Free Republic

   Award ... medic Paul Hartley received gong, and inset, kids James and Ewan Medal for hero minefield medic By TOM NEWTON DUNN Defence EditorDecember 16, 2006         A SOLDIER given the George Medal for heroism in a Taliban minefield last night revealed he REFUSED to die as his son’s first birthday was next day.  Army medic Paul Hartley, 27, sprinted into the danger zone and spent six-and-a-half hours treating six casualties who had stumbled in by mistake.One agonised squaddie had already lost a leg in the field at Kajaki, southern Afghanistan. Within an hour, five more mines...

   EXCLUSIVE    Gongs for Britain's brave   Courage ... Kevin, with medal   By JOHN KAY Chief ReporterSEPTEMBER 08, 2006  AN ARMY hero told last night how he took a “long walk” to defuse a powerful bomb by hand. Disposal expert Captain Kevin Ivison feared he was on a 100-yard trip to certain death as he set off to tackle the roadside device in Iraq.He was so sure he would not be coming back he left deeply personal messages for loved ones he never expected to see again.On his way to the bomb he passed the bodies of two...