PA Guardsman to Receive Silver Star
In my never-ending search to find the heroes among us, I present you with another great story.
Jason Harrington was having a tough day even before a roadside bomb blew his Humvee to pieces.
Moments earlier, the former New Cumberland resident, a specialist in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, had lost three buddies from his unit to another bomb.
So as the dust cleared from the deafening blast that wrecked his Humvee in Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 19, 2005, Harrington was determined not to lose any more.
He forgot about his own welfare and checked his fellow soldiers for injuries.
He fired back at the insurgents who had triggered the bomb and who set off another explosive that blasted the second Humvee in his patrol.
With the radios in both Humvees knocked out, Harrington grabbed a portable one to call for support and exposed himself to enemy fire to secure better reception.
And if that wasn’t enough, he joined a sweep to root out the insurgents who’d set up the ambush.
“I was just doing what I had to do,” said Harrington, 27, a 2000 Cedar Cliff High School graduate who lives in Lancaster. “I think any other soldier would have done the same thing.”
The Army begs to differ.
It will present Harrington with the Silver Star Medal, the nation’s third-highest award for bravery in combat, during a ceremony at 10 a.m. today at the Guard armory in Harrisburg.
Read the rest of this wonderful story HERE.
Donna
December 27th, 2008 at 9:22 pmThanks CJ, this is a great hero story! He deserves the Silver Star and more! We need more like him who put others safety above his own! God Bless him and all our brave heroes!!
Julie morelli
December 27th, 2008 at 10:20 pmThank you for sharing this great news C.J. An amazing and deserving hero! God bless him and all those who serve!