American Valor Quarterly Issue 2 - Spring 2008 | Page 10

Paul Ray Smith Award
For distinguished service in the United States military during Operation Enduring Freedom and
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Paul Ray Smith was born in Texas in 1969. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1989 and was
deployed with Bravo Company of the 3rd Infantry Division to Kosovo in 2001, rising to the rank of
sergeant first class the spring of 2002. In January of 2003, he was deployed to Kuwait in preparation
for what would become Operation Iraqi Freedom. On April 4, 2003, two weeks after the invasion,
Smith’s unit found itself engaged in heavy combat against superior numbers of enemy forces near Baghdad
International Airport. In the heat of the battle, Smith ran under heavy fire to a nearby mounted
machine gun. While maintaining this exposed position, he killed nearly 50 enemy fighters before he was
mortally wounded. His selfless actions saved the lives of more than 100 soldiers and repelled the enemy
attack. For his valor, he posthumously was awarded the Medal of Honor—the first American service
member to receive the military’s highest honor for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring
Freedom.
Previous Recipients:
2006 - SSgt. Anthony Viggiani
(Afghanistan)
Sgt. Timothy Connors (Iraq)

Major Jason Amerine
Operation Enduring Freedom

On September 11, 2001, as terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon, then-Captain Jason Amerine and
the men under his command of Operational Detachment A-Team within the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) were
already in the Middle East, in the Republic of Kazakhstan where they were training Kazakh paratroopers in counterinsurgency operations.
Upon hearing of the attacks in New York and Washington, Amerine knew that the country was at war, and where it was
going to take place—Afghanistan, ruled by the tyrannical regime of the Taliban. On November 14, 2001, Amerine led
ODA 574 into Afghanistan on a mission whose outcome would be of vital importance. Acting in concert with Afghan
freedom fighters, Amerine’s men were to spearhead one of several coordinated efforts to topple the Taliban regime, and
remove from power the men who had brutalized the country while providing a sanctuary for Osama bin Laden and his
Al Qaeda terrorist training camps.
The Special Forces of ODA 574 were experts in unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense, and could operate
independently from U.S. ground forces while retaining the ability to call in naval and Air Force systems to any point on a given battlefield. Their training
and expertise would prove invaluable in Afghanistan—a country with terrain so rugged, it was infamous as being a place foreign armies would meet their
doom. Amerine’s men were not a foreign army, however, but were allies of the indigenous freedom fighters.
One of the leaders of the Afghan opposition was Hamid Karzai, who for years had struggled against Taliban rule. Upon their entry into Afghanistan,
Amerine and ODA 574 linked up with Karzai and his band of 200 freedom fighters to begin operations in an effort to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban,
and install a democratically elected government. On November 16, Karzai’s Afghan force, along with ODA 574, entered the town of Tarin Kot. After
conferring with local leaders, Karzai notified Amerine that the Taliban had gathered a large force into a convoy of more than 100 vehicles at the city of
Kandahar. From there, they planned to advance through the mountain passes and retake Tarin Kot.
At 0200 the next morning, reconnaissance reports alerted Amerine that a large convoy was approaching from the south. Based on word from Karzai that
any northbound convoy would be Taliban, he gave his response: “Well, smoke ‘em.” He then led his men and a few dozen of Karzai’s fighters south to
take up positions on a mountain where they could cover the Taliban’s avenue of advance. When the enemy appeared, Amerine called in massive air strikes,
destroying much of the convoy. The Taliban continued its advance toward Tarin Kot, but was fought off by the men under Amerine and Karzai’s
command. The enemy convoy was decimated, and the few vehicles that attempted to flee to Kandahar were completely destroyed.
Following this early victory, Karzai was able to assemble a formidable force, and negotiated the surrender of several Taliban groups. Soon, with the
assistance of ODA 574, he moved south against the Taliban’s stronghold at Kandahar, and on December 5, 2001, they surrendered the city. The Taliban
would be routed from Afghanistan, and Hamid Karzai would go on to become the president of the country in a new beginning for this war-torn land.
Without the direct assistance of ODA 574 under Jason Amerine, the ultimate victory would have come at a much higher cost.
The men of ODA 574 were awarded three Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars for Valor, and three Bronze Stars—all eleven members received Purpl HX\