Obama awards Medal of Honor to Navy SEAL

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday awarded the country’s highest honour for valour to Navy SEAL Edward Byers, who used his body to shield an American hostage from gunfire during a rescue operation in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Navy released this graphic February 29 to show how Navy Senior Chief Edward C. Byers Jr. earned the Medal of Honor in December 2012 on a Navy SEAL hostage rescue mission.

Obama said the White House ceremony for Byers offered a rare public opportunity to acknowledge the work of the military’s special operations forces.

Byers Jr., 36, was a member of the team that rescued Dr. Dilip Joseph after he and his driver and Afghan interpreter were abducted in the Qarghah’i District of Laghman Province in December 2012, according to the White House and the Navy.

He accepted the award on behalf of his teammates, and Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque, 28, the fellow SEAL who was lost on the mission.

The president noted that several of Byers’ peers and family were present for the presentation – and he noted that Byers’ mother, Peggy, had one question about the event honoring her son at the White House today: “Do you think I can come?”

Checque was shot in the head when he burst first through the entry of the building where Dr. Dilip Joseph was being held. “Ed fired”, Obama said, describing the hand-to-hand struggle with enemy fighters who surged into the room. But they’re there-in the thick of the fight, in the dark of the night, achieving the mission. “He was the hero of the operation”, Byers told reporters after the ceremony. Byers ripped down the blankets in the doorway.

In the melee, Byers heard the hostage speak.

Byers quickly talked to Joseph and, after confirming that he was able to move, extracted him to the helicopter-landing zone.

Byers spotted another enemy fighter and was able to pin him to the wall while still covering the hostage with his body.

Byers said he plans to continue serving as a Navy SEAL. Norris is the last living SEAL before Byers to be awarded the honor just 40 years ago, for rescuing two downed pilots in Vietnam.

A Navy bio said Byers grew up in Grand Rapids, Ohio, and graduated in 1997, from Otsego High School.

He became the first living, active-duty member of the Navy to receive the award in four decades.

Byers has completed 11 overseas deployments with nine combat tours.

After graduation, he attended the Special Operations Combat Medic (SOCM) course and was subsequently assigned to East Coast SEAL Teams. He was promoted to the rank of senior chief petty officer in January 2016.

“Byers is also the recipient of the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V” device, two awards of the Purple Heart, the Joint Service Commendation Medal with Valor device, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V” device, two additional awards of the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, two awards of the Combat Action Ribbon, three Presidential Unit Citations, two Joint Meritorious Unit Awards, two Navy Unit Commendations, and five Good Conduct Medals”.