West Point students graduate with an arsenal of skills the average civilian may never learn. For Larry and Daniel Lennox-Choate, the first male West Point graduates to ever marry on the school’s campus in a same-sex ceremony, those skills came in handy when a raving New Yorker hurled homophobic slurs and attacked them in Manhattan.

In addition to their military education, both men served in the military. Daniel graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2007 and was deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq during his Army career. Larry graduated from West Point in 2009 and served as an Army operations officer.

The couple was walking in an upscale SoHo neighborhood when the attacker yelled at them and punched Daniel. Though they had long finished their military commitments, these veterans were more than equipped to beat back the attacker.

“The guy who screamed anti-gay obscenities at us in a bodega before sucker-punching Danny?,” Larry said. “He left covered in his own blood with his tail between his legs after I handled the situation and tossed him in the street like the coward loser he is.”

Sensing that he was outmatched, the attacker took off on a bicycle. A witness photographed the attacker, and the couple reported the incident to the police.

“The hate crimes division of the NYPD is on the case and we have full faith a positive outcome will follow,” Larry said. “We refuse to be victims and are thankful we can defend ourselves, but are saddened by the fact that idiots like this guy might not pick two guys who went through Plebe Boxing next time.”