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A true story from a infantry soldier's wife & her soldier
This is a narrative story with a poem I wrote back when my Canadian Soldier was serving during Op Orion in Afghanistan during Jan-Aug 2006. I end the story with my husband's last email to me before boarding a plane to come home after he finished he combat tour. My husband is due to go back to Afghanistan again in Jan/08 a mission he VOLUNTEERED to do.
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 2, 2007) - First Lt. Walter B. Jackson became the seventh Soldier since the Vietnam War ended in 1975 to receive the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action.
Secretary of the Army Pete Geren presented the DSC, which is second in precedence to only the Medal of Honor for valor in battle, at a ceremony held in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes this afternoon.
A second lieutenant at the time of his heroic action on Sept. 27, 2006, Lt. Jackson was cited for selfless courage under extreme enemy fire while serving as a company fire support officer with company A, Task Force 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.
Lt. Jackson was engaged in combat operations with his unit against insurgents and while he attempted to recover a disabled vehicle, his unit came under heavy machine gun fire, which resulted in several Soldiers being wounded. As he applied first aid to a severely wounded comrade, he too was shot in the thigh.
Lt. Jackson's citation in part reads: "Upon regaining consciousness after being shot, second lieutenant alternated between returning fire and administering first aid to the Soldier. Second Lt. Jackson was hit again with machine gun fire as he helped carry his wounded comrade to safety, but he never faltered in his aid. Although his own severe wounds required immediate evacuation and surgical care, 2nd Lt. Jackson refused medical assistance until his wounded comrade could be treated. Second Lt. Jackson's selfless courage under extreme enemy fire was essential to saving another Soldier's life and is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service..."
Before the presentation, Lt. Col. Thomas C. Graves, former Task Force commander, recounted part of that September 2006 day when he arrived at the medical aid station to see his wounded Soldiers and the first words to come from 2nd Lt. Jackson were of concern for the wounded captain he'd rescued.
"All the leadership schools, classes and years of experience never really prepare you for that moment in time when you are standing among heroes who have given their all, where their first concerns still remain with their fellow Soldiers," he said. "It reinforces duty and commitment unlike any other experience."
After Secretary Geren made the award presentation, 1st Lt. Jackson spoke to the packed room, humbly thanking his family, his West Point classmates and the Soldiers he's served with in his short two-year career and saying simply, "I believe I just had to do what I had to do in that situation... I think many Soldiers would have done the same thing."
1st Lt. Jackson has been recovering from his wounds at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, having undergone more than a dozen surgeries. While recovering at WRAMC, he volunteered as an intern with the Judge Advocate General's office. He is awaiting orders to take over a multiple launch rocket system platoon in Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division Fires Brigade.
~ I thank you and Honor your Service ~
An SAS soldier who almost single-handedly fought off 20 Iraqi special forces troops in a fierce battle to capture a missile site was yesterday awarded the medal of gallantry by the Prime Minister, John Howard.
Presented at a ceremony in Perth to coincide with the arrival of Australia's special forces contingent to Iraq, it was the first citation for the 2000 Australian personnel involved in the war against Iraq.
Trooper X - a machine-gunner from the 1st SAS regiment, whose identity cannot be revealed - used the brute force of the latest weaponry and precision sniper fire to protect his patrol from numerically superior enemy forces.
The SAS patrol, typically a team of six in two heavily armed long-range patrol vehicles, came under heavy fire in the western Iraqi desert as it approached a military command and control post.
Standing exposed at the back of one of the vehicles and "disregarding his own safety", Trooper X first unleashed a Javelin shoulder-held anti-tank missile at one of two Iraqi vehicles pursuing the SAS, quickly disabling it.
Trooper X then fired off machine-gun rounds against scattering Iraqi troops before launching a second Javelin missile at the other vehicle, hitting it with full force. Spying remnant Iraqi forces setting up a mortar, Trooper X pulled out his rifle and, with his first rounds, hit the base of the mortar tube, exploding it in the face of the Iraqi combatants.
While some Iraqi soldiers soon began to surrender, others were determined to keep up the fight after taking cover.
Further "judiciously placed" shots flushed out the remaining enemy and ensured the mission to destroy the missile site was completed successfully and without injury. "Throughout this engagement, Trooper X demonstrated skills and composure of the highest standard," his citation read.
"He acted with very little direction and his decision and subsequent actions had significant impacts on the outcome of the engagement."
Further awards for ADF personnel are expected and the Government is considering a medal for all those who participated.
2003
Note: I am not posting the picture here, the one that came with this story showed him from the back/side view and i figure they did not show it for a reason so i didn't add it. 
