It was December of 2023 when Army Master Sgt. Daniel Brooks was at a Christmas event in Germany when the unexpected happened. It was a Christmas parade in Bayreuth, Germany and he was assigned to 2nd Cavalry Regiment but was now off-duty with his friends and family.
Suddenly, there was a commotion. A crowd had formed around the disturbance, and Brooks moved forward to see what was going on. What he discovered was a knife-wielding man threatening people.
"I knew he was trying to hurt someone," Brooks said in a recent Army press release. "As I moved forward, I swatted away his knife and tried to secure his arm and lunged, falling on top of him while wrestling the man to the ground until security arrived. The whole event was literally seconds."
A few months later, the Bavaria Governor Markus Söder held a ceremony to honor the first responders who helped thwart the attack and awarded Brooks with the Christophorus Medal in recognition of his heroism. In February 2024, the Army reciprocated, awarding Brooks the Soldier's Medal, which is "presented to those who put their own lives on the line to protect others outside of the battlefield."
The award was presented by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at a ceremony at the Sergeant Major's Course, which Brooks was attending, located on Fort Bliss.
When Brooks reflected back on the incident in Germany, he said, "I was humbled and honored and so much of this is above and beyond what I think I have done. I sometimes feel I have imposter syndrome but so many of those around me continue to remind me that this is what our organization is supposed to do. The outpouring from friends and Family and so many senior Army leaders is hard to even take in."