America's North Shore Journal

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain Daniel A. Strelkauskas, United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy as Mission Commander, Marine Special Operations Company H, Second Marine Special Operations Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, on 26 June 2008.

While conducting a time-sensitive mission, the dismounted patrol Captain Strelkauskas was leading came under heavy machine gun and sniper fire from entrenched positions. He began immediate actions to move his team to cover as the patrol began taking casualties. With complete disregard for his own life, and under heavy fire from more than a dozen positions, Captain Strelkauskas ran deeper into the kill zone to drag a wounded Marine across open terrain to a covered position.

With multiple fragmentation wounds to his hands and rounds ricocheting near his position, and with the enemy machine guns delivering devastating fire and preventing the movement of casualties, he ordered a critical Close Air Support deployment of 2,000-pound bombs well within danger close parameters. This provided enough suppression of the enemy force to allow the relocation of the wounded to a consolidation point where five friendly Wounded-in-Action and one friendly Killed-in-Action were evacuated.

Upon completion of the evacuation, Captain Strelkauskas coordinated follow on air strikes resulting in an estimated 40 enemy killed in action, including several mid-level Taliban leaders. Through his tremendous courage and extraordinary battlefield leadership, he guided his team out of a complex and well-orchestrated ambush executed by an entrenched enemy.

By his bold initiative, undaunted courage, and complete dedication to duty, Captain Strelkauskas reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

Service: Marine Corps

Rank: Captain

Military Times

In practice, the July 2008 mission in western Afghanistan was a deadly, grueling, four-hour firefight as a large number of Taliban fighters rained automatic weapons fire onto a group of U.S. Marine and Army Special Forces troops.

When it was over, an estimated 40 anti-government fighters were dead, including the primary target. But so was one American. And an additional nine U.S. Marines and soldiers were wounded, five seriously.

In the intervening 240 minutes from the start of the firefight, then-Capt. Daniel Strelkauskas suffered shrapnel wounds to his hands and ran through the “kill zone” to drag a critically injured staff sergeant to safety.

Strelkauskas continued to rally his troops. He also directed a 2,000-pound bomb strike that allowed the Americans to maneuver to safety.

For those actions, the 32-year-old Marine major was awarded the Silver Star on Wednesday, the third-highest award a Marine can receive for bravery in battle.

“It’s a very humbling day,” the unassuming Strelkauskas said before the ceremony at Camp Pendleton. “There were a very small amount of us who found ourselves in a very bad place that day. It was how the men on the team responded, which was unbelievable.”

Strelkauskas’ award is the first of several being awarded to troops who displayed extreme courage and valor that day. One is receiving a Navy Cross, another will receive a Silver Star, and several are being awarded a Bronze Star.

North Country Times

NARRATIVE:

Captain Daniel A. Strelkauskas is enthusiastically recommended for the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in connection with combat operations involving an opposing force while serving as Team Leader, Marine Special Operations Team 1 (MSOT 1), Marine Special Operations Company Hotel (MSOC H), 2d Marine Special Operations Battalion (2d MSOB), U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command (MARSOC) on 26 June 2008 in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM XII. Captain Strelkauskas was in receipt of imminent danger pay during this period.

On 25 June 2008, MSOC H was tasked by the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan (CJSOTF-A) to execute a Time Sensitive Target (TST) mission in order to clear a known High Value Individual (HVI) location followed by an Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE) mission of a suspected enemy weapons cache in the mountains north of Khusf, Herat Province, Afghanistan. Upon receipt of the mission from CJSOTF-A, Captain Strelkauskas, with the assistance of his Team Chief, Staff Sergeant Mosser, quickly developed and briefed a course of action and prepared MSOT 1, MSOT 2, and an element of 24 Afghan National Army (ANA) Soldiers to depart at 2000L.

On 26 June 2008, after an overnight movement of 12 hours, the patrol arrived at the target area. After conducting final inspections and back briefs, Captain Strelkauskas lead the clearing element as they pushed into the objective area in order to clear and conduct SSE of the suspected weapons cache, while MSOT 2 provided over watch security.

The weapons cache was located deep inside a canyon with a one lane un-improved road providing the only entrance. Maneuver in the canyon was very restrictive, leaving little to no room for vehicles to turn around. Once observation of the site was complete and no threat appeared present, MSOT 1, led by Captain Strelkauskas, dismounted and maneuvered into the canyon floor to exploit the suspected weapons cache site. Upon reaching the target area, two vehicles were found, one parked to the side of the road and another parked in the middle of the road, impeding the movement of the team. Captain Strelkauskas ordered the team to search, render safe, and push the impeding vehicle out of the way with a Ground Mobility Vehicle while the rest of the team began to search the target area.

As the search and movement of the inoperable vehicle began, an unknown number of Taliban forces initiated a coordinated and determined ambush utilizing accurate sniper and machine gun fire on MSOT 1 and MSOT 2 from approximately 200 to 300 meters away. Captain Strelkauskas immediately began exchanging fire and orchestrated an immediate action drill to move the search team, who were completely exposed in the kill zone, back to the GMVs as other members provided covering fire. One GMV became stuck in the harsh terrain of the canyon as the team began to back their vehicles out of the kill zone. Almost immediately, accurate sniper fire zeroed in on several key locations and resulted in two team members, Staff Sergeant Heredia and Staff Sergeant Guendner, sustaining severe gun shot wounds. Because of the extremely accurate sniper and machine gun fire, the foot mobile team maneuvered to a position that provided cover from the barrage of incoming fire. Once in their new position, they found themselves completely pinned down and unable to assist the Marines wounded from initial contact. Captain Strelkauskas continued to engage the enemy, providing accurate covering and suppressive fires for his Marines from his defensive location, despite receiving painful wounds to both hands as bullet fragments sprayed all around him. Staff Sergeant Heredia, an Element Leader, had initially received a gunshot wound to the leg and lay exposed to enemy fire. While applying his own tourniquet, Staff Sergeant Heredia received a catastrophic gun shot wound to the chest, above his body armor, and was now in desperate need of medical attention. It was clearly evident by the enemy sniper’s actions that his intention was to lure first responders into the kill zone and engage them as they attempted to help the wounded Marines. With complete disregard for his own life, Captain Strelkauskas ran across 20 meters of open terrain under heavy sniper and machine gun fire, grabbed Staff Sergeant Heredia and dragged him to safety. This heroic and selfless act immediately motivated and inspired Staff Sergeant Mosser to rescue the other wounded men who were still fully exposed to enemy fire. Captain Strelkauskas immediately began administering first aid to Staff Sergeant Heredia’s wounds while a U. S. Army Special Forces Medic began to maneuver into position in order to assist him. Due to the severe nature of the gunshot wound to his chest, Staff Sergeant Heredia succumbed to his wounds within minutes. After ensuring he had done all he could for his fallen comrade, Captain Strelkauskas began providing cover fire for the Army medic so he could cross the kill zone to care for the mounting casualties.

For the next four hours, Captain Strelkauskas continued to direct his men with the assistance of his Team Chief, provided guidance to MSOT 2 for Casualty Evacuation (CASEVAC) and directed adjustments for the much needed Close Air Support (CAS) that had arrived on station. Unfortunately, all CAS efforts proved ineffective as the insurgents were deep within caves where the CAS ordnance had little to no effect. By this time, casualties had mounted to four urgent surgical; Staff Sergeant Guendner who had been shot in the upper thigh, Chief Petty Officer Shattuck who had received a gun shot wound though the chest, Sergeant Cagney who had been shot in the shoulder, and Sergeant Schoenhiet who received a gunshot wound to the head. Sergeants Cagney and Shoenheit had been CASEVAC’d to the Casualty Collection Point (CCP) located out of the kill zone with MSOT 2. At this point, the CASEVAC Aircraft, which had been loitering in the area and could not land due to the landing zone being unsecure, reported they were running low on fuel and could only remain on station for an additional 10 minutes. With another two critically wounded men still pinned down in the kill zone, the U. S. Special Forces medic advised Captain Strelkauskas that the wounded could only survive 10 more minutes without further medical aid and MEDEVAC. Captain Strelkauskas then issued the order for everyone to prepare to move the remaining two critically wounded casualties in the kill zone, despite the very active fire fight. These ultimately life-saving actions were carried out by Staff Sergeant Mosser, the MSOT 1 Team Chief. Captain Strelkauskas then directed the MSOT 2 Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC), through Staff Sergeant Mosser, who is also a certified JTAC, to employ CAS assets to drop a series of 500lb and 2000lb bombs within danger close as a last ditch effort to suppress the insurgents so the remaining two casualties and the body of Staff Sergeant Heredia could be retrieved from the kill zone. This tactical decision was the turning point of the fire fight and allowed the team to execute this plan of action. With ordnance at danger close distances and still under heavy fire, Captain Strelkauskas and Staff Sergeant Mosser coordinated teams of personnel to extract the remaining two casualties to vehicles and then move them to safety. While directing the rescue of the last two casualties, Captain Strelkauskas remained in position with Staff Sergeant Heredia’s body, despite a constant hail of rounds impacting all around his position. His “No Marine Left Behind” sense of dedication was contagious and would continue to inspire all those in the Task Force. The heavy barrage of CAS was finally effective enough to provide a slight lull in the enemy fire, which allowed all casualties and Staff Sergeant Heredia’s body to be removed to safety.

Once all personnel had been successfully extracted, Captain Strelkauskas ordered all forces to push outside of small arms range. He again directed the JTAC to resume surgical bombing onto enemy positions. At conclusion of the battle, there were estimates of 40 enemy killed in action (7 confirmed), including several mid-level targets. His heroic actions and continuous dedication to duty both inspired and guided his team out of a complex, well orchestrated, and determined ambush by a well entrenched enemy. His selfless courage saved the lives of the men he led and turned the engagement into a Coalition victory, rendering him exceptionally well-deserving of recognition with the Silver Star Medal.

San Diego Tribune