A local family is proud of their soldier, on tour in Afghanistan, after hearing of his heroic rescue of three children from flash floods in Afghanistan yesterday.
Sgt. Rob Huff from Williamstown has been to Iraq three times and was deployed to Afghanistan in May. He's been telling loved ones that he's homesick and is working long, hard hours.
But on Wednesday around 5:30 a.m., his girlfriend Amanda Buring got a text message from Sgt. Huff which read, "I saved a baby today. Will send picture when I can. Made it all worth being here."
Huff and three soldiers saved three children and several adults from flash floods in a small village outside Jalalabad. Minutes before they reached one house, and elderly woman was swept away in the current. Local rescuers were unable to respond so the soldiers, who are untrained in water rescue, jumped into action. Buring says, "He's really been searching for a way to find his purpose in Afghanistan."
Sgt. Huff was a children's pastor and a volunteer firefighter back home. The baby he saved is about the same age as his granddaughter.
Sgt. Huff is scheduled to return home in November in time for the holidays.
