as heroes for subduing a gunman who opened fire at an lgbt nightclub in the us state of colorado, killing five people. police have now have identified those victims. they also named the men who tackled the gunman as thomas james and army veteran richard fierro, who has now spoken out about his experience. tom brada reports. the nightclub, club q, had been a safe haven for the colorado springs lgbtq community. on saturday night, it became the scene of a nightmare. richard fierro was there that night with his wife, daughter and friends. when gunfire rang out, the reflexes from four combat tours in iraq and afghanistan kicked in. i got into mode and i needed to save my family, and that family was, at that time, everybody in that room. mr fierro charged through the room, tackled the gunman, and beat him with his own gun.
everybody in that room. reporter: a battlefield he couldn t have imagined, a beloved club where he came with his wife, daughter, her boyfriend and friends for a drag show. when the first bullets started flying, the 15-year army vet, who served four combat tours in iraq and afghanistan, felt his instincts kick in. it s a reflex. go. go to the fire. stop the action. stop the activity. don t let no one get hurt. reporter: charging through the chaos, fiero said he tackled the gunman who was wearing full body armor, knocking a rifle out of his hands, then wrestling away a handgun, using it to beat the shooter. he says he even enlisted the hem of a drag performer at the club. i told her, kick this guy, kick this guy, and she took her high heel and stuffed it in his face. reporter: but fiero wasn t able to save his daughter s 22-year-old boyfriend, raymond green vance, who died in the attack. he was a good kid, man, and i
september 11, 2001, more than 7,000 u.s. service members have died in military operations. during that same time period, about four times as many, more than 30,000 active duty service members and veterans have died by suicide. in tonight s eye on america, cbs s margaret brennan introduces us to a veteran raising money to honor the dead and support the living. you ve got fans. i know. reporter: after four combat tours in afghanistan, retired army colonel chris kolenda wanted to honor his fellow soldiers. so you went from not riding a bicycle in 20 years to riding 1700 miles. i said to myself i m not getting younger. reporter: he biked across country to visit the graves of six paratroopers from the unit he commanded. these are the names of the guys. reporter: how does it feel to have completed it? i feel a lot of gratitude, desperate tude for the service and sacrifice of our six fallen heroes, gratitude for the 800
to russia before the invasion. i think he is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly. reporter: but president biden accused putin of playing with fire on a level not seen since the cuban missile crisis 60 years ago this month. he, in fact, cannot continue with impunity to talk about the use of a tactical nuclear weapon, as if that s a rational thing to do. the mistakes get made. and the miscalculation could occur. no one can be sure what happened, and it could end in armageddon. reporter: russia is arguably at its weakest point in the war, low on troops, it has implemented a partial draft and is even offering pardons to convicted prisoners in exchange for combat tours. low on weapons, russia s increasingly reliant on iranian drones with russian arms productions squeezed by sanctions. in rare public statements, the
bloody war potentially entering a new phase. this man says a bomb blew a 30 foot hole in his backyard. how did you survive? translator: i don t know, he says. reporter: russian state tv bluntly warning viewers we should not be expecting good news, and airing this video of draftees training before heading to ukraine. but around half of the soldiers conscripted in a region of the far east now being sent home after being deemed unfit, according to a russian official. the leader of chechnya releasing this footage claim to go show his teenage sons, including his 14-year-old preparing for war. days after the putin ally called for russia to use low yield nuclear weapons on the battlefield. nbc s erin mclaughlin reporting from ukraine for us. joining us retired u.s. army general steph twitty, he served a number of combat tours in iraq