In the aftermath of a fiery head-on crash on an isolated South Carolina road, Capt. Kyle Franklin of the National Guard peered into a Ford Ranger already engulfed in flames. A woman, about to drive away to find a cell signal so she could call emergency services to the scene, yelled at him to get back.

"She told me to leave them, they're going to die," Franklin told Army Times.

The Guard chaplain disregarded her concern and instead saved the lives of two badly injured people he pulled from the burning truck. On May 3 Franklin received a Soldiers Medal — the Army's highest non-combat valor award — for his actions after witnessing the crash on his way home from McEntire Joint National Guard Base.

Doubts about the survivability of the Feb. 9, 2013, accident were hardly misplaced. Franklin estimated the speed of both the Ranger — driving right in front of him — and an oncoming Buick LeSabre at more than 60 mph when they collided.

The Ranger, he said, flipped end over end as it immediately burst into flames.

Capt. Kyle Franklin, chaplain, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-151st Security and Support Aviation Battalion, received the Soldier's Medal May, 3 at McEntire Joint National Guard Base. Franklin was recognized for his heroism for extracting two people from a burning vehicle and rendering medical aid to two others who were involved in a head-on collision Feb. 9, 2013.

Photo Credit: Sgt. Brad Mincey, Army National Guard

Franklin, who serves in Headquarters Company, 2-151st Security and Support Aviation Battalion of the South Carolina National Guard, approached the truck from the passenger side as flames made the other side inaccessible. There he saw Todd Childress.

"Todd just looked at me. I saw his eyes, he was so calm. He told me, 'Help me. I don't want to die, I don't want to burn. I want to live,'" Franklin said. "I'll never forget the look in his eyes."

The man couldn't get himself across the passenger side despite not being trapped; he had a severe back injury and would emerge from the incident temporarily paralyzed. He had no feeling in his legs, Franklin said he had no feeling in his legs.

After he was pulled pulling him out, Childress began talking about April, his fiancée. With the chaos, flames and smoke, Franklin hadn't even noticed her unconscious in the passenger seat. She had a severe head injury and was trapped with her feet badly mangled under the glove box. Franklin pulled out one foot at a time to free her, and her groans of pain actually relieved him somewhat; they were the first signs that she was alive.

Franklin said he asked Childress to find a way to help, as he didn't think he'd be able to get her away from the burning truck himself. He said Childress miraculously managed to summon the strength to get to his feet and help get her to the middle of the road before he collapsed and lost consciousness.

The next day Childress needed surgery on his back and was put in a halo preventing his neck and back from moving.

Capt. Kyle Franklin greets two of the people he helped at the scene of a horrific vehicle crash on Feb. 9, 2013. Franklin was presented the Soldier's Medal for valor for extracting two people from a burning vehicle and rendering medical aid to two others in the head-on collision.

Photo Credit: Sgt. Brad Mincey, Army National Guard

The couple would recover; a year ago they had their first child.

After helping them at the accident scene, Later Franklin moved over to the Buick to render first aid to the two people in the car, who had badly broken legs among other serious injuries. They were eventually taken by helicopter to the hospital when emergency services arrived — 25 minutes after the crash, as miscommunicated directions delayed their arrival.

Local emergency service workers credited Franklin for saving lives.

"We are thankful for his actions, as what he did most certainly changed our mission from a recovery mission to a rescue mission," said Rodney Jenkins, Columbia Fire Department Chief. "They would certainly not be with us today if he had not been there at that moment."

Franklin, who had planned to attend a costume party that evening as Maverick from Top Gun, said even finding himself in a position to help save lives that day required divine intervention. For starters, hHe was running late because of some hang-ups at work. Then, when he mentioned the time-crunch to a colleague, he suggested a shortcut Franklin never had taken before, and never otherwise would have considered.

"God had a purpose for me that day," Franklin said. "It was timing and direction. God used those people [who held him up and suggested the shortcut], then he used me to do his will to save them."

Aside from his work with the Guard, Franklin also runs an inner-city ministry in Charleston, South Carolina, to help local youths. He also runs Franklin Properties, which he said offers affordable housing to disenfranchised people who are unable to work.

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