American Heroes of Our Time

Petty Officer Second Class Marc Alan Lee, USN (SEAL), 28, became the first Navy SEAL killed in the war in Iraq on August 2, 2006, in an hour-long firefight in the streets of Ramadi. He created an offensive diversion to aid in the evacuation of a wounded teammate, exposing himself to enemy fire.

His citation for the Silver Star Medal (awarded posthumously) reads in part,"During the operation, one element member was wounded by enemy fire. The element completed the casualty evacuation, regrouped and returned onto the battlefield to continue the fight."

"Petty Officer Lee and his SEAL element maneuvered to assault an unidentified enemy position. He, his teammates, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Abrams tanks engaged enemy positions with suppressive fire from an adjacent building to the north.

"To protect the lives of his teammates, he fearlessly exposed himself to direct enemy fire by engaging the enemy with his machine gun and was mortally wounded in the engagement. His brave actions in the line of fire saved the lives of many of his teammates."

PO Lee was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.

Army Spc Monica Brown, a 19-year-old medic from Lake Jackson, Texas, has become the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star Medal for Gallantry in combat.

As the medic traveling with a four-vehicle convoy in eastern Afghanistan in April of 2007, she is credited with saving the lives of five wounded soldiers after their Humvee was struck by an IED.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Juan Rubio was awarded the Silver Star Medal, the nation's third highest award for gallantry in combat, for actions while serving as a medical corpsman with a Marine platoon in Iraq. After his unit was ambushed, Rubio crawled across open terrain, risking his own life to increasing enemy fire. While bleeding profusely from his own injuries, he simultaneously provided care for three urgent surgical casualties and coached fellow Marines in assisting other casualties, all under continually intensifying enemy fire.

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, at age 23, is the first female soldier to receive the Silver Star Medal in direct combat action against the enemy. Sgt Hester is assigned to the 617th Military Police Company, a National Guard unit from Richmond, Ky. Hester and two other members of her unit, Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein and Spc. Jason Mike, were awarded the Silver Star for their actions during an enemy ambush on their convoy in Iraq in 2005. Staff Sgt. Nein's medal was recently upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor.

Army Reserve Spc. Jeremy L. Church earned the first Silver Star awarded to an Army reservist in the global war on terror. Spec. Church, assigned to the 724th Transportation Company, from Bartonville, Ill., saved the lives of his commander and other soldiers when their 26-vehicle convoy came under heavy fire while making an emergency delivery of fuel to Baghdad Airport in April 2004. Church was driving the lead vehicle when the convoy was attacked, and the convoy commander, 1st Lt Matt Brown, was shot in the face. Then-Pfc Church maneuvered his vehicle with one hand, while using the other to fire his M-16 at insurgents, to get Lt Brown to the perimeter, 15 minutes away, where he was medevac'ed for immediate medical treatment. Church returned to the firefight.

The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the Armed Forces of the United States, distinguishes himself or herself by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. The performance of the act of heroism must be evidenced by voluntary action above and beyond the call of duty. The extraordinary achievement must have resulted in an accomplishment so exceptional and outstanding as to clearly set the individual apart from his/her comrades or from other persons in similar circumstances. Awards will be made only to recognize single acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement.

Marine Major William D. Chesarek, Jr., USMC, was awarded the United Kingdom's Distinguished Flying Cross by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. He is the first American to be so honored since World War II. Major Chesarek was serving an exchange tour with a British Lynx helicopter unit in Iraq when he earned the UK's number three award for gallantry in action. Chesarek's wife Christine, who is a US Navy nurse, and their 2-year-old son William were present for the award ceremony, as were the Major's parents. In reflecting on the award, Major Chesarek said, "My greatest sense of achievement that day is in knowing the ground troops all made it home."

Air Force Capt. Kim Campbell, call sign "Killer Chick," was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for her actions as the pilot of an A-10 Warthog in the opening days of the fight for Baghdad in April 2003. After Capt. Campbell and her wingman had accomplished their mission and turned back to base, her Warthog was rocked with a violent explosion. Despite her hydraulic system having been rendered inoperable, and with numerous caution lights flashing, Capt. Campbell elected to try to manually fly her aircraft the 300 miles back to base instead of bailing out over hostile terriroty. Upon safely landing at base, she discovered that one of her engines was badly damaged and the aircraft fuselage was riddled with hundreds of bullet holes.

The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the military of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

Marine Major Doug Zembiec, hailed by his men and honored by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as the "Lion of Fallujah," was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions in Iraq. Zembiec was a Marine Company Commander in the hard-fought battle for Fallujah in the opening days of the war in Iraq in April 2004. His men were on a rooftop, taking rocket-propelled grenades from all directions. Unable to reach the crew of a tank he was requesting to fire on the insurgents, and ignoring the personal risk to himself, Zembiec took matters into his own hands. He raced down the stairs, into the line of fire, climbed up onto the tank, and told the gunner where to fire. Miraculously, he was unhit. He returned to his men and resumed the fight.

After returning from Iraq, he was assigned to a desk job in the Pentagon, but quickly chafed at desk duty. He volunteered to return to the battlefield in Iraq. Major Zembiec left behind a wife and a 1-year-old daughter. When he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, the crowd of more than 1000 included many enlisted Marines from his beloved Echo Company. As an officer there commented to a reporter: 'Your men have to follow your orders; they don’t have to go to your funeral.' Zembiec was an inspiration to those men of Echo Company, and to all of us.

U.S. Army Sergeant Andrew Joseph (AJ) Baddick, of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, drowned near Baghdad on September 29, 2003, as he attempted to rescue another soldier whose humvee had veered into a canal. Baddick was a river rafting guide and volunteer firefighter, so it was no surprise to those who knew him that he unhesitatingly jumped in to try to save the occupants of the Humvee. Two of the men were able to get out on their own. Baddick jumped in and pulled one man from the canal, and then went back for the driver, who was swept into a culvert under a highway. Baddick and the driver both drowned.

Sgt. Baddick was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, and the soldiers in the humvee were from the Kentucky National Guard

Baddick was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Soldier's Medal for heroism. The Soldier's Medal is awarded to any person of the Armed Forces of the United States or of a friendly foreign nation who, while serving in any capacity with the Army of the United States, distinguishes himself or herself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy. It is awarded for risking one's life to save that of another. Notable recipients of the Soldier's Medal include former Secretary of State General Colin Powell, U.S. Army (retired).

For an awesome video tribute to heroes of OEF and OIF, go to www.patriotfiles.org, published by a retired Navy officer.

Heroes Finally Recognized Sixty Years Later

Speaking on behalf of the Tuskegee Airmen, Dr. Roscoe Brown, a former commander of the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, thanked Bush and the House and Senate for “voting unanimously to award this medal collectively to the pilots, bombardiers, the navigators, the mechanics, the ground officers, the enlisted men and women who served with the Tuskegee Airmen.” Brown, who received a Distinguished Flying Cross and was the first U.S. pilot to down a German Messerschmitt jet, said that the Tuskegee Airmen are very pleased to have been in the forefront of the struggle for freedom and justice in this country.

For those born after 1970, and those not familiar with US Air Force History, or World War II history, who may not have heard of them, the Tuskegee Airmen were a select group of black Americans who served with distinction in the US Army Air Corps during World War II.

Rep. Charles Rangel, who supported the bill through the House of Representatives, highlighted some of the discrimination against these airmen because of the color of their skin, a result of the social climate in this country at the time. “From a nation that had rejected you because of your color, said you couldn’t fly, said you just weren’t worthy, you had to go out there and prove to them just how wrong they were."

“Nobody, white or black, in this country can understand how God has given you so much courage,” Rangel said, addressing the airmen. Remarking how poorly the Airmen were treated when they returned home, because they were "colored," he continued, “But somehow, whatever God had given you, it didn’t cause you to stop. Every one of you in the different towns that I’ve been to are still continuing to protect this great country, though perhaps not in the skies, but in the battles on the streets, talking to the kids, giving them self-esteem.”

Among the achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen: 15,000 combat sorties flown, by 1,000 black pilots, 260 enemy aircraft destroyed, 150 Flying Crosses and Legions of Merit earned, and more than 700 Air Medals and clusters earned.

Former U.S. Secretary of State and retired Gen. Colin L. Powell recognized additional African-American groundbreakers, the Golden 13, the Montford Point Marines and the 555th Paratroopers -- the Navy, Marine, and Army counterparts, respectively, of the Tuskegee Airmen.

“I benefited from what you and so many others did. It is a rich history,” he said. “I stand so proudly before you today but I know in the depth of my heart that the only reason I’m able to stand proudly before you today is because you stood proudly for America 60 years ago.”

The father of ABC's Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts was one of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Heroes from the 50 States

If you know of an American Hero you'd like to nominate for inclusion here, please let us know via our contact page.

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