Staff Sgt. Ryan Lowe, saving the world one person at a time
Jennifer Caprioli at Army.mil tells the story of SSG Ryan Lowe of the 563rd Military Police Company, 91st MP Battalion at Fort Drum who happened by one of my favorite fishing sites when I lived in Redwood, NY at Butterfield Lake. Ryan was reconning from some fishing himself when he noticed Richard Stefanko fall from his new boat into the frigid waters.
Without thinking of his own safety, SSG Lowe jumped in after Stefanko;
“You’re trained — ever since basic (training) — to respond with half instinct and half of what you’re (supposed) to do,” he explained. “In the military police, a lot of it is just helping people out who are in bad situations.”
Lowe, who has been deployed twice, said he believes combat training prepared him to take better courses of action when dealing with situations.
“When I got to the boat, I realized the severity of the situation. He was struggling with the way the vest was keeping him afloat,” he said. “By the time I got to him … he wasn’t able to talk to me, and that’s when I realized I had to get him back to shore and out of the water.
“I was trying to talk to him, but he wasn’t able to talk real well,” Lowe noted. “I could see on his face that he was struggling.”
He grabbed Stefanko’s lifejacket and pulled the disoriented man to shore.
Once on shore, Lowe used his body to support Stefanko as he began to recover from the cold water.
After a few minutes, Stefanko began to show signs of recovery.
“He was starting to stand on his own, and he was beginning to talk to me,” Lowe said of Stefanko. “He just kept saying, ‘you saved my life.'”
“(Lowe) was very professional,” Stefanko noted. “He stayed right with me. He made sure I was OK.”
What real heroes say;
“It’s real hard to grasp that it meant that much to (Stefanko). I never expected any attention for this,” Lowe said. “I just saw a guy who needed help, so I went out and helped him. I don’t think I did (anything heroic).”
Unfortunately, SSG Lowe didn’t urinate on a Koran, so we’ll never read his story in the New York or LA Times.
Category: Real Soldiers
Jonn, I’d like to request that these kind of stories become more regular than the fakers.
Hell yeah! I second pax!
I’d like to suggest that perhaps SSG Lowe be submitted for a commendation. Does anyone know if that has happened?
I’m sure that there are good things our military folks do everyday that never get reported. I suck at swiming, so I think I would have just used a fishing pole to help the dude who fell in. Not as dramatic, but I’d sink.
Well Done SSgt Lowe!
Yesterday Lucas McKinney..today Ryan Lowe…Two consecutive days of Soldier’s Medal-worthy situations……..What’s that????????? Oh yeah silence because GOOD NEWS is NO NEWS!
” . . . I don’t think I did (anything heroic).”
SSG LOWE thinks himself normal. He’s right, he is.
Perhaps some of the rest of the world just doesn’t measure up to Man’s Nature and potential.
please help. my boyfriends parents found a camera in alaska. its full of family photos and vacation pics. we’d hate for them to have lost it and like to return it. we have very few clues. looks like there’s a ssg lowe and a baughman. thrre are pics of Alaska, Hawaii, disney princesses and a childs birthday by the name if Nathan. please contact me if any of this sounds familiar so we can get the camera to this family.