MILWAUKEE – “Today is not my day to go,” a bold war veteran from Vietnam told a group of armed carjackers. The Wisconsin resident—who had war zone experience helping U.S. troops in Laos during Vietnam—turned the tables on a trio of would-be carjackers in a scary Memorial Day incident caught on surveillance camera.
Saylee Vang stepped out of his home in Milwaukee around 9 a.m. and was heading to his garden when three young men suddenly emerged and tried to rob him at gunpoint. Video obtained by FOX6 shows one of the men, a gun visible in his hand, demanding keys from the 66-year-old.
“Scariest thing would be losing my dad right there. I saw on the video they actually had a gun pointed at him. I’m glad he’s still here though,” said Yimleej Vang, Saylee’s son, told FOX6.
Furthermore, Vang said he turned the tables on the group chasing them away—before returning to his vehicle to pursue them. Consequently, one of the suspects shot at his vehicle four times, with one of the rounds striking a neighbor’s car. The 66-year-old was not injured.
“Very startled but he said he was in the war, Vietnam War,” his son told FOX6. “It doesn’t really faze him. He looked at them and said, ‘Today is not my day to go.'”
Vang served in Laos, helping U.S. troops from 1971 to 1975 until coming to the U.S. in 1979, according to his son.
The 66-year-old provided the surveillance footage to police. He said two of the men had weapons and appeared to be in their teens.
The Milwaukee Police Department is investigating the incident.
