Dan
03-23-2007, 21:01
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/NEWS01/703220329
2 get Soldier's Medals for rescuing comrades
Two injured pulled from burning vehicle
By MATT RENNELS
The Leaf-Chronicle
Two 5th Special Forces Group soldiers received the Soldier's Medal Wednesday afternoon for pulling two soldiers to safety from a burning vehicle in August.
Master Sgt. Michael J. Manley and Staff Sgt. Heshimu Woods were honored in front of their unit at a Soldier's Medal ceremony. The prestigious award is presented to soldiers who perform a heroic act, not involving actual conflict with an enemy, and often to those who risk their lives to save others.
"We're here today to honor two great Americans," Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Csrnko, commanding general, U.S. Army Special Forces Command, said in the opening remarks.
"But I don't think they strived to win these awards," Csrnko said. "They strived to serve the Army. No matter what the outcome was to be, they knew it was their responsibility to act."
On Aug. 5, a two-vehicle convoy was headed toward the main Iraqi Army base at al-Kisik when they were attacked by a large tanker vehicle that rammed the lead vehicle head-on, flipping it, ejecting and killing the gunner, Sgt. Brett Walden.
"It was the most violent, quick thing I have ever seen in my life," Manley said.
Manley and Woods were in the second vehicle, which swerved to avoid the explosion. They ran to help Walden, discovered he had no pulse, and moved to the smoking vehicle.
Woods removed the driver, Master Sgt. Robert Derenda, who was severely injured and with a weak pulse. Their team leader, who was trapped inside, yelled to tell them there was a fire in the vehicle.
"As soon as I heard the captain screaming 'fire,' I said there's no way I'm just going to stand here," Manley said.
The soldiers battled the flames with fire extinguishers before finally putting them out, and they connected the two vehicles with a tow strap, flipped the burning vehicle upright, removed the team leader and another soldier and moved them to safety.
The burning vehicle exploded no more than two minutes later.
Paramedics arrived and aided the wounded soldiers. Derenda soon died as a result of his injuries.
Manley said he appreciated the honor, but he was just doing his job.
"It's nice to be recognized, but I liked holding the ceremony so we could remember the guys who died," he said.
Matt Rennels is the military affairs reporter and can be reached by telephone at 245-0216 or through e-mail at mattrennels@theleafchronicle.com.
Edited to add on 12Apr07:
RELEASE NUMBER: 0700411-07
DATE POSTED: APRIL 11, 2007
Troops earn Soldier's Medal
5th SFG (Airborne) Soldiers save comrades in Iraq
By Gregory Frye
Ft. Campbell Courier Staff
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (USASOC News Service, Apr. 11 2007) -Two Soldiers from the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) were awarded the Soldier’s Medal Wednesday for saving two men from a burning Humvee in August 2005 near Rabiah, Iraq.
It was a bittersweet day for Master Sgt. Manley and Staff Sgt. Heshimu Woods as they were recognized for their efforts but remembered the two Soldiers who could not be saved.
The two-vehicle convoy was traveling 55 miles per hour down a highway they had cruised many times before. It was early in the morning and traffic was at a minimum.
The Humvee in front of Master Sgt. Michael Manley collided with another vehicle. The impact sent the Humvee sliding sideways at 50 mph.
“I knew that as soon as the wheels gripped, we were going to start flipping,” said the team leader, who was one of two men rescued from the vehicle. “We flipped so violently, that I don’t even know how many times it was.”
Pinned beneath 20,000 pounds of wreckage, the team leader expected to wait for a while until an Army wrecker could push them back over.
“It was one of the most violent, quick, devastating things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Manley said of the collision.
Manley came upon the gunner, Sgt. 1st Class Brett Walden who had been ejected from the vehicle. He felt for a pulse and found nothing. Then the fire started; the team leader trapped inside with three other men thought he was going to die. He yelled for help and screamed “fire.” Manley thought everyone in the vehicle was dead until he heard those screams.
Together, Manley and Woods tried to extinguish the fire, but the flames were spreading too quickly. They had to get the Humvee back on its wheels to free the men. Woods hooked a tow cable to the vehicle’s frame, burning his hands in the process. The cable didn’t work and the fire continued to spread. Ammunition was cooking off and a C-4 charge, kept in case the vehicle had to be abandoned, was lost in the wreckage.
“So I said, ‘I don’t care what we do … I don’t care if we have to ram it to kick it over. Even if we have to injure these guys, we’re going to get them out of there before they burn alive,’” Manley said.
They rammed the vehicle, which rocked and fell back over, and the men were pulled from the vehicle. Regardless of his injuries, the team leader immediately tried to help the other men. Manley told them they had to get away from the vehicle. It would explode at any moment. The men took cover behind Manley’s Humvee, and two minutes later the burning wreckage exploded.
“It was the biggest explosion I’ve ever felt,” the team leader said. “I felt my heart shaking in my chest -- it was so powerful.”
In the collision, he hit his face on the windshield and had his left hand pinned. He burned his right hand trying to put out the flames as they dripped onto his clothes.
“When I felt that vehicle turn over, it was like getting a whole other chance at life -- it was amazing,” the team leader said.
It felt like he was trapped for an hour when, in reality, it only took a few minutes to flip the vehicle onto its wheels.
“When you’re on fire, time really slows down,” he said.
Manley finally reached the medical evacuation team on the radio, but it was too late. They tried to revive Walton and Master Sgt. Robert Derenda for over an hour. Although the two men died, another two were saved. Manley and Woods kept the death toll from increasing.
“They gave me the rest of my life,” said the team leader.
There is no drill or protocol for what Manley and Woods did.
“If your friends are inside of a vehicle like that, you’re going to do whatever it takes,” Manley said. “And that’s all we did -- nothing special, nothing heroic.“As soon as I heard the captain screaming, I said, ‘there’s no way I’m going to stand here and listen to my guys burn to death -- there’s no way.’”
Manley was glad to be recognized, but for him the day was about remembering the men who didn’t make it, the men who gave their lives.
The Soldier’s Medal is awarded to any person who displays heroism without actual contact with the enemy. It was first awarded October 1927.
2 get Soldier's Medals for rescuing comrades
Two injured pulled from burning vehicle
By MATT RENNELS
The Leaf-Chronicle
Two 5th Special Forces Group soldiers received the Soldier's Medal Wednesday afternoon for pulling two soldiers to safety from a burning vehicle in August.
Master Sgt. Michael J. Manley and Staff Sgt. Heshimu Woods were honored in front of their unit at a Soldier's Medal ceremony. The prestigious award is presented to soldiers who perform a heroic act, not involving actual conflict with an enemy, and often to those who risk their lives to save others.
"We're here today to honor two great Americans," Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Csrnko, commanding general, U.S. Army Special Forces Command, said in the opening remarks.
"But I don't think they strived to win these awards," Csrnko said. "They strived to serve the Army. No matter what the outcome was to be, they knew it was their responsibility to act."
On Aug. 5, a two-vehicle convoy was headed toward the main Iraqi Army base at al-Kisik when they were attacked by a large tanker vehicle that rammed the lead vehicle head-on, flipping it, ejecting and killing the gunner, Sgt. Brett Walden.
"It was the most violent, quick thing I have ever seen in my life," Manley said.
Manley and Woods were in the second vehicle, which swerved to avoid the explosion. They ran to help Walden, discovered he had no pulse, and moved to the smoking vehicle.
Woods removed the driver, Master Sgt. Robert Derenda, who was severely injured and with a weak pulse. Their team leader, who was trapped inside, yelled to tell them there was a fire in the vehicle.
"As soon as I heard the captain screaming 'fire,' I said there's no way I'm just going to stand here," Manley said.
The soldiers battled the flames with fire extinguishers before finally putting them out, and they connected the two vehicles with a tow strap, flipped the burning vehicle upright, removed the team leader and another soldier and moved them to safety.
The burning vehicle exploded no more than two minutes later.
Paramedics arrived and aided the wounded soldiers. Derenda soon died as a result of his injuries.
Manley said he appreciated the honor, but he was just doing his job.
"It's nice to be recognized, but I liked holding the ceremony so we could remember the guys who died," he said.
Matt Rennels is the military affairs reporter and can be reached by telephone at 245-0216 or through e-mail at mattrennels@theleafchronicle.com.
Edited to add on 12Apr07:
RELEASE NUMBER: 0700411-07
DATE POSTED: APRIL 11, 2007
Troops earn Soldier's Medal
5th SFG (Airborne) Soldiers save comrades in Iraq
By Gregory Frye
Ft. Campbell Courier Staff
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (USASOC News Service, Apr. 11 2007) -Two Soldiers from the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) were awarded the Soldier’s Medal Wednesday for saving two men from a burning Humvee in August 2005 near Rabiah, Iraq.
It was a bittersweet day for Master Sgt. Manley and Staff Sgt. Heshimu Woods as they were recognized for their efforts but remembered the two Soldiers who could not be saved.
The two-vehicle convoy was traveling 55 miles per hour down a highway they had cruised many times before. It was early in the morning and traffic was at a minimum.
The Humvee in front of Master Sgt. Michael Manley collided with another vehicle. The impact sent the Humvee sliding sideways at 50 mph.
“I knew that as soon as the wheels gripped, we were going to start flipping,” said the team leader, who was one of two men rescued from the vehicle. “We flipped so violently, that I don’t even know how many times it was.”
Pinned beneath 20,000 pounds of wreckage, the team leader expected to wait for a while until an Army wrecker could push them back over.
“It was one of the most violent, quick, devastating things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Manley said of the collision.
Manley came upon the gunner, Sgt. 1st Class Brett Walden who had been ejected from the vehicle. He felt for a pulse and found nothing. Then the fire started; the team leader trapped inside with three other men thought he was going to die. He yelled for help and screamed “fire.” Manley thought everyone in the vehicle was dead until he heard those screams.
Together, Manley and Woods tried to extinguish the fire, but the flames were spreading too quickly. They had to get the Humvee back on its wheels to free the men. Woods hooked a tow cable to the vehicle’s frame, burning his hands in the process. The cable didn’t work and the fire continued to spread. Ammunition was cooking off and a C-4 charge, kept in case the vehicle had to be abandoned, was lost in the wreckage.
“So I said, ‘I don’t care what we do … I don’t care if we have to ram it to kick it over. Even if we have to injure these guys, we’re going to get them out of there before they burn alive,’” Manley said.
They rammed the vehicle, which rocked and fell back over, and the men were pulled from the vehicle. Regardless of his injuries, the team leader immediately tried to help the other men. Manley told them they had to get away from the vehicle. It would explode at any moment. The men took cover behind Manley’s Humvee, and two minutes later the burning wreckage exploded.
“It was the biggest explosion I’ve ever felt,” the team leader said. “I felt my heart shaking in my chest -- it was so powerful.”
In the collision, he hit his face on the windshield and had his left hand pinned. He burned his right hand trying to put out the flames as they dripped onto his clothes.
“When I felt that vehicle turn over, it was like getting a whole other chance at life -- it was amazing,” the team leader said.
It felt like he was trapped for an hour when, in reality, it only took a few minutes to flip the vehicle onto its wheels.
“When you’re on fire, time really slows down,” he said.
Manley finally reached the medical evacuation team on the radio, but it was too late. They tried to revive Walton and Master Sgt. Robert Derenda for over an hour. Although the two men died, another two were saved. Manley and Woods kept the death toll from increasing.
“They gave me the rest of my life,” said the team leader.
There is no drill or protocol for what Manley and Woods did.
“If your friends are inside of a vehicle like that, you’re going to do whatever it takes,” Manley said. “And that’s all we did -- nothing special, nothing heroic.“As soon as I heard the captain screaming, I said, ‘there’s no way I’m going to stand here and listen to my guys burn to death -- there’s no way.’”
Manley was glad to be recognized, but for him the day was about remembering the men who didn’t make it, the men who gave their lives.
The Soldier’s Medal is awarded to any person who displays heroism without actual contact with the enemy. It was first awarded October 1927.