America, meet SSG Fetty of Parkersburg, West Virginia…
WASHINGTON (Oct. 12, 2007) - When Staff Sgt. Jason Fetty put himself between a suicide bomber and the bomber’s intended targets at the grand opening of a new medical facility in Khost, Afghanistan, he wasn’t thinking of the strategic, or even tactical, importance of his actions.
All he wanted was to protect his fellow soldiers, the Afghan people they were helping and the new emergency room his provincial reconstruction team had spent months working to make a reality.
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Staff Sgt. Fetty said he remembers hearing the blast of weapons from other members of the security team firing at the attacker. He shot again, at the man’s stomach. He’d heard that it’s safe to fire into a suicide vest, but didn’t want to test his luck by firing into the attacker’s chest. “That’s a bad way for me to end up in a bunch of pieces,” he said.
Then the attacker looked at Staff Sgt. Fetty with “the scariest face I’ve ever seen.” The standoff had turned personal. “Earlier, he just looked crazy, but now he wanted to kill me,” Staff Sgt. Fetty said. “I knew what his intent was, and I abandoned all hopes of killing the guy before he would explode.”
Staff Sgt. Fetty took three steps before making a “Hollywood dive.” The blast came as he hit the ground, peppering him with shrapnel in the face, leg and ankle. All that remained where he had struggled with the attacker was a big hole in the ground.
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Although he’s proud to receive the Silver Star, Staff Sgt. Fetty said anyone in his shoes would have acted the same way. “I don’t really believe in valor that much,” he said. “It’s more like the set of circumstances you’re put in. I think there are plenty of people over there who are just as brave as I am, who fortunately never found themselves in that situation.”
Well done Soldier. I’m proud of you. Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 0850 zulu | | Permalink
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