West Point Cadet, Father Save Man’s Life Before His Car Burst Into Flames

West Point cadet Larry Pickett Jr. started the weekend playing football for the Black Knights Friday night. He later started Sunday a hero. Pickett Jr. is being hailed a hero after he and his dad, Larry Pickett Sr…

Sandra RhodesSep 2, 20253 min read

Sponsored

to the sports news website The Athletic

. “We got out, ran over, jumped over the power line, opened the door. He still had his seatbelt on.”

“What if we got there just a minute later?” he added.

Pickett Sr. spoke with WTVD-TV in the family’s hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. He said his son “mentioned his military training kicked in” and “jumped right into action.”

Pickett Jr. has received accolades from his Army superiors.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll posted on social media, saying, “This young leader embodies the highest values of the Army and West Point: duty, honor, country. He showed that he can stand ready to act under pressure, whether on the Football field, in his community, or in the future with the Soldiers under his command.”

He added Picket Jr., 20,

“… showed that he can stand ready to act under pressure, whether on the Football field, in his community, or in the future with the Soldiers under his command. We are proud — and deeply grateful — for his heroism.”

“America’s future is in good hands,” he added.

The U.S. Military Academy posted on X that it was “proud of the heroic actions” taken by Pickett Jr. and his father.

Loading post…

The academy’s athletic director, Tom Theodorakis, wrote on X their conduct is “exactly what we strive to develop … leadership, courage, and selfless service.”

“Cadet Larry Pickett Jr. and his father exemplify the values we hold dear, stepping up in a moment of crisis to save a life,” Theodorakis wrote. “Proud to see these traits in action, on and off the fields of friendly strife. Count the brave.”

Loading post…

Earlier that day, Pickett Jr. assisted on a tackle on a kickoff in the first quarter of the Black Knights’ 30-27 overtime loss to Tarleton State.

“Thank you Jesus that this man will live to see another day! I am so grateful for my son LJ for saving his life!” Pickett Sr. wrote in a Facebook post accompanying his daughter’s video.

Pickett Jr.’s actions were a “testament to the character West Point is building in him — a readiness to go into the line of fire, not just for his country, but for anyone who needs it,” Pickett Sr. wrote.