Posted on 12/07/2014 11:01:30 AM PST by jazusamo
If he had known in 2005 what he knows today, Brig. Gen. Gary Brito would have nominated Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe for the Medal of Honor.
Brito knew in 2005 that Cashe, his uniform soaked with fuel, had plunged into a burning vehicle in Iraq on Oct. 17, 2005, to rescue soldiers who were on fire. But only months later did Brito, Cashe's battalion commander, learn the full details of Cashe's courage that day outside the city of Samarra.
Cashe rescued six badly burned soldiers while under enemy small-arms fire. His own uniform caught fire, engulfing him in flames. Even with second- and-third degree burns over three-fourths of his body, Cashe continue to pull soldiers out of a vehicle set ablaze when a roadside bomb ruptured a fuel tank.
Before all of those details emerged, Cashe was awarded a Silver Star, the military's third-highest award for valor, after Brito nominated him. But soon after learning more about Cashe's actions, Brito mounted an unusual Medal of Honor campaign that has continued for more than seven years.
If the latest batch of sworn statements submitted to the Army by Brito is successful, Cashe will become the first African American among 16 service members awarded the nation's highest medal for valor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Cashe, 35, died of his burns three weeks after the bomb attack. Seven of the 16 medals have been awarded posthumously.
"You don't often find truly selfless sacrifice where someone put his soldiers' welfare before his own," Brito said. "Sgt. Cashe was horribly wounded and continued to fight to save his men."
Acts of heroism in combat typically play out in a matter of seconds or minutes. But honoring those actions with a Medal of Honor often takes years — and sometimes decades — as...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
He deserves our highest honor.
What he did is beyond words and Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe gave his last full measure of devotion to our country.
Hero - RIP.
If the account is accurate, it’s much deserved, no matter what race happens to be.
Then he began weeping, she said. He told her: "I couldn't get to them fast enough."
Cashe died Nov. 8, 2005.'
RIP, Mr. Cashe
Atten-hut ... hand salute!
Dude deserves a postage stamp too.
I couldn’t agree more. He sacrificed himself for his men and knew what the outcome would be.
May SFC Alwyn Cashe RIP.
What can one say? Gen. Douglas MacArthur was wrong that old soldiers fade away. Like Sgt. 1st Class Cashe, they only grow in our affection and our esteem.
We salute them and give them our grateful thanks for the freedom and independence we enjoy today.
Our brave heroes rest among the honored dead.
Sounds like he deserves the Medal of Honor. But by the headline I assumed it was a case from ww2 or something of a black guy getting stiffed out of a deserved medal — what does his race have to do with it?
Agreed. I hope the award goes through and the family receives the medal. RIP SGT Cashe.
Nothing.
It has nothing to do with race it has to do with character.
This is our military and our country at its best.
Not a thing in my view but I guess it did to the writer of this article.
My sentiments, exactly; trust the LA Crimes to inject race where it is not relevant :(
Why is it important to point out the Sargent’s race?
...sergeant.
Indeed. The article has this:
Cashe's family and supporters say they don't know why it has taken so long for the Army to decide on the nomination, but they have not raised Cashe's race as an issue. Brito says he was not even aware that no African American has been awarded the medal in the wars following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
White says she has resisted "pulling out the race card."
"He is not just a black soldier who earned the right to the Medal of Honor," she said. "He's a soldier who happens to be black."
So I could wonder how race entered this conversation.
All I see through the mist in my eyes is a United States Solder who did more that give some, He gave all for his friends, fellow solders and his country!
Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe: Medal of Honor, unfortunately, POSTHUMUS (as too many are).
A true hero. Rest in peace, Sgt. Cashe.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.