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Batman47 Board Founder/CNC User is Offline Joined: 10 Feb 2007 Posts: 394 Karma: 5 applaud / smite 425 points 0 warnings 0 tempbans	Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:04 am    Post subject: 1st MOH recipient in Iraq War · Quote By WILLIAM C. MANN WASHINGTON (AP) - In the early days of the Iraq war, on the last day of his life, Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith showed valor that no U.S. soldier has matched in Iraq. Smith's men came under attack as they mopped up after the capture of Baghdad's airport. The sergeant braved hostile fire to evacuate three wounded soldiers and single-handedly killed dozens of enemy soldiers before being killed himself as he covered the evacuation of other wounded Americans. Smith posthumously became the first soldier in the Iraq war awarded the Medal of Honor, America's highest military award, given in recognition of extreme valor in combat. More than three years later, Smith remains the only service member to receive the honor for action in either Iraq or Afghanistan. That the U.S. military's top honor has become so rare is a sign of how warfare has changed. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060704/D8IL1JLO0.html SMITH, PAUL R. Rank and Organization http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/mohiraq.htm Medal of Honor - Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/smith Monday, May 29, 2006 One Son Comes Home, One Son Earns Medal of Honor This is an expanded story of Sgt Paul R. Smith, Medal of Honor Recipient: Janice Pvirre will be at Arlington in person. She will join the other "Gold Star Mothers," those who have lost children in combat, to lay a wreath and to say a prayer at a white marker engraved with the emblem of this nation's highest military honor. Her son, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, died in a dusty courtyard outside Baghdad, fatally wounded in a furious firefight while showing "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity ... above and beyond the call of duty" _ a sacrifice that made him the only service member awarded the Medal of Honor in the Iraq war. Among those Sgt. Smith's actions saved: Dan Richardson, who has recently married and himself been promoted to sergeant. That knowledge is both a blessing and a burden, for one mother to know that any milestone she will celebrate with her son _ a birthday, a holiday, the birth of a child _ was made possible by another mother's loss. "We have been drawn together for some reason, and we're both intrigued about that reason," Richardson [Dan's Mother] says. "There is a destiny behind all of this. And it's not over. It's not played out yet. We don't know where it's going from here."[snip] Smith, who had married shortly after that war in 1992 and had become a stepfather, then a father, told his wife that he feared he hadn't seen the last of Iraq. Making sure his men were ready became a priority, Birgit Smith says. "He said, `We are not done. We're going back. We didn't finish,'" the young widow says. "It was just a matter of time." That time came in March 2003. And Smith was ready. "There are two ways to come home, stepping off the plane and being carried off the plane," he wrote in a letter to his parents. "It doesn't matter how I come home because I am prepared to give all that I am to ensure that all my boys make it home." One of those "boys" was Dan Richardson.[snip] Go over and read more about the fight, Sgt Smith's heroism and how the men he fought with and for honor him. In the four-page letter from Dan afterward, Rita Richardson learned the harrowing tale of gunfire and confusion, and of the sergeant who held them all together. "It is because of him that I'm not dead ..." her son wrote. "He gave his life defending us."[snip] Letters and e-mails from the families of others who served with Smith still come to his mother and widow, thanking them for his sacrifice. Some display his picture in a place of honor among their own family photos. Somewhere, there is a baby boy named Paul, in his memory. Medic Michelle Chavez held Smith's hand as he died under the hot Iraqi sun. In her pocket, she carries a .50-caliber machine gun bullet from the battle. Because of Smith, she is alive to pursue her dream of becoming a physician's assistant, says her mother, Pam Shorb. "I really don't know how to put it into words," says Shorb. "I'll always be grateful to him for what he did and what he sacrificed. Without our daughter, we don't know what we'd be." Janice Pvirre says it hurts to know that because of those same actions, Paul was not there last October to give stepdaughter Jessica away in marriage. When 12-year-old David enters seventh grade this fall, it will be in a middle school building named for a father who is no longer there. If anyone owes her anything, she says, it is to live as good a life as possible, so that Paul's death was not in vain. http://themiddleground.blogspot.com/2006/05/one-son-comes-home-one-son-earns-medal.html http://eqneedf.jconserv.net/viewtopic.php?t=1307
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Outsider Asst. Admin User is Offline Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 4203 Karma: 27 applaud / smite Location: North Carolina 32274 points 0 warnings 0 tempbans	Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 6:02 pm    Post subject: · Quote Thank you for honoring Sgt Smith, Knightrider. I only regret it took me nearly a year to see this thread So, With that said how about we show a virtual presentation of the actions that earned Sgt Smith his Medal Of Honor? The author of this video did an outstanding job piecing together the events that led up to the sacrifice of Sgt. Smith. This video will grab you by the heart strings especially towards the end. God bless Sgt Paul Smith and may he rest forever in peace, <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qb9iWbPRDlU&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qb9iWbPRDlU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> _________________ <table border="0" bordercolor="#F6FCFD" width="1" bgcolor="#F6FCFD"> <tr> <td>  </td> <td> </td> </tr>Commanding Officer M.S.T. Alpha company <tr> <td> </td> </tr> </table> Last edited by Outsider on Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Rmlp34 Sgt. Major of the Army User is Offline Joined: 21 Jul 2007 Posts: 572 Karma: 20 applaud / smite Location: South Ms. 675 points 0 warnings 0 tempbans	Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 6:19 pm    Post subject: · Quote Brought many tears to my eyes. GOD BLESS HIM _________________ Staff member Company Liaison M.S.T. Delta Co http://www.myspace.com/purvismomof2
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