After a year of waiting, twelve separate reviews on various levels that went through the division, through the Pentagon and all the way to the White House, a soldier is being awarded the first Medal of Honor of the Iraq War.
Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, was leading a group of sixteen men when they were ambushed by a battalion of Iraqi soldiers. Smith manned a 50 caliber machine gun and covered the withdrawal of his men and was fatally wounded by Iraqi return fire after going through four boxes of ammunition. He was the only American to die in the engagement.
Smith, of Tampa, Florida, joins a small group of soldiers who have been awarded the Medal of Honor since the Civil War. 3,439 men and one woman have received the Medal since 1863. Only 129 men who were awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam remain alive today. Through the ages, 19 men have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice.
Sgt. Smith gave the last full measure of devotion to save the lives of his fellow Army soldiers. Many of his fellows are alive today because of his sacrifice. A web site has been made to honor his memory and to tell his story.
The awarding of the Medal of Honor to our brave soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan is overdue. Sgt. Smith will be honored next month at the White House; his family will accept the award in his stead. Here's the story. That medal is also symbolic of the brave sacrifices that so many have made in Iraq and Afghanistan. May their memories never fade.
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