WillBrink
02-03-16, 08:48
They don't give much detail as to what happened during the op that earned him the MOH, but I bet it's a hell of a story. Perhaps another source has more details of the op.
Navy SEAL to receive Medal of Honor for 2012 hostage rescue
Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers, a Navy SEAL and member of the unit’s elite SEAL Team Six, is slated to receive the nation’s highest military honor for his actions during a hostage rescue mission in Afghanistan, he White House announced Tuesday.
Byers, 36, will be presented the award in a White House ceremony at the end of the month.
In prior Medal of Honor announcements, the White House has released summaries of the recipients actions that led to the medal. In Tuesday’s statement, however, the only nod to Byers’ heroics was that he will receive the medal for “his courageous actions while serving as part of a team that rescued an American civilian being held hostage in Afghanistan on December 8-9, 2012.”
The civilian rescued was Dr. Dilip Joseph, an aid worker who was kidnapped in eastern Kabul and held for approximately a week before a detachment of SEALs killed a number of his captors and rescued him during a nighttime raid. One of the SEALs involved in the raid, Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque, was killed.
“It is great to hear he is getting this award,” said Joseph in a phone interview, adding that he believes, though he is not entirely sure, that Byers shielded him by laying on top of him while the rest of the SEAL team killed Jospeh’s five captors in the room.
Joseph added that his encounter with Byers was extremely brief but he was taken aback by how dedicated he was and how willing he was to risk his life for a total stranger.
“The whole operation lasted two minutes,” Joseph said. “I’m honored to have been apart of the whole thing.”
Retired Marine Gen. John Allen, who was the top commander in Afghanistan at the time, said Tuesday that he ordered the mission and watched it unfold from an operations center in Kabul.
“These SEALs performed magnificently in this rescue,” he said. “The Taliban who had kidnapped Dr. Joseph believed that in their remote mountain fastness they were beyond the reach of American power. These SEALs proved once again that the enemies of America is never beyond our reach.”
Cont:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/02/02/navy-seal-to-receive-medal-of-honor-for-2012-hostage-rescue/?postshare=8841454508065867&tid=ss_fb
Navy SEAL to receive Medal of Honor for 2012 hostage rescue
Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers, a Navy SEAL and member of the unit’s elite SEAL Team Six, is slated to receive the nation’s highest military honor for his actions during a hostage rescue mission in Afghanistan, he White House announced Tuesday.
Byers, 36, will be presented the award in a White House ceremony at the end of the month.
In prior Medal of Honor announcements, the White House has released summaries of the recipients actions that led to the medal. In Tuesday’s statement, however, the only nod to Byers’ heroics was that he will receive the medal for “his courageous actions while serving as part of a team that rescued an American civilian being held hostage in Afghanistan on December 8-9, 2012.”
The civilian rescued was Dr. Dilip Joseph, an aid worker who was kidnapped in eastern Kabul and held for approximately a week before a detachment of SEALs killed a number of his captors and rescued him during a nighttime raid. One of the SEALs involved in the raid, Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque, was killed.
“It is great to hear he is getting this award,” said Joseph in a phone interview, adding that he believes, though he is not entirely sure, that Byers shielded him by laying on top of him while the rest of the SEAL team killed Jospeh’s five captors in the room.
Joseph added that his encounter with Byers was extremely brief but he was taken aback by how dedicated he was and how willing he was to risk his life for a total stranger.
“The whole operation lasted two minutes,” Joseph said. “I’m honored to have been apart of the whole thing.”
Retired Marine Gen. John Allen, who was the top commander in Afghanistan at the time, said Tuesday that he ordered the mission and watched it unfold from an operations center in Kabul.
“These SEALs performed magnificently in this rescue,” he said. “The Taliban who had kidnapped Dr. Joseph believed that in their remote mountain fastness they were beyond the reach of American power. These SEALs proved once again that the enemies of America is never beyond our reach.”
Cont:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/02/02/navy-seal-to-receive-medal-of-honor-for-2012-hostage-rescue/?postshare=8841454508065867&tid=ss_fb