Army Special Forces medic receives Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan - Sensationalist Headlines

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/10/01/wake-up-youre-not-going-to-die-today-the-story-of-how-this-green-beret-medic-earned-the-medal-of-honor/ The men of Operational Detachment-Alpha 3336 knew it was going to be a harrowing day before they ever set foot in the Shok Valley on April 6, 2008, on a mission in Afghanistan’s remote, and at times impenetrable, Nuristan provinceto capture a high-value target with the Hezebela Islami Gulbadin insurgent group. It was cold, there was snow on the ground, the drop zone was a raging river, and as the helicopter sliced through cloud cover, it became clear to the Green Beretsthat there were more threats in the mountains above than they had accounted for. “There were hundreds and hundreds more compounds than we were able to see from our imagery,” Lt. Col. Kyle Walton, then a captain and the ODA commander, told Army Times in a Sunday interview. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_J._Shurer The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star (Upgraded to Medal of Honor) to Staff Sergeant Ronald J. Shurer, United States Army, for exceptionally valorous conduct in the face of the enemy of the United States as Medical Sergeant, Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 (ODA-3336), 3d Special Forces Group (Airborne), Special Operations Task Force – 33, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan, in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM on 6 April 2008. Sergeant Shurer heroically and with complete disregard for his own safety fought his way up a mountain in order to render aid and evacuate casualties from his ODA and Afghan Commandos. Sergeant Shurer was initially pinned at the base of a wadi by accurate Insurgent sniper, Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), small arms, and machine gun fire when he received communications that the forward assault element could not move due to a high volume of Insurgent fire and sustained multiple casualties. With disregard for his own safety, Sergeant Shurer took off through a hail of bullets and began scaling the rock face to get to the casualties. During initial movement to the base of the mountain he treated a teammate wounded by shrapnel to his neck from an RPG blast that blew him off his feet. Once his teammate received aid, he then fought several hundred meters under fire, for over an hour, killing multiple Insurgents, as he made his way to the besieged location. Under intense Insurgent fire, Sergeant Shurer reached the pinned down element of his ODA and immediately rendered aid to four critically wounded US and ten injured Commandos. He treated multiple life threatening gunshot wounds until additional teammates arrived. Sergeant Shurer courageously exposed himself by running 15 meters through heavy Insurgent fire to render aid to his seriously wounded Team Sergeant. Despite being hit in the helmet and wounded in the arm by Insurgent sniper fire, he immediately pulled his Team Sergeant to a covered position, and rendered aid as Insurgent rounds impacted inches from their location. Without hesitation, he moved back through heavy Insurgent fire to treat another teammate that suffered a traumatic amputation of his right leg from Insurgent sniper fire. Sergeant Shurer rendered life saving aid to four critically wounded casualties for more than five and a half hours. As the lone medic at the besieged location, and almost overrun and fighting against nearly 200 Insurgent fighters, Sergeant Shurer's bravery and poise under fire saved the lives of all wounded casualties under his care. He evacuated three critically wounded, non-ambulatory, teammates down a near vertical 60-foot cliff, despite being under heavy Insurgent fire, and falling debris from numerous danger-close air strikes. Sergeant Shurer ingeniously used a six foot length of nylon webbing to lower casualties, and physically shielded them from falling debris to ensure their safety. His actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, Special Operations Task Force – 33, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan, Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army. If you get the time you should read the story in the OP. The guy saved the life of many people that day.

Hey @maxspeed3006 , I'm curious as to how this is funny.

Man, this guy puts Hollywood's most exaggerated action heroes to shame. Rambo has nothing on him.

Hey @ComicSansler , not speaking for him, but I did find the over-glorification just slightly funny. He performed very well in combat. Good job.

I don't really see it as over-glorification, he went and did something miraculous under very intense variables. He did a little bit more then "preformed well in combat" and deserves a little bit more then a "good job." I try not to get overly patriotic about service members, because a lot of shitheads serve. But, this guy went above and beyond. He saved a lot of people and got hurt in the process, he is a genuine badass. Imagine fighting in this shit, it is enemy territory and your out numbered. https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/230446/62639298-70fb-4c29-8290-8f97ff9689a8/image.png

I feel like people who say stuff like this are actually trying to get more people to rate it funny

I mean maybe someone thinks it's funny because it reminds you that he was in combat every sentence, I thought it seemed redundant but I could see why they'd want to emphasize that every action he took was done under fire for several hours. Reading Medal of Honor texts is always incredible, the kind of things people get awarded for are what you'd expect from a movie or videogame. The most game-y one I remember is Cpl. Tony Stein on Iwo Jima, who single-handledly stormed several bunkers with a salvaged machine gun nicknamed a "Stinger" (A .30 AN/M2 (1200RPM M1919) with added stock and sights), hell pulling an aircraft machine gun off a crashed plane is videogame-enough already, but he went all the way. Also this title is a mouthful

I know I did

http://www.talkingproud.us/Military/ODA3336/ODA3336/ODA3336ShukBattle.html Here's a good explanation of the battle and photos of the real LZ. They were basically flown into a mountainous valley with the expectation of climbing the mountain to get the guy who lived there. The picture in your post is not the specific objective but close to it in design. So now it's being dropped into the middle of a valley with the expectation of climbing the mountain to get the guy who is living in a hilltop village that's fortified with about 200 enemy combatants. Also it's snowy, cold, and generally shitty. “Initial infiltration began ... with snow on the ground, jagged rocks, a fast-moving river and a cliff. There was a 5-foot wall you had to pull yourself up. The ridgeline trail was out of control.” As they climbed up about 1,000 ft, they could see enemy scurrying about to get into position. It is believed that the sound of the incoming helicopters had alerted them. MSgt. Scott Ford has said from the time they were inserted until the first shots were fired spanned about 30 minutes. Little did Morales know that there were an estimated 200 enemy waiting for them, positioned for a well-planned defense of the village. This is one of the problems associated with going after high value targets --- they are well protected. The enemy immediately opened fire with machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs). The enemy was shooting down at the Allied force as it came up. The enemy immediately had the attack force surrounded. The enemy was well concealed in thick-walled buildings marked with occasional holes from which to fire. SSgt Rob Gutierrez, USAF, a JTAC with one of the groups, said this: “We were caught off guard as 200 enemy fighters approached. Within 10 minutes, we were ambushed with heavy fire from 50 meters. The teams were split by a river 100 to 200 meters apart, north to south.” This is a degree of "In the shit" I haven't heard about since Vietnam where they just Huey'd in boys at the foot of a hill in the middle of the jungle. This is the shit movies are made out of.

Caring about ratings ? Settle down.

I agree, the guy just earned a medal of honor, but the "winner" medal he gets on facepunch is a bit more important

Oh you're one of those people

Reminds me of Alvin York, the man with balls as big as texas: Under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early, four non-commissioned officers, including recently promoted Corporal York, and thirteen privates were ordered to infiltrate the German lines to take out the machine guns. The group worked their way behind the Germans and overran the headquarters of a German unit, capturing a large group of German soldiers who were preparing a counter-attack against the U.S. troops. Early's men were contending with the prisoners when German machine gun fire suddenly peppered the area, killing six Americans and wounding three others. The loss of the nine killed and wounded put York in charge of the seven remaining U.S. soldiers. As his men remained under cover, guarding the prisoners, York worked his way into position to silence the German machine guns. During the assault, six German soldiers in a trench near York charged him with fixed bayonets. York had fired all the rounds in his M1917 Enfield rifle, but drew his M1911 semi-automatic pistol and shot all six soldiers before they could reach him. German First Lieutenant Paul Jürgen Vollmer, commander of the First Battalion, 120th Landwehr Infantry, emptied his pistol trying to kill York while he was contending with the machine guns. Failing to injure York, and seeing his mounting losses, he offered in English to surrender the unit to York, who accepted. By the end of the engagement, York and his seven men marched 132 German prisoners back to the American lines. Upon returning to his unit, York reported to his brigade commander, Brigadier General Julian Robert Lindsey, who remarked "Well York, I hear you have captured the whole damn German army." York replied "No sir. I got only 132." His actions silenced the German machine guns and were responsible for enabling the 328th Infantry to renew its attack to capture the Decauville Railroad.

Saw the movie about that guy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_York_(film)