Holy shit!

Well done, fellas!

God bless you guys, and thank you for your selfless service to our Nation.

Much respect...and gratitude.

Very very impressive. Job well done.

Fayetteville Observer Article
 

Well Done Warriors !!!! Glad to see some of my brothers being recognized for their deeds. Congrats to Larry and Scott !

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=312338

From today's paper

19 soldiers to receive Silver Star medals

Nineteen soldiers from 3rd Special Forces Group will receive the Silver Star medal next week for their actions in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Recipients will be Capts. Kyle M. Walton, Kent G. Solheim and Brandon Griffin; Master Sgts. Fredrick L. Davenport, Paul D. Fiesel and Scott Ford; Sgts. 1st Class Jacob E. Allison, Benjamin J. Konrad and Larry Hawks; Staff Sgts. Robert J. Hammons, Seth E. Howard, Ronald J. Shurer, John W. Walding, Luis Morales, Dillon Behr, David J. Sanders and Matthew O. Williams; Sgt. Gabriel A. Reynolds; and Spc. Michael D. Carter.

The Silver Star is the Army’s third highest award for combat valor.

The 2 p.m. ceremony on Dec. 12 will be in the John F. Kennedy Auditorium adjacent to the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School building on Fort Bragg. Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland, the commanding general of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, will present the awards.

My ODA replaced the team receiving the majority of the Silver Stars. One of my good SF buddies is one of the honored few. We were SERE School Survival Buddies. He lost his leg in the fight that many of us call Operation Commando Wrath. While we recognize and congratulate their heroism I recognize and admire his continued love for his family and the Regiment that he represents. In all the contact that I have had with him he has never once complained. He speaks about his love for his family and for his fellow comrades. Never have I met someone that has been so optimistic and positive after having suffered the type of loss that he has endured. "The Duke" is truly deserving of this award and I can't wait to meet up with him again when I get back to the States in a few months.

Job well done John Wayne...

He was high-lighted tonight on the NBC News when they did a piece on his 3rd Group ODA and their actions that day. It was well done and your buddy's commitment to the cause and the Regiment was obvious. His 'new' leg is amazing and he expects to return to the fight soon. :lifter

Ausgezeichnet!

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Bonded in Battle, Green Berets earn Silver Stars
 

"Its not about the medals or the personal glory."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540...83531#28183531

All I have to say is Wow! He folded his leg into his crotch and tied it there with a boot lace! The intestinal fortitude of these QP's is unfathomable.

FWIW - using the search function would have taken you to the existing forum re: this subject. 19X Silver Stars to be presented, soon. ;)

Richard's $.02 :munchin


threads merged

Evidently it was quite a firefight. There was a story on national news last night, the CPT and a couple team guys were interviewed and shared some of their story.

One team member actually had his leg severed by a bullet and folded his leg inboard and tied it to his thigh with a boot lace and crawled to cover. He has a prosthetic now.

I think it was claimed they were up against about 200 insurgents/taliban and they left about 100 dead bad guys.

They (3d gp) were workiing with some ANA i think, I don't think they were afgan commandos. (but not sure)

Way to go 3d herd
 

If any of you guys that got recognized are on here, CONGRATULATIONS and a job well done.

Thank you for your service to us and humanity for nailing all those scumbags.

And all the other guys on our side for doing your jobs.

Roger, Congrats Gents! Well Done!

Seems the Washington Post picked up the story.....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

Great job one and all.

TS

10 Green Berets to Receive Silver Star for Afghan Battle
 

10 Green Berets to Receive Silver Star for Afghan Battle
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 12, 2008; Page A01

After jumping out of helicopters at daybreak onto jagged, ice-covered rocks and into water at an altitude of 10,000 feet, the 12-man Special Forces team scrambled up the steep mountainside toward its target -- an insurgent stronghold in northeast Afghanistan.

"Our plan," Capt. Kyle M. Walton recalled in an interview, "was to fight downhill."

But as the soldiers maneuvered toward a cluster of thick-walled mud buildings constructed layer upon layer about 1,000 feet farther up the mountain, insurgents quickly manned fighting positions, readying a barrage of fire for the exposed Green Berets.

A harrowing, nearly seven-hour battle unfolded on that mountainside in Afghanistan's Nuristan province on April 6, as Walton, his team and a few dozen Afghan commandos they had trained took fire from all directions. Outnumbered, the Green Berets fought on even after half of them were wounded -- four critically -- and managed to subdue an estimated 150 to 200 insurgents, according to interviews with several team members and official citations.

Today, Walton and nine of his teammates from Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 of the 3rd Special Forces Group will receive the Silver Star for their heroism in that battle -- the highest number of such awards given to the elite troops for a single engagement since the Vietnam War.

That chilly morning, Walton's mind was on his team's mission: to capture or kill several members of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) militant group in their stronghold, a village perched in Nuristan's Shok Valley that was accessible only by pack mule and so remote that Walton said he believed that no U.S. troops, or Soviet ones before them, had ever been there.

But as the soldiers, each carrying 60 to 80 pounds of gear, scaled the mountain, they could already spot insurgents running to and fro, they said. As the soldiers drew closer, they saw that many of the mud buildings had holes in the foot-thick walls for snipers. The U.S. troops had maintained an element of surprise until their helicopters turned into the valley, but by now the insurgent leaders entrenched above knew they were the targets, and had alerted their fighters to rally.

Staff Sgt. Luis Morales of Fredericksburg was the first to see an armed insurgent and opened fire, killing him. But at that moment, the insurgents began blasting away at the American and Afghan troops with machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades -- shooting down on each of the U.S. positions from virtually all sides.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

Outstanding,,

This is why the dictionary has the word "HERO"...