thedrifter
04-06-08, 06:48 AM
Soldiers in Iraq recall Medal of Honor recipient’s valor
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, April 6, 2008
In the same courtyard where, five years ago to the day, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith was killed, soldiers who were with him that day gathered to remember the Medal of Honor recipient Friday.
Along with some 200 other servicemembers and military dignitaries, the group held a remembrance ceremony to mark the day.
Smith, who was with Company B, 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, was setting up a prisoner of war holding area at the Baghdad International Airport when his unit was attacked. Manning a .50-caliber machine gun on an armored personnel carrier, Smith held off the attackers until his unit could evacuate their wounded and mount a counterattack.
One of the soldiers who was with Smith that day recalled what Smith had told him about being in combat as they waited in Kuwait for the war to start. Smith had been in the first Gulf War.
“He said, ‘war is hell,’ and he showed me that firsthand,” Capt. Christopher Doerr, who was a young second lieutenant in April 2003. “He laid it all on the line, and that was not a fluke. … He was concerned for the safety of his men and others, and he put that above his own personal safety, and I think you’ve got to say he’s a hero for that.”
Smith was also remembered as a no-nonsense platoon sergeant who pushed his troops.
“The way he motivated his soldiers, they didn’t necessarily like him, he wasn’t their friend, but he made them train to standard,” Doerr said. “It all makes sense now, why he pushed us, why we did the things we did. Now we are here because of that.”
Those in attendance included Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the day-to-day commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, who in 2003 was the 3rd Infantry Division’s deputy commander for maneuver.
Brig. Gen. William Grimsley, who was then the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division commander and recommended Smith for the Medal of Honor, also attended the ceremony. Grimsley is now the deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Division, which is also serving in Iraq now.
Smith “was a soldier who took care of soldiers,” Grimsley said during the ceremony. “He lost his life doing it.”
Ellie
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, April 6, 2008
In the same courtyard where, five years ago to the day, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith was killed, soldiers who were with him that day gathered to remember the Medal of Honor recipient Friday.
Along with some 200 other servicemembers and military dignitaries, the group held a remembrance ceremony to mark the day.
Smith, who was with Company B, 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, was setting up a prisoner of war holding area at the Baghdad International Airport when his unit was attacked. Manning a .50-caliber machine gun on an armored personnel carrier, Smith held off the attackers until his unit could evacuate their wounded and mount a counterattack.
One of the soldiers who was with Smith that day recalled what Smith had told him about being in combat as they waited in Kuwait for the war to start. Smith had been in the first Gulf War.
“He said, ‘war is hell,’ and he showed me that firsthand,” Capt. Christopher Doerr, who was a young second lieutenant in April 2003. “He laid it all on the line, and that was not a fluke. … He was concerned for the safety of his men and others, and he put that above his own personal safety, and I think you’ve got to say he’s a hero for that.”
Smith was also remembered as a no-nonsense platoon sergeant who pushed his troops.
“The way he motivated his soldiers, they didn’t necessarily like him, he wasn’t their friend, but he made them train to standard,” Doerr said. “It all makes sense now, why he pushed us, why we did the things we did. Now we are here because of that.”
Those in attendance included Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the day-to-day commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, who in 2003 was the 3rd Infantry Division’s deputy commander for maneuver.
Brig. Gen. William Grimsley, who was then the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division commander and recommended Smith for the Medal of Honor, also attended the ceremony. Grimsley is now the deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Division, which is also serving in Iraq now.
Smith “was a soldier who took care of soldiers,” Grimsley said during the ceremony. “He lost his life doing it.”
Ellie