Elderly vet saves 16 children from knife attack(IL)

pekintimes.com ^ | 10/15/15 | Michael Smothers

[Verginius Rufus]

Morton is where I-155 meets I-74 east of Peoria.

Men like James Vernon are the salt of the earth.

[Twinkie]

God bless Mr. Vernon!

[JimRed]

If he had been 20 years younger, the fight might have ended very differently for the perp, which is not to disparage Mr. Vernon in any way; at 75, you’re just not as powerful anymore.

I guess I'll find out, in 3 more years! But seriously, I'm playing rec basketball a few times a week and playing better than I did in my fifties. Not so much harder as smarter.

But up against a knife, a chair seems like an appropriate response if you're not packing. Old hands cut easily, and I bleed a lot.

[Western Phil]

Morton is Caterpillar Town. Years ago we used to cruise I74 on occasion. Some time in the early 80s, concrete flooring and the iron framework for a really large building appeared north of the free way. Then nothing happened for nearly 20 years and the iron disappeared. Turned out that this was to be the factory to make the machinery to build the Soviet Arctic pipeline. Carter’s boycott of the Soviets put the kibosh on the Olympics and this factory. Caterpillar eventually harvested the iron to build engines.

[JEDI4S]

Looks like he has those “Ritalin eyes”.

Either that or the trans-gender hormone medications side effects had kicked in.

Somebody name Dryrone will make an honest woman of him in G-Block.

[FourPeas]

At 75, Mr Vernon is hardly elderly.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Looks like he has those “Ritalin eyes”.

Maybe Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Yeah, if those kids were Christians, we might as well check the freak's religion while we're at it, if you know what I mean.

[Gritty]

The Greatest Generation strikes again!

Actually, Vernon could more accurately be termed as the "Baby Boom Generation", born in WWII (although he was likely born in 1940). "His" war would have been Vietnam although it sounds like he was in the Army before that. He did a superb job.

Too bad he wasn’t permitted to carry in that “gun free zone” library.

Yeah. Vernon likely wouldn't have been badly hurt but then it could have been just like the Wild West - murderous crazy people wandering the streets with blood all over the place. Oh, wait...

[philman_36]

And instead of trial and execution we'll see trail and imprisonment a drain on the public coffers for decades.

[Enterprise]

It’s pajama boy!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

No, it’s not. Pajama Boy’s only offense is being effeminate. This thing, on the other hand . . .