Maj. Andrew Downey was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for rescuing a couple struggling to stay afloat in heavy ocean waves with their 11-month-old baby, a news report said.
Downey received the Soldier’s Medal at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, from the commander of U.S. Army Pacific, Gen. Robert Brown, in an Aug. 29 ceremony, according to a report in Stars and Stripes. The medal is the Army’s highest honor for an act of valor in a non-combat situation.
“What a great day when you can recognize a soldier for doing a heroic act,” Brown said in the report. “It’s a pretty darn good day.”
Downey was vacationing with his family on the Hawaiian island of Kauai last April when he and his wife saw the family in the heavy whitewater off the island’s rugged north shore.
“There was a heavy rain storm and bigger waves were coming in,” Downey said in the report. “There was a lot of whitewash coming in.”
Downey’s wife first saw the baby in the whitewater. She called out to her husband.
The first thing Downey saw was the woman’s hand reaching out of a tidepool called the Queen’s Bath. Then he saw the backpack that was dragging her under.
Acting quickly, Downey pulled her out of the water, then went back for her husband and their baby.
Within minutes, Downey got them all out of the water.
“Without regard to his own safety, Downey immediately jumped 20 feet into the ocean, navigated through the whitewater to the woman, hooked his arm around her, and took her safely to shore,” the citation for the award reads.
“I have to say that I think a lot of people would do the same thing, and first responders do it every day without any thought of their own personal safety,” Downey told soldiers who gathered for the ceremony. “I’m happy everyone came away unscathed.”
Mackenzie Wolf is an editorial intern for Military Times.
