UPDATE From The Fold
Medal of Honor recipient braved gunfire to retrieve bodies of the fallen
CNN
By Chelsea J. Carter and Barbara Starr
October 15, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: William Swenson is the sixth living recipient from the Afghan and Iraq wars
NEW: Swenson was honored for his action on September 8, 2009, in the Ganjgal Valley
NEW: He braved enemy fire to retrieve the bodies of dead soldiers, Obama says
He criticized his commanders for failing to support soldiers during the battle
Washington (CNN) -- A shaky video captured only a few moments of William D. Swenson's actions during a brutal, hours-long battle in Afghanistan: Kissing a badly wounded comrade on the forehead as he helped load the soldier into a helicopter.
"This may be the first time we bear witness to a small portion of the action" of a Medal of Honor recipient, President Barack Obama said Tuesday as he awarded the now-retired Army captain the nation's highest military honor for his actions in the Ganjgal Valley in 2009.
Swenson, 34, of Seattle, became the sixth living receipt from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to receive the honor, and it is only the second time in a half-century that two men from the same battle have been awarded the medal.
Swenson, who retired from the Army in 2011, is being awarded the medal for his actions on September 8, 2009, in the Battle of the Ganjgal Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar province. The battle claimed the lives of four American soldiers, 10 Afghan soldiers and an Afghan interpreter.
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If I was president, Capt. Swenson would be promoted to Four Stars and put in charge of Afghanistan War. Swenson criticized his superiors who were comfy in the TOC and refusing him the artillery and air support he requested. But the real incompetents were those would would send Swenson and his troops into an unpacified village to try and convince those people to "join the government." WE sent American fighters to Afghanistan to kill the enemy, not to win hearts and minds -- which we will NEVER do. There needs to be new leadership in our military, warrior-leadership.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I have been tracking his story since it first came out a couple of years ago. Even Dakota Meyer said he wouldn't have survived without Swenson. He showed courage all the way around and in my book, he's fabulous!
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