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   11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal

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Topic: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal (Read 569 times)

luci
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11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« on: Apr 5^th, 2005, 8:49am »

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Outnumbered and exposed, Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith stayed at his machine gun, beating back an advancing Iraqi force until a bullet took his life.

Smith is credited with protecting the lives of scores of lightly armed American soldiers who were beyond his position in the battle, on April 4, 2003, near the gates of Baghdad International Airport.

On Monday, exactly two years after Smith's death, President Bush awarded him the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest honor for valor.

"We are here to pay tribute to a soldier whose service illustrates the highest ideals of leadership and love of our country," Bush said in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

Bush said Smith "gave his life for these ideals in a deadly battle outside Baghdad. It is my great privilege to recognize his great sacrifice by awarding Sgt. Smith the Medal of Honor."

Smith's widow, Birgit, decided that the couple's 11-year-old son, David, would accept the medal on his father's behalf.

"It was a very easy decision for me because, after all, he's the man of the house now," she said Monday. She said she often hears from the men her husband saved, as well as their families. "They're so grateful for what Paul did that day," she said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

It is only the third Medal of Honor given for actions since the Vietnam War, and the first from the Iraq war.

Smith, 33, was the senior sergeant in a platoon of engineers during the 3rd Infantry Division's northward sprint toward Baghdad.

By the morning of April 4, elements of the division had reached Baghdad and captured Baghdad International Airport, a key objective. Encircled Iraqi militiamen and Special Republican Guard forces inside launched counterattacks.

Near the eastern edge of the airport, Smith, a veteran of the first Gulf War, had been put in charge of his unit -- 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 11th Engineer Battalion -- while his lieutenant went on a scouting mission.

Smith's mission was mundane enough -- turn a courtyard into a holding pen for Iraqi prisoners of war. The courtyard, just north of the main road between Baghdad and the airport, was near an Iraqi military compound.

Soon after Smith and some of his platoon began work, records show, one soldier spotted dozens of armed Iraqis approaching from beyond the gated walls of the courtyard. Another group of Iraqis occupied a nearby tower.

Smith summoned a Bradley fighting vehicle, and he and his troops gathered near the courtyard gate to fight the counterattack. An M113 armored personnel carrier joined the fray.

The Iraqis, perhaps as many as 100, attacked with rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, or RPGs. Smith threw a grenade over a wall to drive back some of the Iraqis, then fired a rocket.

Incoming RPGs battered the Bradley, which retreated. Then a mortar struck the M113, wounding the three soldiers inside and leaving its heavy machine gun unmanned.

After directing another soldier to pull the wounded M113 crewmen to safety, Smith climbed into the machine gun position and began firing at the tower and at the Iraqis trying to rush the compound.

His upper torso and head were exposed as he manned the gun.

"This wasn't a John Wayne move," said Command Sgt. Maj. Gary J. Coker, the top enlisted man in the 11th Battalion, who was near the battle.

"He was very methodical. He knew he had the gate and he wasn't going to leave it and nobody was going to make him leave it."

Still, Coker said, "it was absolutely amazing to stand up in that volume of fire."

During a stretch of 15 minutes or longer, Smith fired more than 300 rounds as Pvt. Michael Seaman, protected inside the M113, passed him ammunition.

Then he was struck by enemy fire and mortally wounded. At almost the same time, 1st Sgt. Timothy Campbell ended the threat from the tower with a grenade, and the surviving Iraqis withdrew.

Medics tried to save Smith but he died about 30 minutes later.

He and his comrades were credited with killing between 20 and 50 Iraqi soldiers.

Beyond his position were American medics, scouts, a mortar unit and a command post -- all lightly armed and vulnerable.

"Sgt. 1st Class Smith's actions saved the lives of at least 100 soldiers," according to an Army narrative.

Smith was born in El Paso, Texas, and moved to Tampa, Florida, when he was 9. He enlisted in the Army in 1989.

He was known for being tough on the men under his command, Coker, who has returned to Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division, said in a weekend telephone interview.

But Smith held himself to the same standard, Coker said, and he took care of his young soldiers when they needed it.

Back in the United States, when one private's wife fell seriously ill, Smith drove four hours to bring toys to their children.

The other two post-Vietnam Medals of Honor went to Army Master Sgt. Gary I. Gordon and Army Sgt. 1st Class Randall D. Shughart, two Delta Force troopers who died defending the crew of a helicopter that was shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia, in events depicted in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down."

More than 3,400 Medals of Honor have been awarded since the decoration was created in 1861, of which more than 600 have been given posthumously.

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Bumper
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #1 on: Apr 7^th, 2005, 12:03am »

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In conducting my own little observation into what people have an interest in, I have sat here and watched this thread sink towards the bottom of the page with hardly a look and nare a comment. Obiviously it is of no interest to the multitude that surf thru here. I guess the masses are too caught up in the minuta of life to even stop and see what the post was even about. I am disgusted. What a sad commentary on what my fellow Americans care about or think is important. This Country is at war and young men and women . . . OUR young men and women . . . . . . OUR neighbors, OUR relatives, OUR friends, volunteers all, are serving in our Armed Forces. They fight and sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice for US and we sometimes don't even give it a second thought. We eagerly hang on each tidbit of hollywood gossip about some creepy, semi-black jerk and his hollywood trial, we all have an opinion about some goddamn dumbo-eared English Prince and his semi-attractive bride to be, . . . we even boohoo rhetorically about a guy who does nothing but READ the news to us having cancer! The list goes on about all the JUNK we think is important enough to jump in and let everyone in cyberspace know what we think about it.

Meanwhile, the fight goes on. Every day. EVERY day a soldier somewhere makes a sacrifice for US. He fights in the belief that he is making a difference for US! He or she is far away from home, far from their loved ones, putting their lives on hold to take care of AMERICA'S business. These brave men and women DESERVE our respect and our support. And when one of them falls, we ought to care at least as much as we do about a pastey-faced black pedofile with no nose.

Shame on you.

May God bless the family of this fallen hero and may He watch over all of the brave men and women who serve this Country and it's unappreciative citizens

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Pocket
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #2 on: Apr 7^th, 2005, 9:36am »

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On the other hand, some subjects don't need to be rehashed, just appreciated for what they are, a cause for reflection. I read and saw news reports about the awarding of the medal in other places before this post. The subject of the article, the medal of honor winner, Paul Ray Smith, paid the ultimate price to protect the men under him. He is a hero to his men and to us. He is/was the husband/father/son to a family that will miss him forever. There are families grieving all over the country, for their young men and women, lost or grievously damaged in this conflict. As the wife of a 20 year veteran, my thoughts always go to the families left behind, who also pay the price of freedom. There are many casualties of war, and not all of them are in combat.

I also reflect about another generation of men with horror stories in their memories, with PTSD. I worry about soldiers maimed for life, who have lost limbs or eyesight or hearing and will have a life-long struggle to regain some degree of normalcy. I worry about the relationships of these people that won't survive the stresses of separation or the changes war makes in one's soul. I also worry about the government that sends these young people into a war based on faulty or false intelligence.

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Bumper
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #3 on: Apr 7^th, 2005, 10:41am »

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Good post Pocket.

What you have stated is true, BUT . . . .

my point is that until I posted, only SIX people in this whole damn Forums Community OR any vistor just passing thru . . . . even cared enough to even LOOK at the thread! SIX!! While at the same time other threads, as I described earlier, received numerous views and comments.

Pardon me for saying, but IMO it's hard for me to believe that people are "pausing and reflecting" when they don't even view the thread to see what it's all about.
Americans as a group are lazy and apathetic.

Maybe when gas is $6.00 a gallon, Spanish is the national language, and we have to time our trips to Blockbuster and Starbucks to avoid rocket attacks by terrorists, we'll wonder what happened to the "good old days" when Americans had pride in their Country and "cared" about the things that really mattered.

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Dixie
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #4 on: Apr 7^th, 2005, 11:50am »

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You are absolutely right Bumper. I totally missed the thread and it does deserve reading at a minimum. I don't know what else to say. Embarassed

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Rhune
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #5 on: Apr 7^th, 2005, 12:45pm »

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I'm one of the 6 that read it and didn't comment, not because I don't care about this, but because it's a sad thing for me and I think in general I've made my feelings about this war quite clear and don't need to rehash them and turn this into a political thread.

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Pocket
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #6 on: Apr 7^th, 2005, 1:00pm »

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Ditto, Rhune!

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luci
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #7 on: Apr 7^th, 2005, 10:50pm »

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I posted after reading it for I thought it deserved recognition.
It appears people are no longer interested in this fight, that continues to linger on.
We don't think enough about the children left behind without Dads. How thoughtful of the Mom to give their son the honor of accepting the Medal. That's my point for posting this thread.

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Rhune
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #8 on: Apr 7^th, 2005, 11:48pm »

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It's not that I am not interested, I continue to watch the news stories and pay attention to what's going on. Probably unlike most, I also take an active hand in writing to my congressman, etc. when things come up like the Budge Proposals for Iraq and voice my opinion there as well. I just have stopped hammering my opinion here each time, because I think it's unnecessary. You all know where I stand on this.

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Pocket
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #9 on: Apr 8^th, 2005, 8:53am »

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If ever there was a hot topic here, the war in Iraq is it. While the divisions in this country are not as bad they were during the VietNam conflict, they are still deep. I feel like we were misled about the cause and need for this war. I see the news, and I grieve for each and every casualty and their families.

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luci
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #10 on: Apr 8^th, 2005, 9:07am »

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ditto Pocket,.........and the children left without parents suffer forever!

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Bumper
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #11 on: Apr 8^th, 2005, 11:40am »

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If I may respectfully say . . . . . I think many of you have missed the point of my original post.

I am wise enough to realize that there are probably a zillion different viewpoints on the war in Iraq, what people think of the present administration, what people think is important, what they like, what they dislike, who they like, who they dislike . . . . . . the list goes on and on. Hell, there's an old saying about how some people would complain if they were hung with a NEW rope.

My point was . . . . . until I posted, only SIX people were even interested enough in the thread to even SEE what it was all about!

We saw from the title that it was probably about a soldier being killed and we tuned it out. No one even went there to say anything, good or bad! We tuned it out!

BUT at the same time, we are like rubberneckers at a traffic accident and flock to areas concerning celeberties and such. On THESE areas, we all have an opinion and want to share. We WANT people to know how we feel about MJ and his circus, we WANT to make sure that we offer our opinion about Terry Schavio, Peter Jennings, Dumbo marrying his mistress and all sort of other crap. Even in the Grapevine, we offer birthday wishes and greetings to posters who most likely the only time they have been here was when they signed up! We offer, condolences, advice and little smiley avatars to every subject under the sun. We have opinions on most everything and want people to know how we feel. We LIKE to let people know what we're doing and feeling.

But, regardless of what is going on in the world, or who is moving the chess pieces around . . . .

THAT MAN volunteered to serve his Country, not a certain administration, HIS COUNTRY! He like scores of others to come before him and most likely, others to follow, laid down HIS life for his Country and his fellow comrades.

. . . . . and WE take it for granted. Maybe that's human nature but if it is, it's a sad commentary about what we Americans think is important.

I will stop. This is the news area, not political. At least now a few people have ventured to this thread and maybe it will give them pause to realize that while they go about their mundane lives, there ARE dedicated men and women standing watch, guarding their freedom.

Regardless of who is in office, Freedom is never free.

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Rhune
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #12 on: Apr 8^th, 2005, 1:17pm »

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But it is a political argument and about this administration. Yes, he volunteered his life for our country and our freedom, based on the understanding that he would not be called to make that sacrifice except in a time of genuine need. This is where we get into what this war was about and why our men and women are over there dying and how we feel about that as individuals. You can't say this man's death has nothing to do with the current administration. I feel like it was a a needless death, this man's life wasted by a war based on false pretenses and oil, and not about freedom. We can disagree on this until we are blue in the face, but I think that if I am missing your point, you are also missing mine.

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luci
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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #13 on: Apr 8^th, 2005, 3:00pm »

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Bumper, I got your point, since I was the one to post the thread I was also watching to see how many took time to read it.

Enough said, folks, it wasn't meant to start up a political debate by me.
PEACE YA'LL Wink

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Re: 11 Yr Old Son Accepts Dad's Medal
« Reply #14 on: Apr 8^th, 2005, 5:06pm »

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on Apr 8^th, 2005, 1:17pm, Rhune wrote:

I said I was going to stop, but I can't . . . not with this hanging in my craw.

Rhune, whether that soldier died under THIS administration or some other one . . . . whether this war or any war in the past for that matter, is a justified war, whether it is for a popular cause or not, is immaterial. Maybe what we have here is a complete misunderstanding of why.

Why doe a man or woman join the military . . . . . KNOWING that he or she may be called upon to lay down their life in the course of their duties.

Why does the Firefighter join the Fire Department knowing that he will be expected to lay his life on the line . . . . . . why does the Police Officer take an oath to uphold the law, and go into situations that others are hesitant to deal with . . . . . . Certainally there are other jobs, other professions where more money can be made, less danger to be faced, etc. What motivates these individuals to face what others shun away from . .. .

I can tell you. It is a sense of duty. A belief in the basic values of what is right and wrong, but not necessarily what is "easy" or popular. It is a sense of commitment to making a difference in our society.

If the soldier did not believe in a sense of duty, we would only have mercernaries.

If the Police Officer did not believe in his oath to serve and protect, we would only have lawlessness.

If the Firefighter did not believe he was making a difference, all we would have is ashes and victims.

No professional who serves and protects our citizenery and our country makes the decision to serve based on who is President, or who is Fire Chief or Police Chief. No professional sticks their finger up in the air to check the winds of popularity before they do their job. The decision is made when they take the oath, and that is what I'm speaking to regarding this thread. I don't know, but I sometimes wonder . . . Maybe this sense of duty, this intrinsic value, is something that the bookkeeper, the sales clerk, the waitress, the factory worker and countless others just can't grasp.

As to my post, It is not political, it is about caring enough to honor the commitment, the sense of duty and the sacrifice this man made. He didn't first weigh the ramifications of how others would view his effort, or whether an administration was popular, or how some had differing opinions of the war in total. He did what he felt was right to protect his fellow soliders. By second guessing his commitment because you don't see it as a "genuine need" amounts to little more than trivilizing his death.

I guess we can agree to disagree, but I actually think it's not that at all. I sense that some people just may not understand what motivates someone to volunteer to do a job knowing full well that it may one day cost him his life.

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