SOUTHGATE, Mich. – When Bill Weller isn’t working in his Southgate flooring business, he’s on Facebook looking for updates from his son, Jake.
“I called him and he said, ‘Dad, they’re receiving 60,000 911 calls per day. The Coast Guard boats are too big. Mayors are asking for people with small boats to come save people. I’m going,” Weller said of his phone conversation with his son.
Jake Weller is an Army staff sergeant who is based in Fort Benning, Georgia. Once he saw people in need, he hitched his 14-foot boat up to his truck and drove for 15 hours to Texas.
“He went on his own dime, his truck, his boat, his gas,” Bill Weller said. “I call him the true patriotic hero.”
“I saw on the news and I knew they needed people with the right skills and a boat,” Jake Weller said. “I have the skills through the Army and a boat.”
Once Jake Weller got to Texas, he joined the Cajun Navy and has been working nonstop. On Sunday, he helped save 23 people from the flood waters and countless pets.
“That’s the most rewarding feeling, getting the family on land and getting neighbors out all day,” Jake Weller said.
Back at home, Dad gets teary-eyed thinking about his son and the work he is doing. He calls him his hero.
“He really feels like he’s doing everything he can to make the world a better place,” Bill Weller said.
When Local 4 talked with Jake Weller, he was en route to Louisiana to help the people there.