The Iraq War Has It’s First Medal of Honor
And it’s been awarded posthumously. God, I hate that. I want them all home in one piece, bless their hearts.
In the early days of the Iraq war, on the last day of his life, Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith showed valor that no U.S. soldier has matched in Iraq.
…It was April 4, 2003. A company of Iraqi Republican Guards attacked Smith and other soldiers as they built holding areas for prisoners of war.
Smith’s medal citation said he organized a two-platoon defensive wall, braved hostile fire to attack with hand grenades and anti-tank weapons and evacuated three wounded soldiers from their disabled armored personnel carrier. Still under fire, he mounted a damaged armored personnel carrier and fired its .50 caliber machine gun into the Iraqi ranks.
In helping defeat the Iraqi attack, Smith killed as many as 50 Iraqis and allowed the extraction of numerous wounded soldiers before being killed himself, the citation said.
Military Thingies | tree hugging sister | 
July 5, 2006 11:30 am
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Bless him.
First class, indeed. Thank you, sir.
His family was given his Medal of Honor on April 4, 2005. But 1SGT Smith’s story is an inspiring one and should be repeated.
I see that in the article now that I look more closely, RagingMom. Thank you for pointing it out, as I’m sure none of us had heard about it when it happened. (They’ll correct me if I’m wrong.) Even at this late date, at least we get to share his story, brave soul.
Yes, the citation for the CMOH is quite impressive. His son accepted the award; we had a photo of the ceremony hanging on the wall in Kuwait. As SFC Smith was a combat engineer, my section — all engineers — felt bound to honor him by remembering him daily.
Well, that’s just cool beans, Jeff. Cool frickin’ beans. And it has to be a GREAT photo, bless their hearts. We’d heard he’d been put in for it, but never that it had been awarded.
THS, here’s the MOH citations from the Army Center for Military Histtory web site.
SFC Smith’s citation is here.