We forget all too easily that those who protect and serve – our police – are also vulnerable to the forces of evil they battle on our behalf. Sometimes, they lose the fight.
Fifty-nine years ago today, Officer Leslie W. Coffelt lost his fight for life, but even in dying, probably helped to save the life of a US President. Wikipedia reports:
In the 1940s, Puerto Rican nationalists were increasingly angered by what they viewed as great injustices towards Puerto Rico.
. . .
Griselio Torresola came from a family that believed in the Puerto Rican independence cause, while Oscar Collazo had been participating in the movement since childhood. They met in New York City and became good friends. On October 28, 1950, they received the news that the Jayuya Uprising, led by the nationalist Blanca Canales in Puerto Rico, had failed. Torresola’s sister had been wounded and his brother Elio was arrested. Collazo and Torresola then decided to assassinate President Truman with the intention of bringing world attention to the independence cause of Puerto Rico.
. . .
During the presidency of Harry Truman, the White House was found to have serious structural faults and was completely gutted and renovated. While the White House was undergoing renovation, the President resided at Blair House.
[On November 1st, 1950] Torresola walked up Pennsylvania Avenue from the west side while his partner, Oscar Collazo, walked up to Capital police officer Donald Birdzell on the steps of the Blair house. Approaching Birdzell from behind, Collazo pulled out a Walther P38 handgun, pointed it at the officer’s back, and pulled the trigger; but nothing happened. After pounding on his pistol and fumbling around with it, Collazo managed to fire the weapon just as Birdzell was turning to face him, striking the officer in his right knee. Nearby, Secret Service Agent Floyd Boring and White House Police officer Joseph Davidson heard the shot and opened fire on Collazo with their service revolvers. Collazo returned fire, but soon found himself outgunned as the wounded Birdzell managed to draw his weapon and join the shootout. Soon after, Collazo was struck by two .38 caliber rounds in the head and right arm, while other officers rushed to join the fight.
Meanwhile, Torresola approached a guard booth at the west corner of the Blair-Lee House, and noted an officer, Private Leslie Coffelt, sitting inside. Torresola, in a double handed Weaver Stance, quickly pivoted from left to right around the opening of the booth. Coffelt was taken completely by surprise, as tourists often stopped at the box to ask for information. Torresola fired four shots from his 9 mm German Luger semi-automatic pistol at close range at Coffelt. Three of the shots struck Coffelt in the chest and abdomen, and the fourth went through his policeman’s tunic. Coffelt slumped down in his chair, mortally wounded.
Torresola then turned his attention to plainclothes White House policeman Joseph Downs. Downs, who had just paused to chat with Coffelt, proceeded down the walkway to the basement door at the west end of the Blair-Lee house when he heard shots being fired. Downs noticed Torresola, but was shot once in the hip before he could draw his weapon. Downs turned back towards the house, and was shot twice more by Torresola, once in the back and once in the neck. Downs staggered to the basement door, opened it, slid in, and then slammed the door behind him, denying Torresola entry into the Blair House.
Torresola then turned his attention to the shoot-out between his partner, Collazo, and several other law enforcement officers. Torresola noted wounded policeman Donald Birdzell aiming at Collazo from the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue. Torresola aimed and shot Birdzell in the left knee from a distance of approximately 40 feet. Now shot in both knees, Birdzell was no longer able to stand and flopped over. He would later recover. But soon after, the severely wounded Collazo was hit in the chest by a ricochet shot from Davidson and was incapacitated, too.
Torresola realized he was out of ammunition. He stood to the immediate left of the Blair House steps while he reloaded. At the same time, President Truman, who had been taking a nap in his second-floor bedroom, awoke to the sound of gunfire outside. President Truman went to his bedroom window, opened it, and looked outside. From where he stood reloading, Torresola was thirty-one feet away from that window. It is unknown whether either man saw the other.
At the same time, the mortally-wounded Coffelt staggered out of his guard booth, leaned against it, and aimed his revolver at Torresola, who was approximately 30 feet away. Coffelt fired, hitting Torresola two inches above the ear on a slight upward angle, killing him instantly. Coffelt was taken to hospital but died some four hours later.
The gunfight involving Torresola lasted approximately 20 seconds, while the gunfight with Collazo lasted approximately 38.5 seconds.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the measure of a hero. Mortally wounded, Officer Coffelt nevertheless forced himself to rejoin the fight and disable his attacker before succumbing to his wounds. His heroism was officially recognized by his burial in Arlington National Cemetery.
The Secret Service, who took over the task of Presidential protection soon after the assassination attempt, commemorated Officer Coffelt’s heroism, and that of his colleagues, at a ceremony in Washington DC this morning. It included the fastening of a floral shield to the fence around Blair House, next to this plaque permanently mounted there, forever honoring Officer Coffelt’s sacrifice.
Let us remember him with gratitude, and – for those so inclined, of whom I’m one – pray for his soul.
Peter
Stephen Hunter wrote a good book about the incident called American Gunfight for any who want to read about it in more detail.
+1 for American Gunfight. An excellent book.
Not to detract from Officer Coffelt's sacrifice in any way, of course, but I wonder how much of that was a sense of duty vs. a sense of "He shot me! He can't get away with that!"