On July 27, 2007, U.S. Navy HM2 Joshua Simson was patrolling Saret Kholet, Afghanistan, with a joint U.S. and Afghan National Army unit. Simson later recounted that as the unit moved to establish an observation post for a river crossing, “A squad of Afghan National Army had pushed across the river to clear two houses and spotted bad guys. The Afghans fired at them, causing the anti-Afghan forces to initiate their ambush prematurely.” While the Americans and Afghans were in the “kill zone,” they hadn’t progressed so far as to be surrounded. But they still took heavy casualties in the ensuing seven-hour battle. Simson was serving as an advisor on being a medical first responder, and he put his training into action. Soon after the battle began, he pulled a wounded Afghan soldier into a bunker to administer first aid. The bunker took a direct hit, but he kept going. Throughout the battle, Simson said he repeated a sequence of tasks: “See or hear somebody need help, put out suppressive fire, move the man to cover if possible, and render lifesaving aid.” Finally, the unit was able to evacuate the wounded. Simson was awarded the Silver Star for his willingness to expose himself repeatedly to potential injury or death to save wounded soldiers on the battlefield.
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