Specialist Christopher "Kit" Lowe Receives Bronze Star

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Specialist Christopher Kit Lowe of Savannah is still on the road to recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The 48th Brigade soldier was injured in the same fight that killed Marine Captain Matthew Freeman, another local service member from Richmond Hill.

On Thursday, Specialist Lowe took a break from therapy to receive one of the military's highest honors.

The ceremony started with the National Anthem from Nashville recording star Brittany Black. But on this day, the singer gave away center stage to a soldier: Specialist Christopher "Kit" Lowe.

"Knowing the family and the soldier, its everything right about America, everything right about the military," said Col. Steven Joyce, Vice Commander of the Joint War Fighting Center.

Lowe's family anxiously waited as their son, brother, friend prepared to receive the Bronze Star with Valor.

Lowe's parents looked on with pride as their little boy was honored for saving a fellow soldier's life on duty in Afghanistan, getting shot himself in the process.

"I'm really proud of him. He's been through a lot. I'm just excited he was recognized," said his mother Sandi Lowe.

After the ceremony, Lowe took pictures and shared handshakes with fellow military men and women.

But as happy of a day as it was for the Lowe family, he still remembered the person who couldn't be there with him, his friend Captain Matthew Freeman who was killed in action during that same firefight.

"I still think about Capt. Freeman, and I have to live with what happened that day and how he didn't make it and I did," said Lowe.

But it was a day to celebrate. Lowe smiled and laughed, even though he wasn't so sure the term "hero" really fit.

"People have their own definition of a hero. Some people just watch TV and say that person is my hero. People can do their job. That's how they feel. They do their job, if you want to say they are heroes then ok," he said.

Lowe was shot in the leg while saving a fellow soldier's life during that firefight. He has gone through several surgeries on the muscles and nerve in his leg. He is trying to not only get back to a normal life, but someday be back on active duty.

WSAV will have more on Specialist Lowe's recovery Monday.