Biden awards 3 Medals of Honor for bravery
Soldiers honored, 2 posthumously, for gallant service in Iraq and Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — One of them plunged into a burning truck over and over, his uniform aflame, to pull others to safety. One made a shield with his body to allow an evacuating helicopter to fly away. One ran toward a breach in the wall of his base, shaking off explosions that blew him backward, to stop an insurgent attack despite being badly outnumbered.
President Joe Biden lauded all three Thursday, awarding the Medal of Honor to Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn C. Cashe and Sgt. 1st Class Christopher A. Celiz, who both died from the wounds they suffered in combat, and Master Sgt. Earl D. Plumlee.
Plumlee and Celiz were honored for their service in Afghanistan. Cashe, who Biden said was the first African American soldier to earn the Medal of
Honor since the Vietnam War, was honored for actions in Iraq.
“Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude today,” Biden told more than 100 attendees at the ceremony in the East Room, “as we honor the unparalleled courage and commitment to duty and indispensable, indisputable gallantry” of the three men.
The medals were the first Biden has awarded since the United States completed the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, which he ordered soon after taking office.
In his remarks, Biden returned repeatedly to the bravery of the honored soldiers, the brutalities of war and the responsibility of the nation to safeguard its troops, which he called the nation’s “one truly sacred obligation.”
Cashe was traveling in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Salahuddin province, Iraq, on Oct. 17, 2005, when the vehicle came under attack from enemy fire and an explosive device, catching fire. He helped to pull the driver to safety, but in the process, Cashe’s uniform was soaked with fuel and caught fire. Even as he suffered severe burns, he pulled four of his peers from the vehicle. Cashe died about three weeks after the attack, at age 35.
Celiz, 32, was helping to clear an area of Afghanistan on July 12, 2018, when a large enemy force attacked. He exposed himself to enemy fire to retrieve and use a heavy weapons system and help U.S. forces regroup and treat a wounded partner. He shielded the wounded person on the way to a medical helicopter then put himself between the cockpit and the enemy, suffering and returning heavy fire, to help the helicopter lift off.
He was wounded by the enemy fire, but he motioned for the helicopter to take off anyway.
Plumlee was taking a quick photo at his base in Afghanistan on Aug. 28, 2013, when insurgents detonated a car bomb that blew a hole in the base wall. He jumped into a car, raced to the blast with five other soldiers and found 10 enemy fighters pouring into the base wearing explosive vests. His group took rocket fire, and he ran toward it, firing back with his pistol. He killed one insurgent with a grenade and another with a sniper shot that set off the fighter’s explosive vest.
He used his body as a shield and continued moving closer to enemy fighters, despite suffering injuries when they detonated their vests. One blast threw him into a wall, injuring his back. But Plumlee still carried a wounded fellow soldier to safety and administered first aid before helping to organize others to clear and secure the area.
On Thursday, he stood as Biden clasped the ribbon that hung the Medal of Honor around his neck.