Night Stalkers recognized for valor

[Dave Danner]

[Cross-posting from my WAF U.S. forum post to reach a broader audience.]

http://news.soc.mil/releases/News%20.....;/061219-1.html

Night Stalkers recognized for valor

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (USASOC News Service, Dec. 18, 2006 ? Thirty-seven Night Stalkers were recognized for acts of gallantry, heroism and valor in combat during a ceremony on Dec. 18, 2006, at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), were presented with four Silver Stars, 21 Distinguished Flying Crosses and 12 Air Medals for Valor. At the request of the recipients, their names are being withheld from this story.

The actions for which these awards were authorized all occurred during close combat action missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom earlier this year. Awardees included aviators and crew members.

According to the award citations, the Night Stalkers performed these heroic acts while supporting ground operations during direct action missions under hostile enemy fire. The Night Stalkers put the safety of the ground force, fellow aviators and crew members and the mission first without regard for their own personal safety. The recipients' actions directly affected the outcome of those missions.

"These selfless acts of heroism while under constant enemy fire are indicative of the type of Night Stalkers we have in the regiment today," stated Lt. Col. Clayton M. Hutmacher, 1st Battalion Commander.

"We are all totally committed to supporting the assault force and their ground tactical plan even if that takes us into harm's way. I am humbled to serve along side Soldiers such as these."

During one mission, a senior AH-6 "Little Bird" pilot was operating against an entrenched enemy force during a raid. According to his Silver Star citation, the pilot made successive assaults in support of the ground forces under enemy fire. His actions destroyed several enemy positions, allowing the ground forces to establish fighting positions.

The citation further states that without the pilot's courage and gallantry under hostile fire, the ground forces would have sustained significant casualties. His actions directly contributed to the successful execution of this direct action mission.

"I was surprised to learn that I was going to receive the award," said this Silver Star recipient. "What we do is our job. Every time we go out on a mission we're thinking the same thing. We do it for the man next to us and the men on the ground."

The pilot said that the significance of the award is not just about the one act the award recognizes.

"It's not just this particular incident. It's about the actions of fellow Night Stalkers over the past five years in the Global War on Terrorism and what we will continue to do as long as we are called to."

One of the many family members in attendance was this aviator's brother, Chris, who also serves in the military. He traveled hundreds of miles to be at the awards ceremony.

"Life has provided me with moments of pride on numerous occasions; pride in serving my country, the pride of being one of its citizens, pride in my family and pride in my personal accomplishments," he said. "But that was essentially a mental state of appreciation."

Chris said it wasn't until the day that he learned his little brother would receive the Silver Star that he fully felt pride physically within his body.

"I felt it in my heart and in my gut. Now I know what pride really is," he explained. "My brother is a hero."

The Silver Star, the fourth highest Army award, recognizes gallantry in combat. The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded for a single, distinguishable act of heroism or extraordinary achievement during aerial flight in combat and the Air Medal is awarded for meritorious achievement during aerial flight. All of the recipients in this ceremony were awarded the Air Medal for Valor, a further distinction of their combat actions.

Not to distract too much from the men themselves, rather than the awards, but the attached photo shows one of the Silver Stars awarded. Though on a crimp brooch, indicating recent manufacture or remounting, it doesn't have the frosty look of recent production runs of the medal, but a shinier gilt look I associate with the World War II production runs issued until the 1960s. One of the things that has really annoyed me is seeing the government sell off warehouses full of the stockpile of WW2-era awards, so that I can go to almost any collector's show and find a 1942-made Silver Star in the box, while the armed services then give to the actual heroes, or their family members in the case of posthumous awards, an embarassingly cheap product of the lowest bidder competitive bidding process. Maybe someone is finally getting his head out of his 4th point of contact and remedying this embarassment.

[Jim Baker]

Interesting. My Brother-In-Law was a Night Stalker at that time.

[Paul R]

Interesting. My Brother-In-Law was a Night Stalker at that time.

Was he one of the decorated members, mentioned above?

[Jim Baker]

I believe so. My Mother-In-Law mentioned his being decorated and the time frame is right. He is currently in Afganistan (again) only now I believe he is attached to the 101st AB.