LACEY, Wash. - Jim Hardie doesn't really see himself as much of a hero.
"I really don't feel like I have any more value than anybody else,” he said.
He's a family man with an eight-year run in the Marine Corps. But for the last two years he’s been riding the bus in search of a job.
Last week after a full day of searching, Jim sat across from three guys he felt were being disrespectful to everyone on the bus.
But instead of turning the other way, he looked at them and said "Given the nature of what we've gone through with the word n***** it's not appropriate to loosely throw that word around or refer to white women as white b***** and I'd appreciate if they stopped that.”
That's when Jim says the guys focused in on him, arguing - then hitting - before jumping off the bus.
"I put myself at risk to protect everybody,” he said.
"At the end of the day everybody on that bus was safer, at the end of the day good prevailed,” said Jim’s brother Jefferey.
People on the bus applauded afterwards and Jim says he'd do it again. He says he was just speaking up for what he felt was right.
"I hope people in that situation will not be afraid to stand up to other people and tell them to be respectful. They have a right to do so,” he said.
Jim didn't suffer any injuries during this fight and he didn't file a police report. He says he'll continue to ride the bus - it's his only way to get around.
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