Raider's Valor Recognized with Silver Star


(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Marine Sgt. Janessa K. Pon)

A critical skills operator with 3rd Marine Raider Battalion, Marine Raider Regiment, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command received the Silver Star award aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., April 6, 2018.
The Raider received the award for acts of valor, saving dozens of hostages following a terrorist attack in Mali in 2015.
The Silver Star is presented to service members who display conspicuous gallantry in action while serving the U.S. mission in operational environments and is the third highest award that can be given to a member of the U.S. armed forces.

The Raider was serving as a senior leader of a small special operations team when they received notification of a coordinated terrorist attack on a nearby multi-story hotel. The terrorists had over 170 hostages under their control. Up to a dozen American citizens were thought to be located inside. The Raider gathered his team, donned his equipment and set off for the hotel complex while devising a plan en route.
“There was very little time to respond,” said the CSO. “We fell back on what we had prepared for. There were points in which the situation became more intense, ambiguous and scary. At times, the situation we faced was confusing and difficult. However, our purpose was clear. That clarity and unity of purpose allowed us to navigate the ambiguity and manage our emotions to accomplish the mission at hand.”
The U.S. personnel braved small-arms fire, grenade explosions and acrid, choking smoke to save more than 150 lives. A burst of enemy gunfire caught one team member, dropping him with undetermined wounds. The team laid down a heavy base of fire as they pulled him back to safety.
“It was one of those defining points in life where you realize you are exactly where you belong,” said the CSO. “I knew beyond all doubt what needed to be done and I was completely dedicated to completing the mission. I never thought about failure, I only saw a problem that we could solve if we just worked through it. Every American we found and pulled out of the hotel only increased my desire to keep going. Every time the smoke cleared a little more, I felt both exposed and enabled. When we made contact with the enemy, all of those years of preparation instantly flooded back and I knew what to do.”
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https://www.dvidshub.net/news/272046/raider...ith-silver-star

TF Dagger? Ort und Datum würden dafür sprechen. Weiss jemand von euch mehr?

Kurze Frage dazu: Fürs Navy Cross wurde er ja sicherlich vorgeschlagen von seinen/m Vorgesetzten. Ebenso wie für die Medal of Honor...
Wird die Medal of Honor nur sporadisch verliehen? Mit sporadisch meine ich den großen zeitlichen Abstand zum Geschehenen. Eine Verleihung wäre doch sicherlich früher möglich gewesen? Oder dauert die Bewilligung für diese (höchste) Auszeichnung tatsächlich so lange?

Nessel said that about two or three years ago, when the military was reviewing several cases of valor to see if they merited higher awards, she found out that the technology had advanced to the point that a closer, frame-by-frame analysis of the video of an MQ-1 Predator flying above the battlefield was possible. That video allowed a closer analysis of Chapman’s actions at Takur Ghar, and was a key piece of evidence in the Air Force’s effort to upgrade his Air Force Cross to a Medal of Honor.
Rodriguez said the video evidence verified what Chapman’s fellow airmen suspected all along: That he lived longer than originally believed, and continued fighting heroically to the end, saving the lives of Rangers whose helicopter was being targeted by rocket-propelled grenades.
“We were finally able to prove it,” Rodriguez said. “John survived that initial wounding that he got, and continued to fight on for an hour. And then at a crucial moment, right at the end of his life, he sacrificed his life for the incoming quick reaction force, when he could have hunkered down and said, ‘Finally, the guys are coming in to get me.’ But instead he said, ‘If I don’t do something, others are going to die.’ He’s clearly a Medal of Honor-worthy warrior.”

Fallschirmjäger tragen beim Übungsszenario Chemieunfall ihre persönliche ABC-Schutzausrüstung und sichern das Gelände im Rahmen der Übung Schneller Adler, am 11.09.2018.
©Bundeswehr/Carl Schulze