For her "remarkable courage under extreme duress," Margie Austin Crockett has been honored by the U.S. Postal Service. The Max Meadows resident was employed at the Wytheville Post Office last December when she and two postal customers were taken hostage by a Tennessee gunman.
Appalachian District Manager Robert A. Cavinder, postal inspectors and FBI agents were on hand to recognize Crockett's heroism and present her with several awards at the event at the Galax post office, where Crockett now works.
Commenting on her recognition Friday, Crockett said, "I was surprised. I was shocked to death. I wasn't that surprised to see my boss and district manager, but I was to see two FBI guys. The FBI gave me a certificate."
A Postal Service employee since 1999, she resigned her supervisory position at the Wytheville post office last August because of stress from the hostage situation. Crockett is now a substitute city carrier at the Galax office.
She was working the front counter on Dec. 23, when 53-year-old Warren Taylor of Sullivan County, Tenn., entered with four loaded handguns and what he claimed was a bomb. Crockett and two customers were held hostage for nine hours before the gunman surrendered to authorities.
Taylor pleaded guilty in federal court in Roanoke and was sentenced to 40 years in the penitentiary in October. He is now incarcerated in Indiana.
After a couple of months of mental-health therapy, a job relocation, testifying in federal court and Taylor's sentencing, Crockett has come to terms with what happened to her. She's prepared for the upcoming anniversary of the ordeal.
"They asked me if I was going to take the day off," Crockett said. "I told them no. I want to stay busy. I'm sure I'll think about it, but I'm not going to let it get to me.
"I have to live for today," said Crockett, who married Michael Crockett recently. "It changed the way I look at things. I try not to put off stuff."
As a result of her ordeal, Crockett was asked by the FBI to make a training video for hostage negotiators at FBI headquarters in Quantico.
"I hope it will help in some way," Crockett said.
She plans to spend a quiet Christmas with her husband, daughter, son, grandchild, father and other relatives.
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