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January 16, 2010
Two Special Forces Soldiers Awarded Silver Stars:
U.S. Army Master Sgt. Anthony Siriwardene and Staff Sgt. Linsey Clarke
At Fort Bragg, N.C., thousands of miles from the heat and noise of battle, two Special Forces soldiers were recognized for bravery under fire and saving the lives of their teammates.
Master Sgt. Anthony Siriwardene and Staff Sgt. Linsey Clarke of 3rd Special Forces Group were each awarded the Silver Star medal on Dec. 16 for separate enemy engagements in Afghanistan.
The most recent of the two engagements took place on Feb. 20 near Firebase Anaconda in Oruzgan province, about 60 miles northeast of Tarin Kowt in south central Afghanistan.
Clarke, 26, one of two medics on A Team 3123, set out on a combat reconnaissance patrol with the rest of his team, their Afghan police and army partners, and a team of Czech special forces soldiers.
Their plan to traverse a route across a river after conducting a meeting in the village of Shashpar was interrupted about 200 meters short when a massive bomb exploded under the fourth vehicle in their five-vehicle patrol, instantly killing Staff Sgt. Jeremy Bessa, Air Force Staff Sgt. Tim Davis, and the team’s Afghan interpreter, Eman.
Team sergeant Master Sgt. David Hurt was mortally wounded in the blast, Clarke said, and Staff Sgt. Eric Englehardt lay wounded on the ground next to the truck.
Clarke, who was driving the third vehicle, slammed his truck into reverse and backed up to the site of the explosion, which was about 75 meters away. Under a barrage of rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire, he sprinted over and pulled Englehardt away from the burning vehicle, which was beginning to explode as the ammunition inside cooked off. Another soldier ran up and helped pull him back further.
As the firefight continued all around him, Clarke did what he could for Hurt. He found the team sergeant on the other side of the wreckage. A fireball had burned more than 90 percent of Hurt’s body and he later died.
''He rolled over on his back and I asked him if he could breathe, asked him if he was ok,'' Clarke said. Hurt, in spite of his catastrophic wounds, rose to his feet and ambled with Clarke's help over to the vehicle that would take him to a landing zone for evacuation.
''It was incredibly brave how he stood up; he helped me get him to the vehicle. I can't imagine the pain of walking after suffering those types of injuries,'' Clarke said, recalling that Hurt was trying to talk, but couldn't.
Over the next 45 minutes, the firefight raged as Clarke recovered the victims' remains and other items from the vehicle and then stayed behind to help return fire.
Without the bold actions of his other teammates, he said, none of them would have made it out.
The Silver Star, he said, should go to everyone for a team effort.
''It's unfair. I feel if I'm being recognized in this way that these other guys should. We all got together to accomplish what we were able to at that time. I feel they deserve it just as much as I do,'' he said.
Siriwardene, 38, received a Silver Star for his actions in a series of seven firefights over a 2½-day battle that began Aug. 7, 2005, when he was a member of Team 316, Special Operations Task Force 31, at Kandahar Airfield.
In a combat patrol in Mari Ghar, Zabul province, in southern Afghanistan similar to Clarke's mission, Siriwardene was driving in the first truck into a horseshoe-shaped valley when his unit got ambushed.
''This was their territory. They fought out of there year-round,'' Siriwardene said. ''They brought their guns. We brought ours. We decided to have it out.''
During one of the last attacks, a truck in the rear of the column was hit and under heavy fire. Siriwardene raced to the truck and pulled the gunner to safety just as the turret burst into flames. As the rest of his team pushed farther down the road to break the ambush, Siriwardene stayed behind to gather up the Afghan soldiers that were trapped in the kill zone.
Like Clarke, Siriwardene said he didn't think he deserved any more recognition than his teammates.
''Everybody on my team fought and it was amazing watching those guys work,'' Siriwardene said. ''With different personnel, the outcome would have been worse.''
FSM is so proud of all of you! Thank you for keeping America safe and God Bless You!
Reader Comments: Submit Your Comment (1)
As usual, our lads always talk with humility
of the bravery of others around them. This
is the making of a good soldier and a great
Americans. God Bless them all.GBR
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