Sgt. Joshua Michael: ‘A true friend’

BY BAILIE MYERS
Editor

Sgt. Joshua Michael - Courtesy Photo

A train wreck in Midland in November took the lives of four veterans. One of the veterans killed in the wreck was Sgt. Joshua Michael, a former Amarillo College student.
The accident occurred on Veterans Day during a parade honoring wounded warriors. Michael and his wife, Daylyn, both were on a float in the parade that was to carry them to a banquet honoring the veterans when the train struck the float as it went over the tracks.

According to witnesses on the scene, Michael pushed his wife off the float before the collision, saving her life.

In the midst of such a fatal accident, with many people grieving over the losses of loved ones, we stop to honor Joshua Michael, who once was a fellow Badger. When Michael attended AC in the 1990s, he made many friends and ultimately made an impact on the school. He participated in the Student Government Association, met his wife and made lasting friendships while going to school.

“You only have two or three true friends in your lifetime; Joshua was one of those people,” said Trent Oneal, a physical education instructor who formerly taught Michael. “He would give you the shirt off his back.”

“He was more then a student; he was a friend.”

Michael had been a paramedic before joining the military. “He had a lot of wisdom,” Oneal said. “His knowledge of medicine far exceeded anyone of his age.”

April Sessler, associate vice president of student affairs-enrollment, also remembers Joshua Michael.

“He always had a smile on his face and was always the first to jump in to volunteer to help with anything,” Sessler said.

“It doesn’t surprise me one bit that he would be the one to instinctively jump in to rescue or come to someone’s aid, especially someone he loved. He was just ‘that guy.’”

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