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LCPL Ryan McCurdy - USMC
Purple Heart Recipient
This Hero's Story
The phone call came around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17, 2006.
"Is this the home of Ryan McCurdy?" the raspy voice asked. "Could you tell
me who is calling?" I answered warily before engaging in conversation.
"I'm looking for the home of Ryan McCurdy, this is Corporal Clifton Trotter
I was with him in Iraq." I finally replied, "Yes, this is his home and I am
his mother." Corporal Trotter said, "He saved my life!"
Corporal Trotter went on to tell me that he was one of the squad leaders
that Ryan was with in Iraq. He was shutting down a shift of men who were
guarding
the C-Mac complex, and that he and Ryan were on duty together. A large
group of insurgents came upon their group of guards and started firing at
them.
Corporal Trotter went down as he got shot in the neck in the carotid artery,
which also affected his voice. He told me, I lay in the street praying for my
wife and baby, who was soon to be born, and I knew I was a gonner. Then
Ryan ran out and started pulling me by my legs to get me to safety behind
the burm." Ryan got him there and was in firing position when he got shot
which proved to be a mortal wound. Corporal Trotter said he lay behind the
burm with Ryan and tried to yell for help, but all that would come out of
his voice was a whisper due to his injury.
Corporal Albert Gettings who died on the same day as Ryan apparently was
coming in from patrol. The gun battle was fierce and that's why other
Marines joined in the fight. Cpl Trotter said he did not know Cpl Gettings.
Corporal Trotter asked me if I knew about the "Blue Croc Shoes" that Ryan
had and he said that all the guys teased him about them. But, did Ryan
care? No. Well, after Ryan passed, a room the guys called "the lounge" (a place
where computers were so the troops could email home) was renamed, "The Ryan
McCurdy Blue Shoes Lounge" in his honor. There were 11 men in Ryan's
squad.
Corporal Trotter told me how he recently got out of the Bethesda Naval
Hospital for more surgery on his throat due to the gunshot wound. His wife,
Stephanie, had their baby boy on March 25th in Jacksonville and they named
him, Christian Ryan. Of course, I was very touched. Corporal Trotter told
me, "I cry every night thinking about how Ryan saved my life." I told him
that Ryan cared for his friends and that he was one of them and that Ryan
must have really liked him. I said that what Ryan did was the kind of thing
he would do without hesitation for a friend. I told him that God saw that
he had a wife and baby to raise and Ryan would want him to be able to do
that too, without giving his life a second thought.
Corporal Trotter said that when he had tower duty, he always asked Ryan to
come with him. They were shot at many times in the tower and returned fire.
Corporal Trotter had done five tours of duty overseas in Afghanistan,
Africa, and Iraq. He said that Ryan continually asked him questions about
it. He didn't mind answering him because Ryan was so interested in it all.
Corporal Trotter is from Alabama and will be taking a well-deserved leave soon.
He said that he and the other men in the squad put in that Ryan be awarded the
NAM Medal (Navy Achievement Medal) a medal for outstanding achievement.
Ryan gave his own life, but he saved the life of a fellow Marine for his
wife and son. Christian Ryan has a Daddy to raise him and love him.
Ryan always was a physical kid and was loved by his close community at
church and school, Christian Life Fellowship and Academy - Teachers and
students alike broke down and wept unashamed at the great personal loss they
felt. (See The Advocate Newspaper of Baton Rouge for the many articles that
were written about him, each one on the front page.) Baton Rouge's Mayor
honored him on January 13th , the day his was buried, and claimed it as Ryan
McCurdy Day. His mother and brother knew his heart to be a kind hearted,
loving person who was too good for this world. His best friend, Brandon
Webb, and his brother, Logan, and their family loved Ryan like a son and
recall the many wonderful hours they spent together on trips, LSU football
games, eating out, and even going to Waffle house at 4:00 A.M. The Marines
stood beside his casket on guard, the patriot riders on their Harley's
accompanied the funeral procession, 1st Sgt. Mackey supported the grieving
family, and Major Jason Smith gave condolences along with Ryan's flag to his
mother, Jan. Cpl Grant McCurdy, his brother, shared at his funeral a wonderful
tribute about his life growing up with his brother and the close relationship
they shared.
Brothers LCPL Ryan McCurdy and CPL Grant McCurdy
Submitted by Proud Marine Mom Jan McCurdy
