“Brendon Anstine is a great American.”

Those were the words of the 32nd Under Secretary of the Army,  Patrick J. Murphy during his visit to Fort Riley Tuesday where he attended a Soldier’s Medal award ceremony.

The Soldier’s Medal is awarded to a soldier exemplifying active heroism out of uniform – an award befitting of the young Anstine.

During the Fourth of July weekend in 2014, SPC Brendon Anstine was vacationing on the Sandy River in Oregon with family when he noticed a small boat had overturned.

“The first thing that made me jump in was the baby…a little kid can’t fend for himself so you kind of have to step in and try to do the right thing,” said Anstine.

From there Anstine made several trips back and forth in to the water where  10 to 15 people were in need of assistance.

During one trip in to the river, a woman’s leg was caught in some brush and she needed to be cut free; after racing ashore to get a knife and then losing it in the river Anstine began to wonder if he could make it another time to shore and back.

With perseverance, strength and some assistance from someone who could get an extra cutting tool out to him, he was able to save the woman.

Anstine says that being awarded the Soldier’s Medal is surreal.

“I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal…I got told it was a big deal [the award] but honestly I just feel like anybody would do the right thing in that kind of situation and I feel that I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Anstine.

In regard to Anstine’s heroism:  “That’s what our soldiers do; our soldiers are ready to fight, are ready to step up on behalf of our nation to make sure we protect our families here at home.” – Patrick Murphy, Under Secretary of the Army

SPC Brendon Anstine, a calvary scout, is with the 5th Squadron 4th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.