Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Capt. Patrick Lowther, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in political science and a minor in philosophy from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences as well as a minor in leadership studies from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development in 2005 has been selected as the Hokie Hero for the Virginia Tech versus Duke game.

The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Hokie Hero program started in 2006 by IMG College and sponsored by the University Bookstore, honors Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumni who are currently deployed. Recipients of this honor are highlighted by Bill Roth and Mike Burnop during the radio broadcast of Virginia Tech football games, on the Corps of Cadets website, on the Corps of Cadets alumni website, and in the Corps Review magazine.

Lowther is currently stationed at Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan, as an Electronic Warfare Officer on the AC-130 Gunship, 4th Expeditionary Special Operations Squadron, U.S. Air Force. He is from Clarksburg, W.Va., and this is his seventh combat deployment. Lowther is a Class of 2005 graduate of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets where he served as the Band Company Commander and Third Battalion Commander his senior year. 

Lowther says he wants to give a shout out to all the cadets in the Highty-Tighties who traveled to Duke to support the team, he also wants to send his love to his family in West Virginia, and to all his fellow squadron members back at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Lowther was originally scheduled to give the Hokies Respect announcement on the field at the Corps of Cadets Homecoming before the Arkansas State game. However, less than two weeks before the game he got the call that the timetable for his seventh combat deployment had moved up and he had to leave almost immediately. He is doing his duty and is an outstanding example of the dedicated graduates of the Corps of Cadets.

Below are the previous Hokie Heroes from the 2011-12 season.

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