Army Emergency Relief | April 3, 2025

Master Sgt. Daniel Brooks leapt to action in 2023 while at a Christmas parade in Germany, disarming a man with a knife. Brooks swatted away the weapon, according to an Army.mil story, secured the attacker’s arm and wrestled him to the ground.

Brooks was presented the Soldier’s Medal — the highest award a service member can receive for a non-combat action — in February by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Tony Grinston, Army Emergency Relief CEO and 16^th Sergeant Major of the Army, recognized Brooks and his wife Holly on April 2 during a community gathering at the headquarters of the Benavidez-Patterson All Airborne Chapter of the 82^nd Airborne Association in El Paso, Texas.

Also at the event, Grinston accepted a $1,000 donation from the Fort Bliss Sergeant Audie Murphy Club and met with retired Soldiers from the El Paso area.

Brooks is currently attending the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy and will next serve at Fort Drum, New York.

RELATED NEWS:

• Task & Purpose: Hero soldier honored by Bavaria for stopping knife attack
• Stars and Stripes: US soldier receives Bavarian medal for thwarting knife attack at German mall
• Defense Visual Information Distribution Service: Master Sgt. Daniel A. Brooks Christophorous Medal Ceremony