Special Forces Heroism in Afghanistan

Several 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Troopers were honored Friday for their heroic service during combat tours in Afghanistan. In total, three Silver Stars, twenty-two Bronze Stars and twenty-one Purple Hearts were awarded during a ceremony at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 

The actions of three Soldiers were deemed significant to the effort by their leadership and resulted in Silver Stars for Master Sgt. Robert Sanderlin, Sgt. 1st Class Abram Hernandez, and Sgt. 1st Class Eric Horton.

While in Afghanistan during 2007, Sanderlin and his team were ambushed during a foot patrol. During the initial moments of the attack Sanderlin was knocked unconscious by shrapnel from an rocket propelled grenade. After recovering, he ran under intense fire to retrieve an anti-tank weapon and engaged three enemy machine gun positions with the weapon, all the while drawing heavy volumes of fire to his position. Sanderlin, an intelligence sergeant, also assisted in the medical treatment and evacuation of a wounded comrade, then, still under heavy fire, used a door-mounted machine gun to cover the team's extraction from the ambush zone.

A year prior, also in Afghanistan, Horton and his team also faced a large enemy attack. During a mounted mission in the Helmund Province of southern Afghanistan, Horton was manning an overwatch position with a heavy sniper rifle when he was warned of a large enemy element attack on his team. He immediately began to fire on the attackers, who under the barrage of sniper fire, were forced to turn their attention to Horton's position. Though hundreds of rounds impacted around his position, Horton moved through fire to a better vantage point and continued to eliminate Taliban attackers. A second wave of attackers moved to attempt to overrun the main element's positions, and Horton continued firing, killing 15 enemies with 30 rounds. Horton was hit by a machine gun round in the shoulder which knocked him back 10 feet, but he refused aid and moved to a mounted machine gun to continue firing.

Horton is credited with killing 35 insurgents with accurate sniper fire that night.

During the same deployment, Hernandez’s team along with a group of Afghan National Army troops braved a heavy enemy assault during a cordon and search operation. Attacked from all directions, Hernandez and his team held off constant Taliban attacks under endless machine gun, small arms, and mortar fire during the harrowing multi-day engagement in which two U.S. Soldiers were killed. During the engagement, Hernandez often put himself in danger to draw fire from his comrades, or while moving to assist team members in need. His actions are credited with saving the lives of his teammates by preventing their position from being overrun.

Here's the 60 Minutes version of the battle, with a brief video teaser. The episode is scgeduled to air tomorrow, Sunday, April 20. Special Forces Sgt. Brendan O’Connor will receive the Distinguished Service Cross later this month for that action.

All the way, indeed.

Here's a complete list of Awardees:

Silver Star
Master Sgt. Robert Sanderlin (with Purple Heart)
Sgt. 1st Class Abram Hernandez
Sgt. 1st Class Eric Horton

Bronze Star with “V” Device
Staff Sgt. Elisha Bremmer
Staff Sgt. Ian Brown
Sgt. 1st Class Cecil Carter
Staff Sgt. Keith Daboll
Sgt. 1st Class Valentino Dezaldivar
Capt. Patrick Flood
Staff Sgt. Brendan Fogarty
Sgt. 1st Class Heath Grossman (With Purple Heart)
Capt. Patrick Mather
Sgt. 1st Class Charles Maxwell
Capt. Patrick Nelson
Staff Sgt. Carlos Ordonez (With Purple Heart)
Sgt. 1st Class Michael Pfiester
Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Wilkerson
CW2 Christopher Wurst
Sgt. 1st Class Brock Buddles
Staff Sgt. Brian Smearman
Staff Sgt. Luis Morales
Staff Sgt. Ramon Pereyra
Staff Sgt. John Brumit
Staff Sgt. William Marshall

Purple Heart
Staff Sgt. Cody Sheldon
Staff Sgt. Casey Curd
Sgt. David Finn
CW3 Jean Guidry
Staff Sgt. Victor Hollifield
Capt. Kevin Key
Sgt. Michael Montenaro (x2 PH)
Staff Sgt. Mario Pinilla
Sgt. 1st Class Karl Reamer
Sgt. 1st Class Victor Rodgers
Sgt. 1st Class Scott Skala
Staff Sgt. Lamont Williams
Sgt. 1st Class Jarrid Collins
Sgt. Dekovin Dombkowski
Staff Sgt. Scott Guy

Note: Updated to reflect that SFC Abram Hernandez did not receive a Purple Heart, as indicated by the original story.