thedrifter
03-31-08, 09:17 AM
Monday, March 31, 2008
After 4-year effort to elevate award, Elliott gets Soldier’s Medal
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, March 31, 2008
Medal ceremonies can elicit an array of emotions, from pride to humility to remorse. It’s all a matter of circumstances.
Army Master Sgt. Curtis Elliott, a hardened combat veteran, admits feeling a bit conflicted as he prepares to receive the Soldier’s Medal next week. There is pride, certainly, for the two lives saved in the vehicle accident on that hot August night in Iraq. But there is also great emotional pain for the life lost, the life of 28-year-old Sgt. Sean Cataudella.
“They become family,” Elliott says of soldiers in a platoon.
The four-year effort to secure the Soldier’s Medal for Elliott is another story.
It involves the resolve of a proud sister and a battlefield commander, who teamed up to reverse an earlier nod to give Elliott a less prestigious award. The decision to downgrade the award while giving a Soldier’s Medal to another soldier — whose role was no more pivotal than Elliott’s — just seemed wrong to them.
“That’s why we pushed for the award,” said Brig. Gen. David Hogg, who was Elliott’s brigade commander at the time. “He earned it.”
…
In late August 2003, a scout platoon of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division was temporarily attached to the 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment in support of Operation Rattlesnake. Elliott, then a sergeant first class, was the platoon sergeant.
The particular mission that claimed Cataudella’s life began around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 30. The brigade was looking to bag another bad guy operating in Diyala province just north of Baghdad. Cataudella and Elliott’s platoon, part of the brigade’s reconnaissance team, had the task of establishing a blocking position by a thick palm grove in support of the battalion-level operation.
Hogg, who was a colonel at the time, remembers it as another hot, humid night. Being it was night, visibility was poor, he said, and the dust kicked up by the unlit Humvees made it only worse, despite the aid of night-vision goggles.
“It was on that initial movement into the palm groves when the accident took place,” said Hogg, now commander of the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwöhr, Germany.
Cataudella, a native of Tucson, Ariz., was driving the fourth of five vehicles moving down a dirt track. When the lead vehicle became mired in mud, the rest of the convoy adjusted its course to take another route. One after-action report noted the new route “had a berm on the left side and was extremely narrow.”
There also was a fairly deep canal on the right. About a half-mile down the route, Cataudella’s vehicle slid off the road and into the canal, landing upside down, the undercarriage just below the surface. None of the occupants was wearing seatbelts.
Soldiers in the convoy poured out of their vehicles to help. At the center of the rescue effort was Elliott and Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Onufrak, though several others were involved, including Elliott’s driver, Pvt. Justin Edmondson, who later received a Bronze Star Medal.
...
“I wasn’t the only one on the ground there,” Elliott recalled as he spoke by phone from southern California, where he now is based.
One of the soldiers assisting in the rescue effort was Capt. Jerry A. Simonsen Jr. The captain’s sworn statement recounted how Elliott, Edmondson and Onufrak worked tirelessly with others to free the occupants. Cataudella proved to be the hardest save because something, either his leg or some equipment, was hampering his release. The canal was also muddy and the marsh grass was thick.
During the rescue effort, Elliott dove underwater multiple times, Simonsen wrote. Besides trying to free Cataudella, he also tried to give him breaths of air.
There were many people helping that night, Simonsen wrote, “but SFC Elliott exceptionally distinguished himself by his actions and never gave up on his trooper where most would have.”
Once ashore, Elliott and Edmondson labored for more than 10 minutes to resuscitate Cataudella. They finally succeeded, and Cataudella was transported to a nearby Army medical facility. The eight-year veteran died later that afternoon.
“It eats at me every day, every day,” Elliott said of the loss. “I just live with it. At this point,” Elliott’s voice cracked, “I can still taste the damn blood in his lungs.”
Hogg recommended several soldiers for awards. Onufrak and Elliott were put in for the Soldier’s Medal. Onufrak got his, but Elliott’s was downgraded to an Army Commendation Medal in late April 2004 by V Corps, the ground force command.
Between redeployment, a move and a job change, Hogg didn’t know about the change. He assumed Elliott got his medal.
Despite the disappointment, Elliott said nothing about it to anybody, except his mom, who in turn told Elliott’s sister, Mia Supe. She eventually got in touch with Hogg, who resubmitted the paperwork. A year later, the Army notified Hogg that, due to the time lag, he needed the request to come from a member of Congress. In the end, between Hogg, Supe and Congresswoman Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), the necessary paperwork was resubmitted and the Army reversed itself.
“I have no idea” why it was downgraded, Hogg said. “It could be anything. It doesn’t matter.”
What matters, Hogg said, is that Elliott is finally being recognized for his heroic efforts that day. A ceremony is planned for Wednesday at the University of Southern California, where Elliott is an ROTC instructor.
…
Elliott, 43, won’t have the medal for long. He plans to give it to Cataudella’s family in Tucson. They already have Elliott’s Bronze Star, which he also received for the tour. Elliott said he would like the medals to one day go to Cataudella’s daughter and two sons.
“It’s important for them to know that he was a good man,” Elliott said.
Sal Cataudella, Sean’s father, said in a phone call from his Tucson home that he is deeply touched by Elliott’s steadfast devotion. “I would be very, very honored to pass the medal on down to his children,” Sal Cataudella said.
Ellie
After 4-year effort to elevate award, Elliott gets Soldier’s Medal
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, March 31, 2008
Medal ceremonies can elicit an array of emotions, from pride to humility to remorse. It’s all a matter of circumstances.
Army Master Sgt. Curtis Elliott, a hardened combat veteran, admits feeling a bit conflicted as he prepares to receive the Soldier’s Medal next week. There is pride, certainly, for the two lives saved in the vehicle accident on that hot August night in Iraq. But there is also great emotional pain for the life lost, the life of 28-year-old Sgt. Sean Cataudella.
“They become family,” Elliott says of soldiers in a platoon.
The four-year effort to secure the Soldier’s Medal for Elliott is another story.
It involves the resolve of a proud sister and a battlefield commander, who teamed up to reverse an earlier nod to give Elliott a less prestigious award. The decision to downgrade the award while giving a Soldier’s Medal to another soldier — whose role was no more pivotal than Elliott’s — just seemed wrong to them.
“That’s why we pushed for the award,” said Brig. Gen. David Hogg, who was Elliott’s brigade commander at the time. “He earned it.”
…
In late August 2003, a scout platoon of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division was temporarily attached to the 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment in support of Operation Rattlesnake. Elliott, then a sergeant first class, was the platoon sergeant.
The particular mission that claimed Cataudella’s life began around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 30. The brigade was looking to bag another bad guy operating in Diyala province just north of Baghdad. Cataudella and Elliott’s platoon, part of the brigade’s reconnaissance team, had the task of establishing a blocking position by a thick palm grove in support of the battalion-level operation.
Hogg, who was a colonel at the time, remembers it as another hot, humid night. Being it was night, visibility was poor, he said, and the dust kicked up by the unlit Humvees made it only worse, despite the aid of night-vision goggles.
“It was on that initial movement into the palm groves when the accident took place,” said Hogg, now commander of the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwöhr, Germany.
Cataudella, a native of Tucson, Ariz., was driving the fourth of five vehicles moving down a dirt track. When the lead vehicle became mired in mud, the rest of the convoy adjusted its course to take another route. One after-action report noted the new route “had a berm on the left side and was extremely narrow.”
There also was a fairly deep canal on the right. About a half-mile down the route, Cataudella’s vehicle slid off the road and into the canal, landing upside down, the undercarriage just below the surface. None of the occupants was wearing seatbelts.
Soldiers in the convoy poured out of their vehicles to help. At the center of the rescue effort was Elliott and Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Onufrak, though several others were involved, including Elliott’s driver, Pvt. Justin Edmondson, who later received a Bronze Star Medal.
...
“I wasn’t the only one on the ground there,” Elliott recalled as he spoke by phone from southern California, where he now is based.
One of the soldiers assisting in the rescue effort was Capt. Jerry A. Simonsen Jr. The captain’s sworn statement recounted how Elliott, Edmondson and Onufrak worked tirelessly with others to free the occupants. Cataudella proved to be the hardest save because something, either his leg or some equipment, was hampering his release. The canal was also muddy and the marsh grass was thick.
During the rescue effort, Elliott dove underwater multiple times, Simonsen wrote. Besides trying to free Cataudella, he also tried to give him breaths of air.
There were many people helping that night, Simonsen wrote, “but SFC Elliott exceptionally distinguished himself by his actions and never gave up on his trooper where most would have.”
Once ashore, Elliott and Edmondson labored for more than 10 minutes to resuscitate Cataudella. They finally succeeded, and Cataudella was transported to a nearby Army medical facility. The eight-year veteran died later that afternoon.
“It eats at me every day, every day,” Elliott said of the loss. “I just live with it. At this point,” Elliott’s voice cracked, “I can still taste the damn blood in his lungs.”
Hogg recommended several soldiers for awards. Onufrak and Elliott were put in for the Soldier’s Medal. Onufrak got his, but Elliott’s was downgraded to an Army Commendation Medal in late April 2004 by V Corps, the ground force command.
Between redeployment, a move and a job change, Hogg didn’t know about the change. He assumed Elliott got his medal.
Despite the disappointment, Elliott said nothing about it to anybody, except his mom, who in turn told Elliott’s sister, Mia Supe. She eventually got in touch with Hogg, who resubmitted the paperwork. A year later, the Army notified Hogg that, due to the time lag, he needed the request to come from a member of Congress. In the end, between Hogg, Supe and Congresswoman Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), the necessary paperwork was resubmitted and the Army reversed itself.
“I have no idea” why it was downgraded, Hogg said. “It could be anything. It doesn’t matter.”
What matters, Hogg said, is that Elliott is finally being recognized for his heroic efforts that day. A ceremony is planned for Wednesday at the University of Southern California, where Elliott is an ROTC instructor.
…
Elliott, 43, won’t have the medal for long. He plans to give it to Cataudella’s family in Tucson. They already have Elliott’s Bronze Star, which he also received for the tour. Elliott said he would like the medals to one day go to Cataudella’s daughter and two sons.
“It’s important for them to know that he was a good man,” Elliott said.
Sal Cataudella, Sean’s father, said in a phone call from his Tucson home that he is deeply touched by Elliott’s steadfast devotion. “I would be very, very honored to pass the medal on down to his children,” Sal Cataudella said.
Ellie