Navy diver heroic to the last breath

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Some people just go above and beyond.

Navy diver heroic to the last breath

By Dianna Cahn
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 4, 2014

As they slowly asphyxiated at the bottom of a pond last year, two Navy divers shared something extraordinary: the choice to die together rather than abandon a fellow sailor.

That selflessness went with Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Harris and Petty Officer 1st Class James Reyher to their deaths on Feb. 26, 2013 – undiscovered until a Navy investigator reconstructed the events.

The investigation, conducted more than 16 months ago, was released last week to The Virginian-Pilot under the Freedom of Information Act. It pinpointed a series of failures that contributed to the training accident that day at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland: bad leadership, poor decision-making and faulty equipment.

But none of that could blunt the heroism that the investigator discovered between the two drowning men: With Reyher trapped by debris at the bottom of the pond, Harris remained at his side, struggling to free his buddy until both men died. ... “Harris exhausted himself in an attempt to save Reyher,” the investigator concluded. “Both divers resisted the natural instincts of self-preservation, in order to expel his last breaths in an effort to save each other.”

Hat tip, Washington Post: Navy diver drowned refusing to leave his fellow sailor

By Dan Lamothe August 4

When Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Harris and Petty Officer 1st Class James Reyher descended to the murky depths of a pond at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., last year, virtually everything went wrong. Their equipment didn’t work right, the communication with sailors on the surface wasn’t clear, and debris trapped Reyher some 150 feet underwater in scuba gear.

But there’s more to the story. According to a report in the Virginian-Pilot newspaper on Sunday, Harris, 23, had the option to cut the line connecting him to Reyher underwater and survive. He refused to do it, though, doing everything in his power to free Reyher, 28, until both men died on Feb. 26, 2013.

“Harris exhausted himself in an attempt to save Reyher,” said a military investigator in documents obtained by the Virginian-Pilot. “Both divers resisted the natural instincts of self-preservation, in order to expel his last breaths in an effort to save each other.”

Previously at DU:

Navy holds hearing in Va on deaths of divers in Md

"Leadership vacuum" cited in Navy divers' deaths

[atreides1]

1. R.I.P

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."