Soldier who saved several children in El Paso breaks down in tears saying the shooting was 'the worst thing I've ever been through'

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US Army Pfc. Glendon Oakley Jr. talks to the press through tears after El Paso shooting

• A US Army soldier who heroically saved several children during the El Paso shooting this weekend broke down in tears during an interview.
• US Army Pfc. Glendon Oakley Jr., a soldier stationed at Fort Bliss who recently returned from Kuwait, said it was the "worst thing" he'd ever been through.
• Struggling to get through the interview, reporters called him an inspiration, saying that his actions offered hope in a tragic moment.
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US Army Pfc. Glendon Oakley Jr. emerged from a tragic shooting at the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso this past weekend a hero, having ran towards the gunfire and saved the lives of several children. Talking to the press afterwards, he broke down in tears, calling the massacre that left 22 people dead and more than two dozen wounded "the worst thing I've ever been through in my life."

"What I did was exactly what I was supposed to do. I understand it was heroic and I'm looked at as a hero for it, but that wasn't the reason for me," Oakley, a 22-year-old automated logistics specialist assigned to the 142nd Combat Support Sustainment Battalion, 1st Armored Division Sustainment Brigade at Fort Bliss, said Sunday.

"I'm just focused on the kids that I could not [save] and the families," he continued in tears. "It hurts me. I feel like they were a part of me. I don't even know the people that died or the kids that I took with me."

In a separate interview with Task & Purpose, Oakley, who comes from an Army family, described his recent deployment to Kuwait as "fine," but reportedly expressed disappointment that he didn't see combat. "I wanted to go to Iraq so bad," he said. "I felt like it's in my blood."

Read more: Meet the 22-year-old soldier who saved children at the El Paso shooting and is being called a hero

Instead of experiencing combat overseas, he found it at a shopping mall.

"I didn't get any sleep last night. I don't want to think about what happened because it was tragic. I'm telling you this was the worst thing I've ever been through in my life. And I don't want to keep having flashbacks of what happened," he told the press Sunday.

"I don't, I don't want to talk about what went on there because I just want to forget about it all," he added.

The off-duty soldier was shopping at the mall on Saturday when a gunman opened fire at the Walmart. Hearing the gunfire, he drew a concealed carry firearm and shifted into combat mode. "That's what you do," he explained to Task & Purpose. "You pull your gun, you find cover, and you figure out what to do next."

Making his way out toward the exit with a group of people, he reportedly saw around a dozen children scared and calling out for their parents. He started grabbing kids, trying to get them out. Oakley, who has a goddaughter, said Sunday he was trying to "protect them like they were mine."

"I understand what I did was heroic, but I did that because that's what I was trained to do and that's what the military has taught me to do," he explained, adding that the "spotlight should not be on me right now." As he struggled to get through the interview, unidentifiable reporters called him an inspiration, stressing that his actions offered hope in a tragic moment.