[lanieer416]

http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/011604/...gerawards.shtml

Rangers honored for combat service

By Noelle Phillips
Savannah Morning News
phillips@savannahnow.com

The Army awarded 15 members of 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment Bronze Stars Thursday for their service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The ceremony, which was held at Hunter Army Airfield, recognized more than 300 Rangers for their actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Most of the awards presented were Army Commendation Medals but several Rangers also received Combat Infantryman Badges and Combat Medics Badges.

The Bronze Star is the fourth highest honor a soldier can receive for ground combat.

Since September 2002, the 1st Ranger Battalion has been deployed twice to Afghanistan and once to Iraq. The Rangers have fought the Taliban and al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan.

In Iraq, they helped rescue Pfc. Jessica Lynch and dug up the bodies of eight dead soldiers who had been killed in fighting with Lynch's unit, the 507th Maintenance Company, said Lt. Col. Michael Kershaw, the battalion commander.

On Thursday, the Rangers were restricted in what they could say about their combat service because the Army's Special Operations Command has classified much of it, especially the Jessica Lynch rescue.

Sgt. Alexander King, who received an Army Commendation Medal, helped dig up the remains of the missing U.S. soldiers in Iraq. It's part of the Ranger creed to never leave a fallen soldier behind, so King was proud to bring home those fellow American soldiers even though he'd never met them.

"It's probably the most horrible thing I've ever done," King said. "It's part of the discipline of being a Ranger to swallow it and drive on."

It's been a busy two years for the Rangers, and Cpl. Aaron Hartman said it was nice to finally find time to be recognized.

"Being one of the guys, you don't think what you do is anything special," Hartman said. "Right now, I realized that what we do means something."


Bronze Star recipients

First Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment awarded Bronze Stars to the following:

Maj. Charles W. Hartford II

Maj. John Rafferty

Maj. Christopher Vanek

Capt. Bretton Brown*

Capt. Thomas Goldner

Capt. James Pairmore

Capt. Jesse T. Pearson

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Perkins

Chief Warrant Officer Dale Rodriguez

Sgt. 1st Class Alan Michaud

Staff Sgt. Sean Hayes

Capt. Arthur Sellers

1st Lt. Donald Kingston

1st Sgt. Mark Hejhal

Staff Sgt. Joshua Marple


A special thank you to all the heroes!

[lanieer416]

I wanted to say that these 15 members of the 75th Ranger Regiment were awarded Bronze Stars. I incorrectly said they won them.

I am glad that the names of the 15 members were released by the Army.