Green Beret saved injured woman from drowning
What started as a relaxed kayak outing on the Red River went South quickly for SSG Ian Tyrrel and a friend.
Fort Campbell Green Beret who saved injured woman from drowning earns Soldier’s Medal
BY CHAD GARLAND
A Special Forces medical sergeant was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for saving an injured woman’s life on what was supposed to be a relaxing kayak trip on Tennessee’s Red River.
The medal was pinned to Staff Sgt. Ian Tyrrel’s chest July 14 by Maj. Gen. John W. Brennan Jr., commanding general of 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) said in a statement. It’s the service’s highest award for bravery at the risk of one’s own life outside of combat.
“One of the great things we get to do is recognize bravery,” Brennan said during a ceremony at the Deeks Language Lab on Fort Campbell, Ky. “It’s common to recognize our Soldiers in a combat zone, but what Staff Sgt. Tyrrel did is not common.”
Tyrrel had recently arrived at Fort Campbell in August 2019, his first duty station after completing the Special Forces Selection and Assessment course, when he and a friend decided to take a trip to Port Royal State Historic Park, the statement said. The park is several miles east of Clarksville, Tenn.
At one point during the day, they noticed a commotion in the water and saw a woman drowning. Tyrrel and his friend dove into the river and pulled her ashore.
Tyrrel determined she’d broken her leg when the current pulled her underwater. But a first responder who came to the scene didn’t have any of the equipment he needed to treat the injury, he said.
A very lucky lady, and a hearty Bravo Zulu to SSG Tyrrel and friend. His words on the event?
“The lady needed help,” he said. “I helped her.”
Going in the water is the last resort to effect a rescue, but if you must go, take flotation with you.
Category: Army, Bravo Zulu, Valor
No problem,
He just stood up on his massive gonads and lifted up the damsel from distress.
Did they pin a Soldier’s Medal on each of his giant Nads, as well?? They need to be recognized too.
Well done Staff Sgt. Ian Tyrrel. Damned well done indeed Sir!
“Anybody else would have done the same thing, said Tyrrel…”
Well actually, no they wouldn’t have. That section of the Red River in Tennessee is not exactly the kiddie pool at the City Park. More than likely, most everybody else would have been too busy taking selfies and couldn’t be bothered putting down their cell phone and getting wet. Plus that whole massive gonad thing.
BZ SSG Tyrrel and friend. They need to go out and do some procreating, be fruitful and multiply. We need more like them.
Reach, throw, row, and go. That was the mantra last century for lifeguard training.
Well done Sgt.
As former helo rescue swimmer I approve of this comment.
Bravo Zulu SSG Ian Tyrrel! Just saw his duty and did it..
All due respect to the man. I do have to ask how it takes 16 years for an MoH (Cashe), and two years for a Soldiers’ Medal, though. You’d think they could turn a Soldier’s Medal in like 72 hours, and that’s with kickbacks once by every echelon of admin.