America's Heroes: Medal of Honor Recipient Army Sgt 1st Class Paul R. Smith

Every time I read the account of the events which resulted in a Congressional Medal of Honor being awarded, I am humbled beyond words at the devotion to country, to comrades, and to sacred honor which these men have displayed. Such men! Such sacrifice!

Army Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith is the first soldier of the Iraq War to be awarded America's highest military honor. His valor deserves to be remembered forever:

Paul Smith, he said, was not a "soft soldier" who suddenly got tough under fire. "This was a guy whose whole life experience seemed building toward putting him in the position where he could do something like this. He was demanding on his soldiers all the time and was a stickler for all the things we try to enforce. It's just an amazing story."

Lt. Col. Smith commanded the 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, during the American attack on Iraq, which began March 20, 2003. On the morning of April 4, the engineers found themselves manning a roadblock not far from Baghdad International Airport.

A call went out for a place to put some Iraqi prisoners.

Sgt. Smith volunteered to create a holding pen inside a walled courtyard. Soon, Iraqi soldiers, numbering perhaps 100, opened fire on Smith's position. Smith was accompanied by 16 men.

Smith called for a Bradley, a tank-like vehicle with a rapid fire cannon. It arrived and opened up on the Iraqis. The enemy could not advance so long as the Bradley was in position. But then, in a move that baffled and angered Smith's men, the Bradley left.

Smith's men, some of whom were wounded, were suddenly vulnerable.

Smith could have justifiably ordered his men to withdraw. Lt. Col. Smith believes Sgt. Smith rejected that option, thinking that abandoning the courtyard would jeopardize about 100 GIs outside - including medics at an aid station.

Sgt. Smith manned a 50-caliber machine gun atop an abandoned armored personnel carrier and fought off the Iraqis, going through several boxes of ammunition fed to him by 21-year-old Pvt. Michael Seaman. As the battle wound down, Smith was hit in the head. He died before he could be evacuated from the scene. He was 33.

The Times published a lengthy account of the battle, and Smith's life in January 2004. It can be seen [here].

Sgt. Matthew Keller was one of the men who fought with Smith in the courtyard. "He put himself in front of his soldiers that day and we survived because of his actions," Keller said Tuesday from Fort Stewart in Georgia. "He was thinking my men are in trouble and I'm going to do what is necessary to help them. He didn't care about his own safety."

Can you imagine the courage it required to expose yourself to the fire of 100 advancing enemy infantry, to place yourself between a hail of bullets and your troops, knowing you would never see your wife and children again?

Thank God for Paul Smith and for the men like him.

So long as America continues to produce such men, we shall remain free.

(Thanks also to the St Petersburg Times for the superlative job they did in reporting this story. They ought to receive a Pulitzer for the comprehensive coverage of this American hero).