Marine Veteran pulls women from burning building

In November 2022, Terry Bagley, Sr., 70, Maryland VA employee and a Marine Corps Veteran, was walking to the grocery store to pick up some pasta for the Thanksgiving meal he was preparing

A house in his neighborhood exploded and he heard someone cry for help.

“There were people standing around not doing anything to help. The others held me back and told me not to run into the house, but I yelled ‘Oorah’ and went in,” said Bagley.

His split-second decision was engrained in him from his Marine Corps training and his South Carolina roots.

He carried a mother and daughter to safety. When he rushed into the house a third time to rescue the father of the family, the house collapsed around him, causing him serious injuries, including a broken pelvis, femur and hand. The third person he was attempting to rescue died in the fire.

Not sure he would survive, placed in medically induced coma

At the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center where paramedics transported Bagley, it wasn’t clear if he’d survive his injuries. Clinicians placed him into a medically induced coma and delayed a surgery until his heartbeat became stronger.

“When I carried out the ladies, they were badly burned, their hands and arms burned down to white. The whole side of the mother’s face was burned,” said Bagley, who wondered if he would have been able to save the third individual trapped in the burning house had he’d been younger and stronger.

Now recovered, the unstoppable Bagley returned to work at Baltimore VA where staff members welcomed him back to work and recognized his heroic actions with an award presentation July 7.

“We are proud of you and happy to see you back. There was a time we didn’t think you were coming back,” said Rosenzweig, associate director for operations.

Bagley survived polio as a child, the toxic water at Camp Lejeune and service in Vietnam. His twin brother Jerry and his family rallied around him during his recovery and took turns sitting with him during the Thanksgiving holiday.

“I don’t regret saving the ladies, but sometimes I do regret running into the burning house because of all the pain I’m in,” said Bagley who now uses a cane.

Still, Bagley wants his coworkers and others to know that, “Helping others, helping each other,” is the most important value and its own reward.

Bagley is part of the Environment Management Service at the Maryland VA.