President Joe Biden of the United States has bestowed the nation’s highest military honor on three soldiers, including the first black serviceman to receive the honor since the Vietnam War.
Army Sergeant Alwyn Cashe died as a result of burns sustained while rescuing soldiers from a burning armored vehicle in Iraq.
He is also the first black soldier to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the United States’ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The award was also given to two other troops who were credited with saving lives.
Sgt Cashe, 35, was killed in October 2005 when a roadside bomb exploded beneath the Bradley Fighting Vehicle he was commanding, igniting its fuel tank.
His uniform caught fire after he and another soldier extinguished the flames that had engulfed their driver and dragged him to safety.
With second and third-degree burns covering nearly 75% of his body, he rescued six soldiers and one Iraqi interpreter from the vehicle one by one, all while under enemy fire.
He died three weeks after the attack as a result of his injuries.
“On his watch, no soldier will be left behind,” Mr. Biden said at a White House ceremony.
“A soldier’s soldier, a warrior who literally walked through fire for his troops,” he said to the audience, which included Sgt Cashe’s wife and children.
Rules require soldiers to be nominated within five years of their brave action, but Congress granted a waiver last year so that Sgt Cashe could receive the award.
Years of soldiers and family members lobbied for his Silver Star medal to be upgraded.
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According to the Washington Post, former President Donald Trump planned to award the Medal of Honor to Sgt Cashe before leaving the White House in January, but that plan was thwarted due to safety concerns following Trump supporters’ rioting at the US Capitol.
Green Beret Sgt Earl Plumlee, 41, also received the Medal of Honor for his role in repelling an attack on his base in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province in 2013.
After insurgents detonated a truck bomb outside his military post, allowing suicide bombers and rifle-wielding attackers to pour in, he and other troops drove into enemy fire to defend their wounded troops.
“Without cover and complete disregard for his own safety, he advanced on the superior enemy force, engaging multiple insurgents with only his pistol,” according to a White House memo describing his valor.
Multiple suicide bomb blasts knocked Sgt Plumlee off his feet, but he was only slightly injured.
“I still don’t understand why they couldn’t hit me,” he told the Washington Post.
Army Ranger Sgt Christopher Celiz was killed in Paktia Province, Afghanistan, in 2018 while assisting a medical helicopter transporting casualties under fire.
According to the White House, after a large group of insurgents attacked his unit, he ran into a hail of bullets to retrieve a heavy weapons system and retake the initiative in the fight.
He used his body as a barrier to protect the aircraft’s occupants from being hit as the helicopter prepared to depart. He was hit by enemy fire as it took off, but he motioned to his fellow troops to continue without him.
“He knew he had been hit, but he waved for the aircrew to leave without him,” Mr. Biden said.
“In the face of imminent peril, he prioritized the safety of his team and crew over his own.”
