Air medals for valour displayed during Afghanistan medevac
Four Nebraska Army National Guard aviators have been honoured for rescuing a wounded US Special Forces Soldier.
Four Nebraska Army National Guard aviators assigned to a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew have been honoured with the Air Medal with ‘Valor’ device for the bravery they displayed while rescuing a wounded US Special Forces Soldier. The mission took place on 9 February near Sangin, Afghanistan in the Helmand Province.
The crew members who received the medals in a ceremony on 20 May were pilot Chief Warrant Office 3 William Score, pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Hector Lima-Bermudez, helicopter crew chief Staff Sgt Matthew Hawke and flight medic Sgt Jared Cornell. The four Nebraska Army National Guard soldiers are members of Lincoln-based Company G, 2-104th General Support Aviation Battalion, which returned from a 10-month deployment to Afghanistan in April.
“They exemplify the best spirit and standings of the United State Army,” said Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, who presented the awards, during the ceremony at the Nebraska National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters in Lincoln. “They worked together as a team and their cohesion, effort, determination is something you only see in the military… that willingness to sacrifice for each other.”
Despite the landing zone being under heavy enemy fire, including machineguns and mortars, and difficult to approach due to a number of nearby obstacles, the four-strong crew was able to rescue the patient. Following the mission, it was discovered that the aircraft had received at least one round of fire that had penetrated the back window of the helicopter and passed within inches of the crew members.
Col John Cyrulik, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, attended the event as commander of the US Army’s Task Force Nightmare, which served as the unit’s higher headquarters during its deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. He described the situation the soldiers faced that day: “The crew could’ve, quite frankly, made the decision that there was too much risk to the helicopter. Without hesitation, so that others might live, the crew swept in at low altitude and at high speed, surrounded by dust and chaos and explosions, and landed in broad daylight in an area that would only fit one aircraft. There’s a moment where we’re all measured as soldiers, and this was their moment, this was their measure.”
After days of treatment, the rescued soldier lived and was reunited with his family and lived to fight another day.
Following the ceremony, helicopter crew chief Hawke said there was never any question what the crew should do: “We were there to do a job. One of our comrades was down so we had to take care of him.”