Duty

[Forever_frost]

This is the official write up on SFC Cashe Silver Star Certificate. How this Warrior did not receive the MOH is beyond me. Any man willing to burn himself to death to save his fellow soldiers is beyond deserving.


*CASHE, ALWYN C. (KIA)
Synopsis:
The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Silver Star Medal (Posthumously) to Alwyn C. Cashe, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, on 17 October 2005, in Iraq. Sergeant First Class Cashe was drenched in fuel after an IED blast ignited the Bradley Fighting Vehicle's fuel cell, during a patrol in Samarra, Iraq. After the vehicle came to a stop and erupted in flames, he helped the driver out of the hatch and extinguished his flames. In the back of the Bradley were six more soldiers and a translator. As flames engulfed the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, without regard for his personal safety, Sergeant First Class Cashe rushed to the back of the vehicle, reached into the hot flames and started pullout out his Soldiers. The flames spread to his fuel-soaked uniform and spread quickly over his body. Despite terrible pain, Sergeant First Class Cashe placed one injured soldier on the ground and returned to the burning vehicle to retrieve another burning soldiers, all the while, he was himself still on fire. Sergeant First Class Cashe is credited with saving the lives of six soldiers, evacuating them despite his own injuries and severe burns. He died of his wounds on November 8, 2006.


Born: at Thompson, Georgia
Home Town: Oviedo, Florida
Personal Awards: Silver Star (War on Terrorism), Purple Heart

[The Hankman]

AMEN.. He is more than deserving.

[Forever_frost]

If memory serves, there's a pull handle on the back of a Brad that releases Halon into the passenger compartment to smother flames. The problem is, you smother everyone back there as well. My hats off to the man and he is the Warrior Ethos.

[Chili]

I'm surprised he didn't get it as well.

I was googling to see if their are certain qualifying factors above and beyond the Silver Star, which I did not find. But I did happen across a bunch of info I did not know on the Wiki page, assuming it is accurate:

Privileges and courtesies[edit]
The Medal of Honor confers special privileges on its recipients. By law, recipients have several benefits:[82][83]

• Each Medal of Honor recipient may have his or her name entered on the Medal of Honor Roll (38 U.S.C. § 1560). Each person whose name is placed on the Medal of Honor Roll is certified to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as being entitled to receive a monthly pension above and beyond any military pensions or other benefits for which they may be eligible. The pension is subject to cost-of-living increases; as of December 1, 2012, it is $1,259 a month.[84]
• Enlisted recipients of the Medal of Honor are entitled to a supplemental uniform allowance.[85]
• Recipients receive special entitlements to air transportation under the provisions of DOD Regulation 4515.13-R. This benefit allows the recipient to travel as he or she deems fit across geographical locations, and allows the recipient's dependents to travel either Overseas-Overseas, Overseas-Continental US, or Continental US-Overseas when accompanied by the recipient.[86]
• Special identification cards and commissary and exchange privileges are provided for Medal of Honor recipients and their eligible dependents.[87]
• Recipients are granted eligibility for interment at Arlington National Cemetery, if not otherwise eligible.[88]
• Fully qualified children of recipients are eligible for admission to the United States military academies without regard to the nomination and quota requirements.[89]
• Recipients receive a 10 percent increase in retired pay.[90]
• Those awarded the medal after October 23, 2002, receive a Medal of Honor Flag. The law specified that all 103 living prior recipients as of that date would receive a flag.[91]
• Recipients receive an invitation to all future presidential inaugurations and inaugural balls.[92]
• As with all medals, retired personnel may wear the Medal of Honor on "appropriate" civilian clothing. Regulations specify that recipients of the Medal of Honor are allowed to wear the uniform "at their pleasure" with standard restrictions on political, commercial, or extremist purposes (other former members of the armed forces may do so only at certain ceremonial occasions).[93]
• Most states (40) offer a special license plate for certain types of vehicles to recipients at little or low cost to the recipient.[94] The states that do not offer Medal of Honor specific license plate offer special license plates for veterans for which recipients may be eligible.[95]

The biggest surprises to me were regarding the "pension" and the children being entitled to got to a Military Academy without the normally required nomination. On the second, I wonder if they still have to meet other acceptance criteria (SAT scores, GPA, Etc).

[Pokulski-Blatz]

They consistently fuck good men out of what they truly deserve.

[Forever_frost]

I'm surprised he didn't get it as well.

I was googling to see if their are certain qualifying factors above and beyond the Silver Star, which I did not find. But I did happen across a bunch of info I did not know on the Wiki page, assuming it is accurate:



The biggest surprises to me were regarding the "pension" and the children being entitled to got to a Military Academy without the normally required nomination. On the second, I wonder if they still have to meet other acceptance criteria (SAT scores, GPA, Etc).

They still have to meet the academic and other requirements, they just don't need a sponsor and are not restricted if their state has already met it's quota. $1,200 a month pension isn't much for what you have to do to get the MOH

[line-em-up]

If memory serves, there's a pull handle on the back of a Brad that releases Halon into the passenger compartment to smother flames. The problem is, you smother everyone back there as well. My hats off to the man and he is the Warrior Ethos.

NOW YOU TELL US!!

Seriously, I don't believe Halon is no more deadly than holding you breath for a minute.

[Chili]

They still have to meet the academic and other requirements, they just don't need a sponsor and are not restricted if their state has already met it's quota. $1,200 a month pension isn't much for what you have to do to get the MOH

Very true, I just had no idea they got anything monetarily like that. They should just give them full retirement (assuming they survived and weren't already classified as disabled).

[Forever_frost]

NOW YOU TELL US!!

Seriously, I don't believe Halon is no more deadly than holding you breath for a minute.

If you're unconscious, you can't hold your breath. That would be the only reason I can think of that when that ramp is dropped that the dismounts in the back wouldn't unload. If it hit an IED then they were more than likely pretty messed up. There isn't anything in the back of that vehicle designed to give when you slam into it.

[line-em-up]

If I remember correctly, halon isn't inherently poisonous if you breath it. It simply chemically reacts with the fire and oxygen to stop it (don't ask me how). I've heard that if you stayed in the area long enough, you could suffocate from it, just as you would from holding your breath. As long as you were able to get out of it with a minute, you would be good. We had it in our computer room and it went off a few times and no one was ever injured from it.

http://www.h3rcleanagents.com/support_faq_2.htm

PS. I didn't mean to sidetrack the thread.

That soldier was beyond brave. He was a selfless human being. There are VERY few people that would be willing to go through what he did to save someone else. RIP

[Forever_frost]

No, no, you're not sidetracking. I was always taught not to pull that handle unless everyone was clear

[fastwhite99gt]

They told us to not mess with it unless everybody was out. I'm glad they went to the powder, it sucks to get a blast of it to the face, but at least you still breathe. God speed to the soldier for what he did for his buddies.

[YALE]

If I remember correctly, halon isn't inherently poisonous if you breath it. It simply chemically reacts with the fire and oxygen to stop it (don't ask me how). I've heard that if you stayed in the area long enough, you could suffocate from it, just as you would from holding your breath. As long as you were able to get out of it with a minute, you would be good. We had it in our computer room and it went off a few times and no one was ever injured from it.

http://www.h3rcleanagents.com/support_faq_2.htm

PS. I didn't mean to sidetrack the thread.

That soldier was beyond brave. He was a selfless human being. There are VERY few people that would be willing to go through what he did to save someone else. RIP

It would not take long at all to flood the passenger compartment of a Bradley with halon, which doesn't have to poison you to smother you. It would just displace the oxygen, then you would die fast.

[helosailor]

They consistently fuck good men out of what they truly deserve.

I can think of one in particular.

Another fact that not many know. ALL members of the armed forces, regardless of rank, when in uniform are required to salute a MOH awardee.

As far as halon is concerned, Yale is right on...as usual. If halon is discharged, be somewhere else. It will displace the oxygen in your lungs and suffocate you very quickly. I got just a whiff once and felt like I was going to die.

[Chili]

I can think of one in particular.

Another fact that not many know. ALL members of the armed forces, regardless of rank, when in uniform are required to salute a MOH awardee.

As far as halon is concerned, Yale is right on...as usual. If halon is discharged, be somewhere else. It will displace the oxygen in your lungs and suffocate you very quickly. I got just a whiff once and felt like I was going to die.

I was always told / taught that, but on the MOH Wiki page it said that it was not required but a courtesy generally given. Of course that's just Wiki..

Here:

Saluting[edit]
Although not required by law or military regulation,[96] members of the uniformed services are encouraged to render salutes to recipients of the Medal of Honor as a matter of respect and courtesy regardless of rank or status and, if the recipients are wearing the medal, whether or not they are in uniform.[97] This is one of the few instances where a living member of the military will receive salutes from members of a higher rank.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor

That said, I know that had I had the privilege of encountering a MOH recipient I would have saluted, required or not. I have not had that opportunity though.

When I was in Korea stationed at Camp Greaves, policy on post was to salute officers even when you and / or they were not in uniform. Assuming you knew / recognized them of course. That was ONLY on post though. In the field, as any soldier surely knows, you do not salute. Nor indoors, except when "reporting".

Frost - I know I was at Camp Greaves a few years before you. Did they still do that when you were there? (Saluting when not in uniform)