he returned from the war. Kathy Asbill said her dad talked about his missing brother at least several times a year – usually on patriotic holidays. And the family 'spent hours and hours writing letters trying to find out what they could' about him after he left Aurora. Her father 'instilled in us that American military pride,' she added, noting that last week the family attended an event in Greenville, South Carolina, where the remains of World War II Army airman Clarence Gibbs were brought home from Germany after being missing for 81 years. Ogden's loved ones do not give up hope. Nor do they take for granted the road sign memorial on Route 25 that will keep Ogden Neil Thompson's name in the public eye, thanks in large part to North Aurora Gold Star father Bob Patterson and the memorial foundation for his son U.S. Army Spc. Christopher Patterson, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2012. In May, U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Ted Katsoolias of St. Charles, who was reported MIA on Thanksgiving Eve in 1950 during the Korean War, was honored with a sign on a portion of Route 59. Upcoming dedications include another Korean War MIA, Army Pvt. First Class Wayne Wilder Hill Jr., and Army Staff Sgt. Robert Herreid, a star athlete from Mooseheart who is one of 63 Vietnam War MIA from Illinois. The Thompson family's gratitude was evident in the words they shared at Saturday morning's road dedication, which rain moved inside the Batavia VFW post. 'For almost 75 years, our family has carried the weight' of Ogden's 'absence, the unanswered questions, the grief and the hope that one day his remains will be returned to the United States,' Asbill told the crowd of around 60 or so who gathered for the event. 'Naming this road in his honor will serve as a lasting reminder of his heroism and courage, and of the sacrifice borne not only by him but also all who love and remember him,' she continued. 'We represent military families with enduring strength who wait, hope and remember. 'Thank you for standing with us today to ensure his name and story live on.'
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Bloomberg
Thai Navy Joins Conflict Against Cambodia as Death Toll Jumps
Thailand said its navy joined the army in repelling Cambodian attacks on a new frontier in their disputed border, as the death toll from the escalating conflict climbed to at least 30. The naval operation early on Saturday followed the incursion of Cambodian troops at three different points in Trat province in Thailand's east, the Thai Defense Ministry said in a statement. The Thai marine forces' counter-operation was able to push back Cambodian soldiers encroaching on Thai territory, it said.
The Hill
2 days ago
- The Hill
WATCH: Thousands Of US Troops Patrol Southern Border After Trump Emergency Declaration
(AP) U.S. troops are sharing command stations and vehicles with civilian immigration authorities at the southern US border under an emergency declaration from President Donald Trump. Troop deployments at the border have tripled to 7,600 and include every branch of the military — even as the number of attempted illegal crossings plummet and Trump has authorized funding for an additional 3,000 Border Patrol agents, offering $10,000 signing and retention bonuses. The military mission is guided from a new command center at a remote Army intelligence training base alongside southern Arizona's Huachuca Mountains. There, a community hall has been transformed into a bustling war room of battalion commanders and staff with digital maps pinpointing military camps and movements along the nearly 2,000-mile border. Until now border enforcement had been the domain of civilian law enforcement, with the military only intermittently stepping in. But in April, large swaths of border were designated militarized zones, empowering U.S. troops to apprehend immigrants and others accused of trespassing on Army, Air Force or Navy bases, and authorizing additional criminal charges that can mean prison time. The two-star general leading the mission says troops are being untethered from maintenance and warehouse tasks to work closely with U.S. Border Patrol agents in high-traffic areas for illegal crossings — and to deploy rapidly to remote, unguarded terrain. At Nogales, Army scouts patrolled the border in full battle gear — helmet, M5 service rifle, bullet-resistant vest — with the right to use deadly force if attacked under standing military rules integrated into the border mission. Underfoot, smugglers for decades routinely attempted to tunnel into stormwater drains to ferry contraband into the U.S. One command post oversees an armada of 117 armored Stryker vehicles, more than 35 helicopters and a half-dozen long-distance drones that can survey the border day and night with sensors to pinpoint people wandering the desert. Marine Corps engineers are adding concertina wire to slow crossings, as the Trump administration reboots border wall construction. The Trump administration is using the military broadly to boost its immigration operations, from guarding federal buildings in Los Angeles against protests over ICE detentions, to assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florida to plans to hold detained immigrants on military bases in New Jersey, Indiana and Texas. The militarized zones at the border sidestep the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 law that prohibits the military from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil. AP Video shot by Eugene Garcia
