Injured Savannah Soldier Speaks Out

Specialist Christopher "Kit" Lowe says his time in Afghanistan was difficult sometimes but he had help. That help in the form of his fellow soldiers. One of those, Captain Matthew Freeman.

"I considered him a friend," said Lowe via phone from Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington. "He was a good guy. One of those people who you could be having a crappy day and walk by him. He'd say something, make you laugh and smile, and you'd say ok, I can have a better day now."

Freeman was killed during a firefight in Afghanistan back on August 7th. The same firefight which has many military personnel calling Lowe a hero.

"The doc was there, the doc was trying to pull the captain back, recover the body," explained SMSgt Rex Temple of the US Embedded Training Team in Afghanistan during an interview with WUSF Radio in Tampa, Florida. "He hollered for help. SPC Lowe scrambled up the ladder, he surveyed what was going on with the bullets and stuff, he grabbed the doc and threw him down. At the same time he was hit in the leg and both fell off the roof."

Lowe doesn't feel he did anything extraordinary.

"I was doing my job, and that's what I've been trained to do," said Lowe. The fact that I lost a guy has really been painful."

He was shot by a machine gun in the upper thigh. Lowe was taken to Bagram Military Base for treatment, but that's not where he wanted to be.

"I got in trouble when I was in Bagram after being shot," laughed Lowe. "I asked them can I go back to my unit and they said yeah, you can go back. I gave them the thumbs up. Then they said you are going back to the States. I ended up flipping them the bird."

His will wasn't as strong as his body, though, and now Lowe sits in Walter Reed Army Medical Center, waiting for his next surgery and planning for his next mission.

"I've been ready to beat this since I got it," said Lowe.

Lowe is scheduled for another surgery on his leg Saturday. He hopes to be up and around and on crutches in the next few weeks.

If you would like to send a note, a letter, or a package to Specialist Lowe, just send it to

SPC Christopher Lowe
Room 5737
Walter Reed Medical Center
6900 Georgia Ave NW
Washington, DC 20307

If you'd like to read more about the events in Afghanistan go to SMSgt Rex Temple's blog at:

http://afghanistanmylasttour.com/

Temple also checks in with WUSF Radio's Bobbie O’Brien every week.

Those can be found at:

http://www.wusf.usf.edu/