Sgt. 1st Class William K. Beaver earns Silver Star

E-7 to receive Silver Star for actions in Iraq

By John Milburn - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jun 18, 2008 19:55:29 EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Army will honor a former Fort Riley sergeant this weekend for his valor in combat during action in Iraq that claimed the lives of two of his fellow soldiers.

Sgt. 1st Class William K. Beaver, 31, will be presented with the Silver Star, the Army’s third-highest honor for combat valor, during a ceremony at Fort Riley. He also will be reunited with other members of his military adviser team.

In January, the advisers were attacked by insurgents in Diyala Province. Capt. Thomas Casey, of Albuquerque, N.M., and Maj. Andrew Olmsted, of Colorado Springs, Colo., were killed.

Olmsted, who had been writing a blog from Iraq for the Rocky Mountain News, had asked a friend to post something Olmsted had written in the event he was killed.

Maj. Ed Callahan, a former adviser now training teams at Fort Riley, said Saturday’s event will be the first time Beaver has seen the members of the team that trained in Kansas since he left Iraq six months ago.
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