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Medal of Honor Winner in Iraq(Great Read!)
Strategy Page.Com ^ | 10/23/2003 | Unknown

Posted on 10/23/2003 6:58:14 AM PDT by aegiscg47

LEADERSHIP: Medal of Honor Awarded for Iraq Action

 

October 23, 2003: In today's world, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that one man can make a difference. Paul Ray Smith is on the way to becoming the first serviceman to receive the Medal of Honor since MSG Gary Gordon and SFC Randall Shughart fought their last battle in Mogadishu on October 3, 1993. 

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, SFC (Sergeant First Class) Smith was a platoon sergeant/acting platoon leader in the 1st Brigade's B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion attached to the 2-7 Task Force. Bravo Company was in contact with Saddam's forces nearly every day during the second phase of the campaign. After a pause below As Samawah and Karbala, the drive on Baghdad from the south carried the 2-7th into Saddam International Airport. 

On the morning of April 4, the Task Force was inside of the airport and several enemy soldiers had been captured, so a containment pen had be to quickly built. There was a wall 10 ft tall paralleling the north side of the highway, on the battalion's flank just behind the front lines. Smith (whose callsign was 'Sapper 7') decided to punch a hole in it, so that the inside walls would form two sides of a triangular enclosure and the open third side could be closed off with rolls of concertina wire. 

Smith used an armored combat earthmover to punch through the wall and, while wire was being laid across the corner, one of the squad's two M113s moved toward a gate on the far side of the courtyard. The driver pushed open the gate to open a field of fire, revealing between 50 and 100 enemy soldiers massed to attack. The only way out was the hole the engineers had put in the wall and the gate where the hardcore Iraqis were firing. 

What happened next was equal to Audie Murphy's legendary World War II heroism. Iraqi soldiers perched in trees and a nearby tower let loose with a barrage of RPGs and there were snipers on the roof. A mortar round hit the engineers' M-113, seriously wounding three soldiers inside. Smith helped evacuate them to an aid station, which was threatened by the attack as well. 

Smith promptly organized the engineers' defense, since the only thing that stood between the Iraqis and the Task Force's headquarters were about 15 to 20 engineers, mortarmen and medics. A second M113 was hit by an RPG, but was still operational. Dozens of Iraqi soldiers were charging from the gate or scaling a section of the wall, jumping into the courtyard. 

Smith took over the second APC's .50-caliber machine gun and got the vehicle into a position where he could stop the Iraqis. First Sergeant Tim Campbell realized that they had to knock out the Iraqi position in the tower and after consulting with Smith, led two soldiers to take the tower. Armed only with a light machine-gun, a rifle and a pistol with one magazine, the trio advanced behind the smoke of tall grass that had caught fire from exploding ammunition.

Smith yelled for more ammunition three times during the fight, going through 400 rounds before he was hit in the head. Shortly before taking the tower and gunning down the Iraqis inside, Campbell noticed that the sound of Smith's .50-caliber had also stopped. Campbell figured Smith was just reloading again.

The medics worked on SFC Smith for 30 minutes, but he was dead. 

According to the citation, his actions killed 20 to 50 Iraqis, allowing the American wounded to be evacuated, saving the aid station and headquarters (as well as possibly 100 American lives). Fellow soldiers credit Smith with thwarting the advance of well-trained, well-equipped soldiers from the Special Republican Guard, which was headed straight for the 2-7 Task Force's headquarters (Tactical Operations Center), less than a half-mile away. The battle captains, commanders and journalists huddled at the operations center were trying to protect themselves against tank fire and snipers in the nearby woods They had no idea about the possible onslaught of Republican Guard from the nearby complex.

Smith, a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, was a 33 year old from Tampa, Florida. He left behind a wife, a son and a daughter. 

Memorials to SFC Paul Ray Smith, online at: http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/smithpaulr.html http://www.sfcpaulsmith.com/. 


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: anamericansoldier; banglist; heroism; honor; iraq; medal; medalofhonor; moh; paulsmith
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1 posted on 10/23/2003 6:58:15 AM PDT by aegiscg47
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To: aegiscg47
I wonder why the press doesn't make stories like this known? Oh we probably heard about him dying, but not about the heroics invovled.

BTW: That's a rhetorical question. No answer required.
2 posted on 10/23/2003 7:04:56 AM PDT by for-q-clinton (If at first you don't succeed keep on sucking until you do succeed)
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To: aegiscg47
bump!
3 posted on 10/23/2003 7:05:31 AM PDT by Constantine XIII
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To: aegiscg47
Job well done. May the Lord be with you and your family. SFC Paul Ray Smith.
4 posted on 10/23/2003 7:05:36 AM PDT by Khurkris (Scottish/HillBilly - Revenge is an Art Form for us. Ranger On...)
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To: aegiscg47
Thank you for posting this.
5 posted on 10/23/2003 7:08:23 AM PDT by Mr.Atos
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To: aegiscg47
God Bless him.
6 posted on 10/23/2003 7:12:17 AM PDT by RockChucker
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To: aegiscg47; Ragtime Cowgirl
A hero by any standard, God Bless SFC Paul Ray Smith
7 posted on 10/23/2003 7:15:40 AM PDT by MJY1288 (This is your tagline "Bush/Cheney04", this is your tagline on drugs "AnyOtherChoice/04")
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To: for-q-clinton
His story has been well-reported. Google News Search his name. The lengthy approval process for the Medal of Honor has put the story in the back pages. When his MOH is officially approved, and the ceremony is held at the White House, it will be the lead story of the day.
8 posted on 10/23/2003 7:16:58 AM PDT by A Simple Soldier
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To: aegiscg47
The American soldier is an inspriation to all that seek freedom.

May God bless Sergeant Smith.

9 posted on 10/23/2003 7:19:18 AM PDT by thinktwice
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To: aegiscg47
"PRESENT ARMS"

Rest now soldier. Peace be with you and yours.

Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
10 posted on 10/23/2003 7:34:27 AM PDT by taxcontrol (People are entitled to their opinion - no matter how wrong it is.)
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: aegiscg47
Rest in peace, hero.

P.S. Medals for valor are not won (like a lottery ticket)as the title of this article states. They are earned and awarded.

12 posted on 10/23/2003 7:48:28 AM PDT by TADSLOS (Right Wing Infidel since 1954)
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To: AntiGuv
Honors requested for a fallen hero.
13 posted on 10/23/2003 8:07:06 AM PDT by Coop (God bless our troops!)
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To: aegiscg47
Essayons!

You gotta love those 12-Bravos. They just don't know when to quit.

14 posted on 10/23/2003 8:12:33 AM PDT by Snickersnee (Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket???)
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To: Coop

15 posted on 10/23/2003 8:23:28 AM PDT by AntiGuv (When the countdown hits zero, something's gonna happen..)
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To: aegiscg47
Aim, FIRE!
Aim, FIRE!
Aim, FIRE!
16 posted on 10/23/2003 8:26:48 AM PDT by ArrogantBustard
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To: *bang_list
.
17 posted on 10/23/2003 8:39:59 AM PDT by in the Arena (Richard Thomas Kastner - KIA - Phuoc Long, South Vietnam - 15 November 1969)
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To: MJY1288; aegiscg47; Calpernia; Grampa Dave; anniegetyourgun; Ernest_at_the_Beach; BOBTHENAILER; ...
Thank you!

The driver pushed open the gate to open a field of fire, revealing between 50 and 100 enemy soldiers massed to attack. The only way out was the hole the engineers had put in the wall and the gate where the hardcore Iraqis were firing. 

What happened next was equal to Audie Murphy's legendary World War II heroism. Iraqi soldiers perched in trees and a nearby tower let loose with a barrage of RPGs and there were snipers on the roof.

...Smith yelled for more ammunition three times during the fight, going through 400 rounds before he was hit in the head. Shortly before taking the tower and gunning down the Iraqis inside, Campbell noticed that the sound of Smith's .50-caliber had also stopped. Campbell figured Smith was just reloading again.

~~~ The medics worked on SFC Smith for 30 minutes, but he was dead. 

According to the citation, his actions killed 20 to 50 Iraqis, allowing the American wounded to be evacuated, saving the aid station and headquarters (as well as possibly 100 American lives).

~~~
Share with those who thought toppling Saddam was an easy victory for our heroes.

Rest in peace, SFC Paul Ray Smith.
~~~

If you want on or off my Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail me. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).

18 posted on 10/23/2003 8:49:12 AM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl (“No one else helped us, only the Americans." ~ Mahmud Al-Jaburi, Iraqi police General, 10/1)
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To: aegiscg47
Sleep well, hero. You have earned your rest.
19 posted on 10/23/2003 8:49:40 AM PDT by dpa5923 (Small minds talk about people, normal minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas.)
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To: dpa5923
God bless him and men like him.
20 posted on 10/23/2003 8:53:26 AM PDT by jwalsh07
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