AWARD OF THE SILVER STAR MEDAL TO
SGT. 1ST CLASS RONALD STRICKLAND U.S. ARMY
For Gallantry In Action

CITATION:

   The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant First Class Ronald Gregory Strickland, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving [in] Company A, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, during combat operations in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, on 29 May 2007, in Afghanistan.

   On that date, Sergeant First Class Strickland braved hostile enemy fire in an attempt to rescue the crew of Flipper 75, which was shot down by enemy fire.

   Sergeant First Class Strickland personally engaged the enemy with multiple weapons to prevent the Taliban from gaining possession of his fellow soldiers. In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force to secure the crash site. His exceptional bravery and personal leadership has set the example for the 82d Airborne Division, and is in keeping with the highest tradition of military service.

I've been in 25 or 30 firefights. Most times you are just reacting

SGT. 1ST CLASS RONALD STRICKLAND U.S. ARMY
SILVER STAR
SALUTING AMERICAN VALOR
Selfless Courage at the Moment of Truth
By KEVIN MAURER Stephens Media LLC

2009 --- Sgt. 1st Class Ronald Strickland could just see the outline of the CH-47 Chinook as it dropped off paratroopers on the outskirts of a village in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
   Then he saw a streak, a flash and a fireball. The massive cargo helicopter had been shot down.
   Strickland quickly pulled together his small team of seven paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Divisions 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
   We've got to go, he told them that day in May 2007. Lets go right now.
   Racing to the crash site, they navigated through a spider web of mud-walled compounds that eventually came to a dead end.
   Strickland ordered his men out of their trucks, to continue on foot. Following a mud wall, they ended up in a ditch, where they could see the helicopter on fire nearby. Half was in a nearby compound, the rest outside the wall.
   Strickland didn’t know if anyone had survived but didn’t want the Taliban to get there first. (He later learned that more than 50 insurgents were swarming the area.)

Strickland sent most of his men into the compound to clear it of Taliban and search for survivors. He and a medic went to the other wreckage. Ammunition and flares cooked off from the heat. Inside the wreckage site, a thick haze of dust and smoke made it almost impossible to see. Strickland searched through the debris for survivors but found none, only seven dead bodies. The paratroopers had gotten out before the Taliban had struck.
   Strickland knew he didn’t have enough men to defend the site so he pulled back to a nearby intersection of two ditches, where he radioed for reinforcements.
   Suddenly, two Taliban crawled out of a nearby ditch and opened fire. One had a machine gun, and Strickland could see the rounds going around a tree between them.
   "I thought they were going through me", he said. Falling backward, he started to fire back with his rifle, killing the machine gunner.
   The firefight lasted more than 25 minutes. Several times Strickland was sure he would be shot or die: "I’ve been in 25 or 30 firefights", he said. "Most times you are just reacting. You don’t have time to think about stuff like that. It just lasted so long."
   When reinforcements finally reached the scene, Strickland fought his way back to the trucks to link up and establish a security perimeter around the crash site.
   Then he crawled back into the wreckage and recovered all the bodies.

[Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Hilo, HI, 12 Dec 2009, Sat. Page 6]

   "It is just something I've always wanted to do."