On a cold January day in 1984, the life of Harry Lee Shryock Jr., a 64-year-old male, was cut tragically short in Polson, Montana. His death was not the result of poison, but a selfless act of bravery that ended in violence. Shryock, a decorated and retired Air Force pilot, found himself in the middle of a tense hostage situation at the local airport. The chain of events began earlier that day when a 27-year-old man named David Keith robbed a pharmacy in Missoula, stealing prescription drugs. Fleeing from the initial crime, Keith was spotted by law enforcement, leading to a pursuit.
The situation escalated dramatically when Keith, desperate to escape, took a 13-year-old boy, William Crose Jr., as a hostage at gunpoint from a store. With police closing in, he was stopped at a roadblock where he demanded an aircraft and a pilot to facilitate his getaway in exchange for the boy's life.
Witnessing the terrifying ordeal unfold at the Polson Airport, Shryock, who had served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, did not hesitate. He voluntarily offered himself as a replacement for the young hostage, a proposal the assailant accepted.
After the boy was freed, Keith and his new hostage, Shryock, boarded a private plane. However, their departure was thwarted as police had managed to deflate the aircraft's tires. As Shryock attempted to start the engine, possibly as a stalling tactic, a police sniper took a shot, wounding Keith in the arm and chest. In direct retaliation for being shot, Keith turned his gun on the heroic pilot and fatally shot him. Shryock was killed instantly by a gunshot to the head.
David Keith was apprehended at the scene. In March of 1985, he pleaded guilty to charges of deliberate homicide, aggravated assault, and aggravated kidnapping. He received two death sentences on top of a 146-year prison term. However, just before his scheduled execution in 1989, the governor of Montana commuted his death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. For his extraordinary bravery and ultimate sacrifice, Harry Lee Shryock Jr. was posthumously awarded the Carnegie Medal.
