America's North Shore Journal

Silver Star

DoD

But finally I want to say that earlier this month, I was able to go to a ceremony for a great young American staff sergeant, Brandon Zylstra. He’s a member of 1st Battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. As his convoy was halted to engage the enemy, he immediately dismounted and exposed himself to enemy fire as he took charge, positioning soldiers, directing fires and returning fires himself. Shortly after Sergeant Zylstra’s platoon came under fire, a fellow soldier was wounded. He immediately ran through a hail of enemy bullets across the street to secure him and began to administer first aid. Two additional soldiers came to assist but were also wounded shortly after they arrived. Sergeant Zylstra then assessed the most serious of these casualties and then dragged them to cover.

Once the American casualties were safe behind cover, he moved back across the street to grab their weapons, continued engaging the enemy and repositioned some vehicles to evacuate the wounded soldiers. Once the wounded soldiers were loaded, and believing there were no seats available, he mounted the front hood of the humvee and continued to engage the enemy. In the face of great danger and intense fire, Sergeant Zylstra conducted himself as he would all hope would. He was brave, decisive and completely selfless in his actions, and he is far from the exception. But for his actions, he was awarded the Silver Star.

All the Way to

Finally, after opening up an escape route, Zylstra couldn’t find a seat in one of the vehicles.

“I knew my vehicle had casualties in it so I jumped on the hood of my platoon sergeant’s humvee, grabbed the sling load ring to hold on to and started firing my weapon so the enemy would keep their heads down,” he said.

Spc. James Bossio, the driver of Zylstra’s vehicle and native of Modesto, Calif., said, “Staff Sergeant Z is everything I want to be as a para­trooper,” but added, “there was no way I thought he would survive after witnessing some of the things he was doing. Then, jumping on the hood all the while firing at the enemy while I was driving in reverse, it was pretty incredible to witness.”

“Loyalty to his Soldiers and his military bearing are what Zylstra is all about”, said platoon leader, 1st Lt. Daniel Capozza, from Cooperstown, N.Y. “He is not really into much fan­fare, but leaving the area while firing a weapon with one hand is some­thing out of the movies, and he did what he had to do to take care of his guys.”

For his disregard for his personal safety and willingness to risk his life to save his paratroopers, Zylstra was awarded the Silver Star, pinned on by Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, command­er of Multi-National Corps — Iraq, on Aug. 5. The event was held in a crowded theater in eastern Baghdad with Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil, Jr., the Multi-National Division command­ing general–Baghdad, standing next to him. Both generals spent time speaking with the paratroopers of the “Red Devil” battalion and other visitors praising Zylstra and the unit for their dedication and work ethic.