Crose awarded Coast Guard Medal

MORRIS – Back when he was still attending Morris Community High School, Ryan Crose had aspirations of serving his country.

It was understandable, as the attacks of September 11, 2001, took place during his senior year.

At the time, Crose dreamed of being a pilot. So he applied to the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Then, he heard of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and he liked what he heard. “I was really taken by the humanitarian mission of the Coast Guard,” he said. “I have always said that I would rather save a life than take a life. That’s what the Coast Guard really prides itself on doing”

It was that desire to save a life that led him to earn the Coast Guard Medal for his heroism during an incident on Sept. 26, 2017.

Crose was on a one-year sabbatical from service, but he was still in the Coast Guard Reserves, working for 7-11 as a field consultant. On his way to work that morning, he was behind an accident involving three semi-trucks eastbound on Route 80, just before the Larkin Avenue exit.

“There was a three semi accident that grew into a huge, huge fire,” he said. “I was one of the first people to arrive right behind the accident. There was a man on the ground outside of one of the tractors, on fire, totally on fire. I ran up and helped extinguish him and pulled him out of the fire just before his truck exploded – as a Reservist. I was a little late leaving for work that morning and got pulled over. It was before sunrise, and I didn’t have my headlights on. One of the Morris police officers pulled me over. It held me up just long enough to not be in the accident. It put me in the right place at right time.

“Unfortunately, the gentleman was covered in third-degree burns over 90% of his body. He was still conscious until he was taken to the hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries the next day. All of his clothing was burned off. The only thing left on him was his leather belt.”

Crose credits his military training for his actions in the chaos.

“It was just pure adrenaline and pure response,” he said. “I think the ability to maintain calm under pressure helped. It really wasn’t until after the medics got on the scene and the police and fire departments took over that I really realized what was going on. All I knew was I had to get him away because he was on fire. I was covered in diesel because I had fallen on the ground. I took my shirt off to put the fire out and had a polyester shirt on. It was gone in a few seconds. I looked around, and there was a man on his phone calling 911. I pulled his shirt off, then yelled for a fire extinguisher and that’s when I slipped in diesel.

“Another man showed up with a welding blanket. We threw that on the man on the ground and we started to stomp the fire out. I rolled the man in the blanket because I didn’t want to pull his skin off. Another man helped me move him to the median. As soon as we got him there, his truck exploded. There was a fireball coming at me and I didn’t have a shirt on. The blast threw a tire that landed right next to us. Luckily, the fireball went over us. Two men near me got knocked to the ground by the explosion. Everyone left and I thought we were still a little too close, so I dragged him down into the ditch. I got his name, prayed for him. That’s when I realized what was going on. I had some burns on my hands and blood covering my jeans. It took eight to 10 hours to open the interstate up after that.”

Crose is one of only 24 officers to receive the Coast Guard Medal. The Coast Guard Medal is a decoration of the United States military that is awarded to any service member who, while serving in any capacity with the United States Coast Guard, distinguishes themselves by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy. For the decoration to be awarded, an individual must have performed a voluntary act of heroism in the face of great personal danger or of such a magnitude that it stands out distinctly above normal expectations.

Crose enrolled in the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, after graduating from MCHS in 2002. Since then, he has traveled all around the country with his wife, Brittany (Laube), who has been his sweetheart since their high school days.

Their most recent stop was at the United States Embassy in Honduras, where Ryan Crose, a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard, is the lone representation to the White House representing the United States Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security at the Embassy in Tegucigalpa. Brittany also works at the Embassy as an administrative assistant.

The couple, along with their four children – daughters Miayla, 12, Mersadies, 10, and McKenley, 6, and son Matiyas, 8 – were recently called back to the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will stay at least 60 days. They are currently living in Morris.

Just getting back home was an adventure.

The Crose family had to fly out of Soto Cano Military Base, from which all of the military and disaster response missions for the Department of Defense in the southern hemisphere fly.

“This really isn’t their mission,” Brittany Crose said. “They are not used to getting American citizens out of the country in this capacity. There was one US Air Force C-17 plane they had. Luckily, it had just come back from Colombia. They said, ‘Hey, let’s try to get you home.’

“First we had to go through medical screening, and there was a questionnaire we had to fill out. In addition to the Embassy personnel, the USA Woman’s Tackle Football team was stuck in Honduras. They had to get out as well. We got to the Embassy early for the 2 to 2 1/2 hour ride to Soto Cano. There were 70-something of us. We were stuck in the hangar for 13 hours. We couldn’t get anything to eat and couldn’t go anywhere. The plane had some mechanical issues. Those who had made connecting flights once we got to Charleston, they had to be canceled and make new arrangements. Long story short, it was a 30- to 32-hour travel time. We didn’t sleep at all. We got to Charleston at like 2 in the morning but didn’t get to the actual airport until 4:30. We had another health screening, then had to get our luggage, get on the bus to the international terminal. We didn’t get here until 9 a.m. the next day.”

During his time in Cleveland, from 2008 to 2012, Crose was awarded the Coast Guard Commendation Medal for Outstanding Achievement while assigned to the Ninth Coast Guard District Command Center.

While Crose was stationed in Rhode Island, he had the opportunity to help provide security when then-President Barack Obama vacationed at Martha’s Vineyard.

“He took a summer vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, which happened to be in our area of responsibility,” Crose said. “The house that he rented each year happened to be a waterfront house. With that came a necessity for waterfront security, and that’s kind of the Coast Guard’s wheelhouse. Since I was Chief of Law Enforcement and Security for the area, I was responsible for coming up with the plans and procedures to provide the security there.

“I did a lot of work with the Secret Service to get that done. After the second year, I got an invite to go out and have a chance for the president to express his gratitude. There was a line of us that had been involved, and he was able to say thank you.

“It was pretty intense. 24/7 waterside security. Wherever he goes, if he is going to be at a residence for dinner, we have to provide security. He was in Newport, Rhode Island, for a two-hour dinner. I had to help provide security there. That’s me in the background, in the command post managing assets from behind the scenes.”

Crose is nearing 20 years in the Coast Guard, and after he reaches that milestone, he will be eligible for retirement. He is not certain whether he will retire or not.

“That’s a tough decision right now,” he said. “I came back for my sabbatical with the intention of retiring after 20. We’ll see where we sit, how much we are enjoying things. We both enjoy moving around, although she [Brittany] wasn’t too excited about Honduras, being one of the poorest and most dangerous countries in the world, with four kids.

“It will depend on what the kids’ lives look like and where we are at that point. A lot can happen in seven years.”