‘Not a Great Way to Start the Day’
"On Thursday morning the White House announced that President Donald Trump will award the Medal of Honor to Army Master Sgt. Matthew O. Williams for conspicuous gallantry in Afghanistan in April of 2008.
It’s a good thing the President is celebrating the remarkable service of Sgt. Williams because the courageous Green Beret clearly isn’t prone to celebrating himself.
In an Army video posted today, our hero describes the ordeal he faced that day in the Shok Valley in a tone one might use to describe the challenges of installing drywall in an unfinished basement.
He describes jumping out of a helicopter on to the treacherous terrain and credibly reports that it was “not a great way to start the day.”
Things went downhill from there.
According to the White House:
In the face of rocket-propelled grenade, sniper, and machine gun fire, Sergeant Williams led an Afghan Commando element across a fast-moving, ice cold, and waist-deep river to fight its way up a terraced mountain to the besieged lead element of the assault force. Sergeant Williams then set up a base of fire that the enemy was not able to overcome. When his Team Sergeant was wounded by sniper fire, Sergeant Williams exposed himself to enemy fire to come to his aid and to move him down the sheer mountainside to the casualty collection point. Sergeant Williams then braved small arms fire and climbed back up the cliff to evacuate other injured soldiers and repair the team’s satellite radio. He again exposed himself to enemy fire as he helped move several casualties down the near vertical mountainside and as he carried and loaded casualties on to evacuation helicopters. Sergeant Williams’s actions helped save the lives of four critically wounded Soldiers and prevented the lead element of the assault force from being overrun by the enemy.
It’s hard to imagine greater heroism in battle.
But don’t expect Sgt. Williams to go on and on about it..."
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