- Reaction score
- 63
- Points
- 530
Amazing feats of courage.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/army_silverstars_071202w/
Five from 82nd awarded Silver Stars
Paratroopers who fought through wounds, enemy fire honored in N.C. ceremony
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Dec 2, 2007 9:03:02 EST
Five 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers were awarded Silver Star medals for gallantry in combat at a welcome-home ball after returning from 15 months in Iraq.
The Nov. 29 event near Fort Bragg, N.C., was a tribute to the soldiers’ unit, 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
Two specialists, two noncommissioned officers and a captain received the medal for separate actions during the unit’s deployment.
Here are the actions for which the five were honored, based on narratives read at the event:
• Spc. Andrew Harriman, a platoon medic with C Troop, ran across 100 feet through machine gun fire to save the life of a private first class who was bleeding from two severed femoral arteries.
The gunfire came from a police station in As Sadah March 5 during a dismounted reconnaissance mission with B Troop.
As Harriman ran to his critically wounded patient, who was pinned down with two other soldiers near a mound of dirt, enemy fire struck his body armor multiple times and almost destroyed his medical bag.
Lying prone, Harriman applied tourniquets to the soldiers’ legs and inserted an intravenous drip through his sternum.
• Spc. Jeremiah Church, a reconnaissance platoon machine gunner, was manning the .50-caliber machine gun in the turret of a Humvee during a mounted reconnaissance mission north of Baqubah on Aug. 8 when the patrol came under fire from a large-caliber machine gun and several insurgents in dug-in positions.
Because of the terrain and the placement of the other vehicles on a canal road, Church was the only gunner who could respond.
During an intense firefight with more than 30 enemy shooters, Church was shot through the left wrist but continued to fire, reloading and shooting repeatedly with one hand while another soldier applied pressure dressing to his wrist.
Ignoring the pain and bleeding, Church engaged and destroyed the gunner, giving the rest of the platoon time to get into the fight.
Church applied his own tourniquet and got out of the truck to get more ammunition for his .50-cal, firing his M4 to suppress continuous enemy fire.
He passed out from loss of blood, regained consciousness and resumed fighting, supplying ammunition to the soldier who had taken over the gun in the turret.
• Sgt. Justin Young, a squad leader with C Troop, led the initial breach March 24 into a compound in Qubbah in Diyala province where known enemy fighters were entrenched.
Using night vision and infrared lights, Young disarmed and detained a gate guard before pushing into the compound. He was ambushed from about 10 feet away by a hidden fighter who struck Young’s M4 three times and once in his chest protective plate, knocking him to the ground and spraying his neck with shrapnel.
Young killed the enemy with his damaged weapon, then got to his feet, refusing medical help.
He picked up a confiscated AK-47 and three loaded magazines and continued to lead his team for the next five days through clearance of several objectives.
• 1st Sgt. John Croomer of C Troop killed several enemy fighters and risked his life in exposed terrain under intense gunfire to provide cover for his fatally wounded executive officer and one Iraqi soldier during a trench- and canal-clearing operation on Nov. 16, 2006, in Turki Village during Operation Turki Bowl.
Croomer destroyed one enemy position by maneuvering over a berm into a hail of fire and throwing a fragmentation grenade directly on the enemy, allowing a medic to come in for the wounded officer.
He then returned fire on a second ambush while establishing a casualty collection point and calling in close-air support. He saw the wounded Iraqi soldier 15 feet away and moved under enemy fire to provide initial treatment, then carried him to the CCP.
Croomer cleared the remaining enemy trench with the rest of the platoon and motivated his troops through four more days of fighting in which 48 enemy fighters were confirmed killed.
• Capt. Stephen Dobbins, commander of B Troop, was wounded in the blast of an anti-tank mine Nov. 15, 2006, and, refusing medical evacuation, helped remove other wounded from the destroyed vehicle during a four-day operation near Balad Ruz during Operation Turki Bowl.
Ignoring his injuries, he moved his remaining elements on insurgents that were massing on his flank. He crossed the minefield with a dismounted element and set up support by fire positions to pin down enemies.
He repeatedly moved across areas without cover to coordinate between his two sections, ignoring his injuries and the effects of a concussion from the mine blast.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/army_silverstars_071202w/
Five from 82nd awarded Silver Stars
Paratroopers who fought through wounds, enemy fire honored in N.C. ceremony
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Dec 2, 2007 9:03:02 EST
Five 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers were awarded Silver Star medals for gallantry in combat at a welcome-home ball after returning from 15 months in Iraq.
The Nov. 29 event near Fort Bragg, N.C., was a tribute to the soldiers’ unit, 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
Two specialists, two noncommissioned officers and a captain received the medal for separate actions during the unit’s deployment.
Here are the actions for which the five were honored, based on narratives read at the event:
• Spc. Andrew Harriman, a platoon medic with C Troop, ran across 100 feet through machine gun fire to save the life of a private first class who was bleeding from two severed femoral arteries.
The gunfire came from a police station in As Sadah March 5 during a dismounted reconnaissance mission with B Troop.
As Harriman ran to his critically wounded patient, who was pinned down with two other soldiers near a mound of dirt, enemy fire struck his body armor multiple times and almost destroyed his medical bag.
Lying prone, Harriman applied tourniquets to the soldiers’ legs and inserted an intravenous drip through his sternum.
• Spc. Jeremiah Church, a reconnaissance platoon machine gunner, was manning the .50-caliber machine gun in the turret of a Humvee during a mounted reconnaissance mission north of Baqubah on Aug. 8 when the patrol came under fire from a large-caliber machine gun and several insurgents in dug-in positions.
Because of the terrain and the placement of the other vehicles on a canal road, Church was the only gunner who could respond.
During an intense firefight with more than 30 enemy shooters, Church was shot through the left wrist but continued to fire, reloading and shooting repeatedly with one hand while another soldier applied pressure dressing to his wrist.
Ignoring the pain and bleeding, Church engaged and destroyed the gunner, giving the rest of the platoon time to get into the fight.
Church applied his own tourniquet and got out of the truck to get more ammunition for his .50-cal, firing his M4 to suppress continuous enemy fire.
He passed out from loss of blood, regained consciousness and resumed fighting, supplying ammunition to the soldier who had taken over the gun in the turret.
• Sgt. Justin Young, a squad leader with C Troop, led the initial breach March 24 into a compound in Qubbah in Diyala province where known enemy fighters were entrenched.
Using night vision and infrared lights, Young disarmed and detained a gate guard before pushing into the compound. He was ambushed from about 10 feet away by a hidden fighter who struck Young’s M4 three times and once in his chest protective plate, knocking him to the ground and spraying his neck with shrapnel.
Young killed the enemy with his damaged weapon, then got to his feet, refusing medical help.
He picked up a confiscated AK-47 and three loaded magazines and continued to lead his team for the next five days through clearance of several objectives.
• 1st Sgt. John Croomer of C Troop killed several enemy fighters and risked his life in exposed terrain under intense gunfire to provide cover for his fatally wounded executive officer and one Iraqi soldier during a trench- and canal-clearing operation on Nov. 16, 2006, in Turki Village during Operation Turki Bowl.
Croomer destroyed one enemy position by maneuvering over a berm into a hail of fire and throwing a fragmentation grenade directly on the enemy, allowing a medic to come in for the wounded officer.
He then returned fire on a second ambush while establishing a casualty collection point and calling in close-air support. He saw the wounded Iraqi soldier 15 feet away and moved under enemy fire to provide initial treatment, then carried him to the CCP.
Croomer cleared the remaining enemy trench with the rest of the platoon and motivated his troops through four more days of fighting in which 48 enemy fighters were confirmed killed.
• Capt. Stephen Dobbins, commander of B Troop, was wounded in the blast of an anti-tank mine Nov. 15, 2006, and, refusing medical evacuation, helped remove other wounded from the destroyed vehicle during a four-day operation near Balad Ruz during Operation Turki Bowl.
Ignoring his injuries, he moved his remaining elements on insurgents that were massing on his flank. He crossed the minefield with a dismounted element and set up support by fire positions to pin down enemies.
He repeatedly moved across areas without cover to coordinate between his two sections, ignoring his injuries and the effects of a concussion from the mine blast.
