Medal of Honor: A Tribute to the Brave and Patriotic

Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith displayed an act of valor in the highest traditions of the American Army, on April 4, 2003 near Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad. While he was engaged in the construction of a prisoner of war holding area; his Task Force cam under a fierce company sized attack. Realizing that his task force comprising of over 100 fellow soldiers may be overwhelmed by the enemy; he hastily mustered two platoons of soldiers and deployed them along with one Bradley Fighting vehicle and 3 armored personnel carriers.

Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith of the United States Army was felicitated with the Congressional Medal of Honor on April 4th, 2005 during a White House ceremony.

Display of Undeterred Motivation and Courage

As the battle raged; with complete disregard to his personal safety, Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith exposed himself to hostile fire and engaged the enemy with hand grenades and anti-tank weapons as well as supervised the evacuation of three casualties from an armored personnel carrier which had been hit by a rocket propelled grenade and a 60mm mortar round. Fearing that his defenses would be overwhelmed by the enemy forces, he moved under intense hostile fire and manned a .50 caliber machine which was mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier.

Undeterred by the Call of Duty

During this gallant action; Sergeant Smith exposed himself physically to fierce small-arms fire and kept the enemy engaged. During this engagement, Sergeant Smith was mortally wounded. In this act of courage, Sergeant Smith was instrumental in warding off an enemy attack, resulting in killing of 50 enemy soldiers and facilitating the safe evacuation of numerous casualties.

Indomitable spirit and precise action, exhibiting a great presence of mind In this act of valor and courage; Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith created a history of sorts in that with a handful of soldiers he managed to break up an organized enemy assault comprising of a company plus. Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith brought laurels not only to himself but also the Third Infantry Division “Rock of the Marne,” and the United States Army.

This act of Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith is demonstrative of unprecedented courage in the face of highly equipped, fierce and highly motivated enemy force. He died protecting his unit in Baghdad during the operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Recognition Award

For this act of intrepidity, Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith was awarded with the Medal of Honor (posthumously). His family received the Medal of Honor on his behalf from the President of the United States of America during a White House Ceremony on April 4th, 2005.

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This Article is written by James Kara Murat from USNavySEALstore.com, the contributor of US Navy SEALs Information Portal. A longer version of this article is located at Paul R. Smith and related resources can be found at US Navy SEALs Store.