Airman's act of kindness goes viral

  • Published
  • By Dan Neely
  • 919th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
DUKE FIELD, Fla. --  An Air Force reservist’s simple helping-hand efforts after a tornado were recognized recently on a viral level through social and local media.

Senior Master Sgt. Timothy Thoner remembers vividly the kindness of a group of complete strangers.

Two years ago, while he was out of state, dozens of strangers helped his family recover after a thunderstorm severely flooded their Pensacola, Florida home and neighborhood.

On February 24, a powerful tornado demolished hundreds of homes close to his neighborhood and Thoner saw the opportunity to pay those acts of kindness back -- literally by the ton.

Thoner, a 919th Special Operations Communications Squadron cyber systems superintendent, recalled the anxious moments as the Feb. 24, 2016, twister approached while his family hunkered down inside their closets. He occasionally peered out to catch local storm position updates on his living room TV.

“Right after I heard a report that the tornado had crossed I-10, I got a call from a friend … about an apartment building that had completely collapsed and I knew exactly where he was talking about,” Thoner said. “So another friend of mine and I jumped in my truck and drove over that way to see if we could help.”

As they neared the stricken area, they saw countless trees and utility lines down in residential areas. Both men proceeded until they approached the hardest-hit area, where they met with a virtual cordon of first responder vehicles and soon realized further access would be impossible.

A short time later, Thoner spotted a city transit bus that appeared to be shuttling dozens of people to a Methodist church being used as a shelter with an adjacent American Red Cross center. Realizing it was his best opportunity to assist nearest the disaster scene, he joined other volunteers until 3 a.m. the next morning.

“I found out there were about 25 people from that destroyed apartment complex sheltering inside, so I just basically set up military field cots and distributed food and water for the victims there.”

After just three hours of sleep, Thoner woke up feeling even more determined to help his disaster-stricken neighbors. But that meant first having to work out a no-notice day of leave from his civil service job as a project manager for the 53rd Computer Systems Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Once that was approved, Thoner jumped back in his truck and drove back toward the hardest-hit neighborhoods and was pleased to find a newly opened route to the ground-zero location. Arriving to the site of the tornado-blasted remnants of the apartment complex, the Airman was awestruck.

“I could not believe it. I was completely amazed when I heard the reports that no one was killed there,” Thoner said. “There were so many homes with roofs blown off and walls gone, and I’d heard that many of the survivors were found (by first responders) literally laying down, holding onto bathroom and other plumbing fixtures.”

Thoner spent a short time driving through the neighborhood to assess the overall situation.

“I was really just trying to look around in hopes of finding the greatest areas of need,” he said.

After checking on numerous displaced homeowners, he eventually settled on the decimated home of residents he could only recall were named Mike and Patricia.

For the remainder of the day, he helped them gain access to their heavily damaged home’s remaining belongings, clearing thousands of pounds of storm debris – large tree limbs, blown-away roof remnants, privacy fence sections, and much more.

Thoner even made a special trip to a hardware store, using his own money to buy plumbing parts and replace broken water lines that had left a tall geyser of leaking water.

His volunteerism did not go unnoticed, however. Not by a long shot.

John Ransom, a nephew of Mike and Patricia, posted a photo on Facebook of Thoner as he labored in their front yard.

“This man is a saint,” the post read. “I truly believe Tim's deeds have brought hope and happiness to thousands, highlighting the strength of community and the resounding good nature of humanity in times of tragedy.”

That post, went viral notching more than 15,000 likes and 6,600 shares. It gained the attention of military bloggers, local governments and the media.

Before Thoner knew it, he was telling his story on a news broadcast throughout the Emerald Coast region.

Thoner downplayed the attention and his motivations for responding as he did in the wake of the disaster.

“I may have been one of the first to respond there, but I definitely wasn’t the only one,” he said. “I feel like (the coverage) was a little out of proportion, because a lot of people were doing much more. Having been through this myself, it definitely puts it all in a different perspective.”