Fort Hood ceremony honors Blue Spaders
Posted On: Friday, Sep. 4 2009 04:56 AM
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily HeraldFORT HOOD – It was a hellish year of fighting in Afghanistan's Kunar Province.
The 1st Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, saw the toughest year of combat for any U.S. Army battalion since the 10th Mountain Division fought in the Italian Alps during World War II, its commander said.
Lt. Col. Brett Jenkinson brought his battalion – the Blue Spaders – together Thursday to recognize and honor those who stepped up during 12 months in Afghanistan and defined "hero." Battalion soldiers who are getting treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio also attended the ceremony.
The brigade returned to Fort Hood this summer and is preparing to relocate to Fort Knox, Ky.
Jenkinson and the brigade's commander, Col. John Spiszer, handed out 254 Silver Stars, Bronze Star Medals with Valor, Army Commendation Medals with Valor and Purple Hearts Thursday morning and afternoon at Fort Hood's Community Events Center.
What happened Thursday was historical, Jenkinson said.
"I promise you that you are about to witness the awarding of more awards for valor than any unit on active duty today and more valorous awards than you will ever see in one place again during your time in the service and probably in your lifetime," he said to the families and soldiers before him.
The battalion has two pending Valorous Unit Awards. The awards are given to units for gallantry, determination and esprit de corps that goes above and beyond other units in the same conflict, Jenkinson said.
Thursday's ceremony was about sharing the Spader story, he told the soldiers.
"I mostly want to let your families know what happened to you in Afghanistan, to do some proper bragging in front of your families, the ones you all believe won't understand," he added.
The Spaders racked up impressive numbers of awards, but the battalion also paid a heavy price, claiming a dubious honor: It suffered the higher number of wounded and killed troops of any Army or Marine Corps unit last year, Jenkinson said. Twenty soldiers lost their lives and 150 were wounded in more than 500 firefights.
There would have been more deaths were it not for medical advances, daring ground and air evacuations and numerous acts of gallantry by the men who filled the Community Events Center, Jenkinson said.
Combat was intense. Soldiers fired more than 26,000 rounds of artillery and mortars and dropped more than 400 bombs. In the first 45 days in Afghanistan, 90 percent of the Spaders earned Combat Infantry Badges, Jenkinson said.
Some say that bravery is instinctual or reflexive, the lieutenant colonel went on to say, though almost every soldier honored Thursday would admit they had time to think about their actions. That's heroism.
"They had time to stop, to look the other way, to do nothing, to give up," he said. "Yet, they didn't. They took action to save the life of a buddy or to take the life of an enemy."
The brigade's 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment is set to host a similar ceremony Tuesday at Fort Hood.
Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at
astair@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7547.
Soldiers recognized
The 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment handed out 254 awards Thursday. Three Silver Stars with Valor, 36 Bronze Stars with Valor, 117 Army Commendations with Valor and 97 Purple Hearts were given. For a full list of honorees, read Wednesday's Fort Hood Herald.
Here are a few of those who were awarded:
Capt. Thomas Gearhart, 26Hometown: Stockton, Calif.
Job during deployment: Rifle platoon leader in Bravo Company
Honors received: Purple Heart Medal and Army Commendation Medal with Valor
What are they? The Purple Heart is given to those who were wounded or killed in action. The Army Commendation Medal with Valor "is awarded for valorous actions in direct contact with an enemy force, but of a lesser degree than required for the award of the Bonze Star," according to information from the Army.
Gearhart was a first lieutenant when leading his platoon back to their combat outpost after a routine patrol on Sept. 6, 2008, when it was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire.
Gearhart received 30 shrapnel wounds to his left leg and army. His left ring finger was amputated and reattached during two surgeries in Afghanistan and Texas. The lieutenant called his then-fiancée, Lynn, from his hospital bed in Afghanistan to say, "I might lose my ring finger."
The college sweethearts were married Aug. 8 in California. Gearhart proudly wears his wedding band on his left ring finger.
Spc. Philip Wiersema, 22Hometown: Willow Springs, Mo.
Job during deployment: Mortarman in Headquarters Company, attached to Delta Company
Honors received: Bronze Star Medal with Valor
What is it? Awarded for bravery, the medal is the fourth-highest combat award given by the U.S. Armed Forces, according to information from the Army.
Wiersema just finished a guard shift and was in his room Nov. 1, 2008, when Combat Outpost Seray came under attack by Taliban fighters using mortars, gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. He threw on his helmet and ran outside, spending the next four hours firing 84 rounds of mortar rounds at the attacking forces. He and his fellow mortarmen's "accurate and responsive fires directly affect the engagement," according to the award narrative.
No U.S. soldiers died during the attack.
"We were just extremely lucky," Wiersema said.
He estimated he fought in 130 separate engagements during his seven months at Seray.
Sgt. Joshua Sheeran, 23Hometown: Lake Villa, Ill.
Job during deployment: Infantryman in Able Company
Honors received: Bronze Star Medal with Valor
Sheeran was one of the brigade's first soldiers to arrive at Fort Hood in January 2007. The then-specialist was part of a humanitarian mission Jan. 29 to give medical aid to local residents when bullets and rocket fire pinned the patrol in a valley. He ran out of his vehicle and attempted to fire rockets at the attacking forces, according to his award narrative. The weapon misfired shortly before two rocket-propelled detonated six feet away, nearly killing him and his team leader. He dodged fire and drove his disabled vehicle to provide cover for fellow soldiers attempting to launch mortars. He later replaced a machine gunner and fired at the enemy to stop attacks on his six-man patrol.
It was the most intense fight Sheeran has ever been in, he said. He's proud of what he did during the yearlong deployment and will soon head to his next duty station in Hawaii.
"We went over there and did a hell of a job," he said.
Capt. Loren Crowe, 26Hometown: Escondido, Calif.
Job during deployment: Platoon leader in Able Company
Honors received: Silver Star Medal
What is it? The third-highest award given for valor in combat.
Then-1st Lt. Crowe was a freshman with two weeks of experience as a New Yorker at Columbia University when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred. He graduated with a political science degree and began his Army service.
His platoon was returning from a mission Sept. 17, 2008, when it was attacked from all sides by Taliban forces. Crowe watched the three vehicles in front of him get hit with rocket-propelled grenades. The first two vehicles were able to drive away from direct fire, but the third was heavily hit and its gunner, Sgt. Brandon Farley, began aggressively firing back, according to the narrative. Farley was killed shortly after. Crowe directed his driver to ram the third vehicle and push it out of harm's way. He and several soldiers got out of the vehicles and exchanged fire with enemy forces before he ran between several vehicles to relay orders after his radio was knocked out and coordinating return fire. Crowe remained calm and controlled a "horrific ambush" that wounded six and killed one.
"His actions of 17 September 2008 not only prevented further casualties, but killed approximately 20 Anti-Afghan Forces," the narrative reads.
More than 12 valorous awards and seven Purple Hearts were awarded to the men in the two platoons.
"My guys were incredible," he said. "None of us had any business surviving that."
Crowe hopes to attend Stanford Law School next year.