The rescue record · chapter 1 of 12
Hurricane Katrina
August 2005. Hurricane Katrina drowned the Gulf Coast — one of the deadliest and costliest storms in American history, with whole neighborhoods underwater from Louisiana to Mississippi.
How Ryan was involved · from the record
Ryan was thirteen years old. This is where the record starts: his first rescue, years before the Marine Corps, decades before the case. The kid who went toward the water instead of away from it.
Source: the biography filed as Exhibit 288 in United States v. Nichols — read it in full →
Why it matters
Everything that follows — the Marine, the boat captain, the man wading into floodwater for strangers — traces back to this storm.
Pictures & footage
Photos and footage from this deployment are being added from the archive. Were you there — rescued, rescuing, or watching? Your pictures and video belong in this record.
Send what you have →