Sgt. Kyle S. Dirkintis
Bronze Star with V device, Purple Heart
Army Sgt. Kyle S. Dirkintis, a medic attached to Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), also known as “The Rockâ€, was recently awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor for his actions at Ranch House Outpost in Kunar province, Afghanistan.
Dirkintis, from Racine, Wisconsin, woke to the sound of gun fire at Ranch House Aug. 22, 2007.
Something he hadn’t heard in the first three months of deployment at Ranch House. Within minutes of the first shot Ranch House’s perimeter would be breached by roughly 20 insurgents.
“We were pretty surprised,†explained Dirkintis. “We didn’t know what was going on. It was the first time we had been in contact out there.â€
Dirkintis and the rest of 1st Platoon, Chosen Company, put on their gear while Soldiers manning the perimeter exchanged gun fire with the approaching insurgents. The attacking insurgents were dressed in the same uniform as the Afghan Security Guards, which added to the confusion and made it difficult to tell friend from foe.
“I noticed the ASG Commander and some of the ASG members started running down the hill as soon as the contact was started,†said Dirkintis.
The attacking insurgents knew the layout of Ranch House, and where all the heavy weapons and tactical buildings were located.
As soon as the ASG passed Dirkintis a volley of rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire hit the aid station and tactical operations center. The insurgents had taken up positions at the ASG post. The fleeing ASG left half the perimeter unguarded, which allowed the insurgents to breach the wire.
“Post 4, Post 3 and Post 2 had all called in and said they had made contact. At that point in time we sustained our first casualty in the fight,†said Dirkintis. “Our forward observer (Spc. Kain Schilling) received some shrapnel to his face.â€
Dirkintis treated Schilling while insurgent fighter’s approached 40 meters south from his position.
“I exchanged weapons with him (for Schilling’s M-4) and ran down to the TOC to let the guys know what was going on with the casualty. Rounds were skipping by me. I was seeing rocks explode every where. You could hear RPG after RPG exploding. I kept thinking is this really happening?â€
After moving to the TOC to inform 1st Lt. Matthew Ferrara of the injured Soldier the building was hit by a RPG.
“I remember the lights came down from the ceiling and it got really dusty in there. I can’t remember if the radios had gone down or not, but the antennas had gotten blown off the roof and turned into a bunch of twisted metal.â€
After the RPG hit the TOC Staff Sgt. Eric Phillips ran inside and informed Ferrara and Dirkintis that Post 3 was under heavy attack and a Soldier was shot at Post 2.
“I grabbed my aid bag and went outside with Phillips,†said Dirkintis.
Assaulting toward Post 2 Dirkintis and Phillips took cover behind Post 2’s living quarters where they were pinned down for 15 minutes by PKM and small arms fire. Unable to advance both Soldiers stayed put and returned fire. The fighting between the two forces was escalating and Phillips told Dirkintis to get inside the building.
“Rounds started coming through the building so I went back outside and got behind some sandbags,†said Dirkintis.
Once outside, Soldiers manning Post 2 yelled down that insurgents were maneuvering around the living quarters. Phillips threw hand grenades around one corner while Dirkintis wheeled around to fire down another corner.
“As soon as I kneeled and looked around the corner I took a shot to the chest,†said Dirkintis. “At first I didn’t know I had been shot. My vision had gotten real blurry. It was difficult to breath. My entire body felt really, really numb.â€
The force of the bullet had knocked Dirkintis to the ground and punctured a lung.
“I tried to crawl to all fours and to get up, but that’s when I started coughing up blood,†said Dirkintis. “I just couldn’t get up. It hurt really bad.â€
Dirkintis continued to try to get up and get back in the fight. Unable to stand Dirkintis was dragged by Phillips 30 meters to the mortar pit. While the battle raged on Dirkintis helped Soldiers find medical supplies in his aid bag and struggled to keep conscious.
For the next hour and a half Soldiers used hand grenades, claymore mines, small arms and heavy weapons to repel the attacking Taliban. A-10 Warthog jets were called in to strafe the section of the base occupied by insurgent fighters. By the end of the fighting 11 out of 25 Soldiers defending Ranch House were injured.
Dirkintis suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and a collapsed lung. He was medevaced to Germany where he recovered and against doctors advice volunteered to come back to Afghanistan.
Dirkintis now works in the pharmacy on Forward Operating Base Fenty in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.
DVIDS
By Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird
173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
