88-year-old Army vet saves 10-year-old girl from pit bull attack

November 26, 2019

An 88-year-old Army veteran is being hailed as a hero after he sprang into action and fought off a pit bull that was attacking his 10-year-old neighbor in Perry Township, Ohio. Leonard Miller, 88, used a 3-foot-tall plastic toy soldier to get the dog off of the girl.

“(The dog) had her and was just shaking her and growling, and I hit the dog, I don’t know how many times, but it didn’t faze that dog, didn’t faze it,” Miller told CBS Cleveland affiliate WOIO. “So I … started to hit it on the back several times and it released the little girl.”

The girl’s 13-year-old sister alerted Miller to the harrowing situation involving the family pit bull. She showed up at Miller’s home banging on his door and screaming.

After Miller managed to free the girl from the pit bull, he slowly backed out of the house and shut all of the doors, locking the animal inside and away from the girls. He then called police and paramedics.

First responders who arrived at the scene credited Miller with saving the girl’s life. Miller, who served in the Korean war, believes his experience serving as a medic may have been what helped him react as he did.

Doctors were able to save the girl’s arm and her family told Miller she’s expected to be OK.

According to WOIO, there was no word on the pit bull’s condition.