Go Back   Professional Soldiers ® > Hall of Heroes > Attention to Orders

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-18-2011, 11:18   #1
gtcrispy
Quiet Professional
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: PNW
Posts: 250
Green Berets recognized during award ceremony

http://www.nwguardian.com/2011/02/17...r-courage.html

Soldiers honored for their courage
Green Berets recognized during award ceremony
Rick Wood/Northwest Guardian
Published: 04:37PM February 17th, 2011
Ingrid Barrentine

Sgt. 1st Class John Howell smiles after receiving the Bronze Star Medal with V device during a 1st SFG valor award ceremony Feb. 11 at Evergreen Theater on JBLM. At the ceremony, nine Soldiers received the Bronze Star Medal with V device, nine received the Army Commendation Medal with V device, and two were awarded Purple Heart medals.

The Army recognized members of 1st Special Forces Group for uncommon valor during a medal award ceremony Feb. 11.

Green Berets from Special Operations Task Force 12 and Advanced Operating Base 1310 received nine Bronze Star medals for valor, nine Army Commendation medals for valor and two Purple Hearts.

Commander Col. Francis Beaudette said the Soldiers’ actions went well above the call of duty.

“They didn’t win anything or (get) awarded something because of (just) who they are,” Beaudette said. “I have seen incredible courage and heroism routinely displayed in battlefield challenges.”

The combat environment in Afghanistan is full of peril, he said. Reacting to those perils and successfully completing the mission is a part of daily life.

“It is fundamentally what every Green Beret expects of himself and those around him, day in and day out,” Beaudette said. “It’s game on all the time, as we say downrange.”

Every Special Forces team member knows the inherent dangers and puts his life on the line, he said.

“So to me, it’s even that much more incredible and impressive that we have those who stand out from even that incredible standard, and it’s those ... men we are recognizing today,” Beaudette said.

The sacrifices and valor of the Soldiers receiving medals are unique in their selflessness and measure, he said.

Five of the Bronze Star Medal recipients fought in the same engagement against insurgents in a small village in Afghanistan.

Bronze Star Medal recipient Capt. Ben Johnson said receiving the medal pales in comparison to knowing he did his job well.

“Just getting all my guys out of there alive, getting everyone out safely, that’s what’s important to me,” Johnson said.

With one of his team members wounded, it became important to suppress enemy fire and do it quickly, he said.

“Knowing I got everyone back home was important,” Johnson said.

Former Team Leader Capt. Phil Kornachuk said it was a brutal fight that lasted for hours.

“There were two fights, one on recon patrol behind what happened at an enemy headquarters building and the tunnels underneath it,” Kornachuk said. “Meanwhile, there were additional people coming from the outside.”

Army intelligence later estimated the Special Forces teams went up against 300 Taliban fighters, he said.

“The main thing was to keep from getting surrounded and cut off,” Kornachuk said. Sergeant 1st Class Corey Richardson was with some commandos in a sniper position on high ground and held off between 50 to 100 enemy fighters.

“Everyone up in his position got wounded one way or another and he wouldn’t come down,” Kornachuk said. “We tried to pull him back and he said if he comes down ‘you guys are going to get cut off. I gotta stay here.’”

1st Special Forces Group medal recipients

Bronze Star Medal with valor device awardees:

• Capt. Ben Johnson

• Master Sgt. Christopher Schleif

• Staff Sgt. Jeremy Hobbie

• Master Sgt. Byrnice Fernandez

• Sgt. 1st Class John Howell

• Sgt. 1st Class Corey Richardson

• Staff Sgt. Robert Cogan

• Staff Sgt. Wyatt Goldsmith

• Staff Sgt. Charles Martland

Army Commendation Medal with valor device awardees:

• Staff Sgt. David Breger

• Sgt. Kenneth Yaw

• Sgt. 1st Class Levi Lynch

• Sgt. Benjamin King

• Staff Sgt. Stephen Brown

• Staff Sgt. Alexander Dech

• Staff Sgt. Brady Delivuk

• Sgt. 1st Class John McKeown

• Sgt. 1st Class Trevor Hunter

Purple Heart recipients:

• Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Anderson

• Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Prater
Rick Wood: rick.wood@nwguardian.com
gtcrispy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2011, 11:22   #2
Sohei
Area Commander
 
Sohei's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,690
Congratulations Gentlemen. Those medals were well deserved and I thank you for your service and sacrifice. It does not go unnoticed.
Sohei is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2011, 11:51   #3
LongWire
Quiet Professional
 
LongWire's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: N.E.WA
Posts: 1,137
I am honored to know a lot of these guys and call them Brother!!!!! Congrats again guys!!!!!
__________________
"Most of us here can attest that we never took the easy way. Easy just is............easy. Life is a work in progress, and most of the time its a struggle." ~ Me

"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)

"A Government that is losing to an insurgency is not being outfought, it is being out governed." Bernard B. Fall
LongWire is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2011, 11:58   #4
greenberetTFS
Quiet Professional (RIP)
 
greenberetTFS's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Carriere,Ms.
Posts: 6,922
Once again these Green Berets show who we are and what we are.................. Makes me proud to be one................... De Oppresso Liber,Warriors............

Big Teddy
__________________
I believe that SF is a 'calling' - not too different from the calling missionaries I know received. I knew instantly that it was for me, and that I would do all I could to achieve it. Most others I know in SF experienced something similar. If, as you say, you HAVE searched and read, and you do not KNOW if this is the path for you --- it is not....
Zonie Diver

SF is a calling and it requires commitment and dedication that the uninitiated will never understand......
Jack Moroney

SFA M-2527, Chapter XXXVII

Last edited by greenberetTFS; 02-18-2011 at 12:00.
greenberetTFS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2011, 14:23   #5
BKKMAN
Quiet Professional
 
BKKMAN's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: PNW
Posts: 685
Congratulations to the boys

Each and every one of these guys did an outstanding job. I would expect another awards ceremony later, because I know that there are still several award recommendations outstanding for the AOB 1310 guys. Again, job well done!!
__________________
The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal. Aristotle

It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence. Voltaire
BKKMAN is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:48.



Copyright 2004-2022 by Professional Soldiers ®
Site Designed, Maintained, & Hosted by Hilliker Technologies