A former Marine was viciously attacked on a Florida beach after defending a bullied teenager from a group of three men, the New York Daily News reported.
Wen Jones, 43, was knocked unconscious after the May 19 brawl, which was caught on video, but says he has no regrets.
"I'm not happy to have been injured pretty severely, but at the same time, I ask myself, would I do it again?" Jones said. "You know, it was the right thing to do, so I probably would."
The three men responsible for the attack -- Cody Roon, Tyler Carswell, and Eric Deiter, all 20 -- were arrested on Wednesday and face aggravated battery charges.
The attack happened at Juno Park Beach after the three assailants began picking on a group of children, including 14-year-old Zion Wright. According to reports, the men kicked sand in Wright's face. Leroy Wright, the boy's father, was near his son when they approached and heard them use racial slurs.
Jones was walking by the group when he noticed what was going on.
"Everything kind of escalated very quickly and all of a sudden I was kind of in the middle of a melee," Jones said. "It was not just a situation I could just walk past."
As the boy's father ran to his car to get a bat, the three young men attacked Jones to the ground. He suffered a fracture near his eye and needed surgery and stitches throughout his face, police said.
Leroy Wright expressed his appreciation Jones' help that day.
"I feel like this man literally risked his life because he saw a situation that was bad ... when you got your average people standing around videotaping and nobody stepped in," Wright said.
He also added Jones should be rewarded for his actions.
"If he didn't receive a Purple Heart when he was in the military serving, he deserves one now because he's a true Samaritan."
