Soldier who fought to save team receives Medal of Honor
Sergeant rescued several comrades under fire from enemy in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — As day broke over the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the Special Forces soldiers of Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 leaped from helicopters into a rocky, fast-moving river.
They would spend the next six hours in that snowy and frost-covered valley fighting for their lives.
The unit, split into three groups and teamed with Afghan commandos, came under an avalanche of fire on April 6, 2008, as the first group climbed a mountain during a hunt for a militant leader. A couple of soldiers were shot almost immediately, the opening salvos of what would be a six-hour battle against an estimated 200 enemy fighters.
On Wednesday, a soldier who braved fire repeatedly to help others received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for combat valor.
Master Sgt. Matthew Williams, 37, received the award at the White House from President Donald Trump, becoming the 18th recipient of the award for valor in Afghanistan and the 24th overall since the terrorist attacks of 2001.
“Matt’s incredible heroism helped ensure that not a single American soldier died in the Battle of Shok Valley,” Trump said. “His ground commander later wrote, ‘I’ve never seen a troop so poised, focused and capable during a fight,’ and Matt is without question and without reservation one of the bravest soldiers and people I’ve ever met.”
Williams, meeting with reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday, downplayed his actions.
“There’s no point in dwelling on how bad the situation really is,” Williams said. “You’re better served to focus on what needs to happen and move toward that goal.”
The battle erupted in Nuristan province’s Shok Valley during a hunt for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan militia leader and warlord whose forces attacked U.S. troops and the Afghan government for years. His fighters unleashed a fearsome attack on the soldiers, firing machine guns, rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons when they were about halfway up the mountain.
Williams, then a sergeant on his first of five deployments to Afghanistan, was down near the river as Hekmatyar’s fighters ambushed the leading groups of U.S. soldiers.
The Americans who had begun climbing the mountain first found themselves unable to move as enemy fighters sought to snuff them out. That’s where Williams, retired Master Sgt. Scott Ford and Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II, a team medic, thrust themselves further into the fight under fire.
“Once they reached their trapped comrades, Matt realized that several of his wounded comrades were too gravely wounded to be quickly evacuated,” the president said. “He ran down the mountain to get support and then climbed back up with bullets spraying all around.”
Williams is credited with spending an hour climbing the mountain under fire to help remove wounded Americans, maneuvering through the ice-cold, waistdeep river to reach them. Some of the Afghan commandos helped the Americans by returning fire.
Williams said that in some cases, he was able to maneuver up the mountain on foot. In others, he had to climb hand-over-hand.
Lt. Col. Kyle Walton, who was then a captain and detachment commander, was among those pinned down on the mountainside. Williams was always “looking for work” in the battle, maneuvering up and down the mountain to help others, Walton said.
The situation spiraled out of control badly enough that Walton was forced to call in airstrikes on advancing fighters that were “danger close,” meaning the Americans were at risk of getting hit by their own bombs.
“That’s what makes Matt Williams’ action so special, is he was moving in and out of that scenario all day long,” Walton said. “And he continued to do it. He continued to come back and ask for more tasks. You know: ‘What can I do? What do you need?’ ”