��vlog archives: The story of Ronald Reagan thwarting a robbery in Des Moines

��vlog archives: Iowa woman recalls the night Ronald Reagan saved her life

Melba (Lohmann) King was a 22-year-old nursing student at Broadlawns General Hospital in the fall of 1933 when a hold-up turned into a brief brush with greatness. She told the story of meeting Ronald Reagan to ��vlog viewers more than 50 years later, in 1984, when she was living in Pleasant Hill.It was fall of 1933 and she had arrived by bus in Des Moines. She was carrying her purse and a suitcase on the short walk from the bus station to Broadlawns when she said a man put what she thought was a gun in her back and demanded her belongings. Then they both heard a man's voice from the second story of a nearby house: "Leave her alone or I'll shoot you right in between the shoulders." The mugger ran from the scene, leaving her belongings there.The man who saved Melba came out and introduced himself as Ronald Reagan, who was then working as a sportscaster for WHO radio. He walked her safely to the hospital and the two didn't cross paths again until February 1984, when she joined him on stage in Waterloo. Watch the video above to head Melba King's story about the night Ronald Reagan saved her life.Reagan, of course, had gone on to become an actor in Hollywood and then the 40th president of the United States (1981-1989)."This is the first time that I have seen Melba since that night, so it's the first time I've had a chance to tell you the gun was empty," Reagan said in Waterloo. "... If he hadn't run when I told him to, I was going to have to throw it at him." » Download the free ��vlog app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google PlayMore from the ��vlog ArchivesRETRO ��vlog: Look back at Ringling Bros. 1981 circus at Vets Auditorium in Des MoinesRETRO FIND: Adorable dog and duck are BFFs��vlog archives: Stevie Wonder once performed for children at Blank Park Zoo��vlog Archive: 1993 was the summer of strange weather

DES MOINES, Iowa —

Melba (Lohmann) King was a 22-year-old nursing student at Broadlawns General Hospital in the fall of 1933 when a hold-up turned into a brief brush with greatness.

She told the story of meeting Ronald Reagan to ��vlog viewers more than 50 years later, in 1984, when she was living in Pleasant Hill.

It was fall of 1933 and she had arrived by bus in Des Moines. She was carrying her purse and a suitcase on the short walk from the bus station to Broadlawns when she said a man put what she thought was a gun in her back and demanded her belongings.

Then they both heard a man's voice from the second story of a nearby house: "Leave her alone or I'll shoot you right in between the shoulders."

The mugger ran from the scene, leaving her belongings there.

The man who saved Melba came out and introduced himself as Ronald Reagan, who was then working as a sportscaster for WHO radio. He walked her safely to the hospital and the two didn't cross paths again until February 1984, when she joined him on stage in Waterloo.

Watch the video above to head Melba King's story about the night Ronald Reagan saved her life.

Reagan, of course, had gone on to become an actor in Hollywood and then the 40th president of the United States (1981-1989).

"This is the first time that I have seen Melba since that night, so it's the first time I've had a chance to tell you the gun was empty," Reagan said in Waterloo. "... If he hadn't run when I told him to, I was going to have to throw it at him."

» Download the free ��vlog app to get updates on the go: |