N.C. Legion post honors 10-year-old for saving his little brother from drowning.

After a period of early February heavy rainfall in the Cherokee, N.C., area – located on the reservation home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians – the waters of Soco Creek were “up and raging”, according to the Cherokee One Feather. And when 5-year-old Daylen Rodriguez jumped into the cold water to go after a rope he’d dropped, the situation could have had a tragic ending.

Instead, it had a heroic one. Daylen’s 10-year-old brother, Colton Crowe, was playing with Daylen and immediately jumped into the water to save him as the 5-year-old floated downstream, not knowing how to swim.

Colton was able to push Daylen to the bank after traveling downstream, getting him to safety while losing a shoe in the process. The big brother then carried little brother all the way home, despite missing the shoe.

In coverage of the rescue in the Cherokee One Feather, Colton said “I was scared.  I calmed (Daylen) down and told him to just never do that again.  I told him to stop crying and I would get him home.”

Those comments resonated with Legionnaire Warren Dupree, the service officer at Steve Youngdeer American Legion Post 143 in Cherokee and a veteran of the U.S. Navy (Vietnam War), U.S. Coast Guard Reserve and U.S. Army Reserve (Gulf War).

“What he did as a 10-year-old without hesitation, without any thought of what it meant to him to risk his life – he knew that he had to go into the cold water because his brother had jumped into it,” Dupree said. “Colton … had clear mind, and he jumped in after his brother … and was able to push him to the side of the bank.

“Colton’s comment after he got his brother out of the water … now I’m a two-war veteran. I spent over 35 years in the military, both active and reserve. To me, when we found out about this … we thought, ‘Is there anything we can do to honor this young man?’ We felt it, as a veteran community, to commend and to honor this young man for his bravery.”

On March 21, Post 143 – The American Legion’s oldest Native-American post – hosted Colton, his family and dozens of others at a ceremony that presented the 10-year-old with several honors. In addition to receiving The American Legion Heroism Medal, a folded U.S. flag, an American Legion Certificate of Meritorious Service, a Post 143 Challenge Coin, a beaded necklace with an arrowhead point – and a very special item.

“We also presented to this young man, being a Native American, the feather of a golden eagle,” Dupree said. “The eagles are the most sacred birds within Native-American culture because on their wings and on their feathers, they fly the highest and the closest to our Creator. They take our prayers, our wants, our thoughts to him.

“This is what Native Americans Strongly believe in. And (Colton), being an enrolled (Eastern Band of Cherokee) member, can hold, keep and possess the feather for the rest of his life. And his mother, Kayla Crowe, I talked with her about a week after the event to get her assessment and her follow-up. And she said that they were able to put together a shadowbox for this young man, something he can carry with him for the rest of his life.”

Dupree said the type of bravery Colton displayed is found “in a theater of combat operations. And it was expressed to the family that when you’re in a theater of combat operations, you depend on your buddies (and) they depend on you to survive, to live. Basically, what Colton did was in line and on target on what an adult what do in a situation like that. And a lot of adults would have hesitated. Colton’s bravery needed to be recognized in our community. He needed to be honored to for he did to save a life. Putting his life at risk, he saved not only his life, but he was able to weather that storm and make it safely out.

“His mother pointed out that this whole event – not just (saving his brother), but the awards presentation … he will remember for the rest of his life. And he will know that bravery does not go unrewarded. There are individuals here that can see that, and they will recognize that.”