[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 7 (Monday, January 13, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VERMONT ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
Mr. LEAHY. As the longtime co-chair of the Senate National Guard
Caucus, I have the honor of advocating for the amazing men and women of
the National Guard and of supporting their role in protecting our
Nation, both at home and abroad. It is always a great pleasure for me
to be able to point to the men and women of Vermont's own National
Guard as an example of everything the National Guard does right. This
weekend, a battalion of the Vermont National Guard was honored with the
Army's prestigious Valorous Unit Award for their service in
Afghanistan. I recognized the achievements of this acclaimed unit last
week here in the Senate.
I ask unanimous consent that an article from today's Burlington Free
Press commemorating the award ceremony held January 12 in Norwich, Vt.,
and the amazing service that led to the award be printed the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Burlington Free Press, Jan. 13, 2014]
Commended for Courage: Guard Unit, Combat Medic Honored for Actions in
Afghanistan
(By Sam Hemingway)
Three years after the Vermont Army National Guard concluded
its largest deployment since World War II, 600 members of the
mountain infantry contingent were given a Valorous Unit Award
on Sunday for their service in Afghanistan.
``You served in a very hostile area,'' Brig. Gen. Brian
Carpenter told the soldiers as they stood in formation during
a ceremony at Shapiro Field House at Norwich University in
Northfield. ``For a unit to be recommended, as you are, takes
tremendous leadership.''
The award, the second highest award a military unit can
receive, honored the combat performance of the 3rd Battalion,
172nd Infantry while it was carrying out its 2010 mission in
Paktya and three other provinces in eastern Afghanistan near
the Pakistani border.
The unit was attached to the active Army's 101st Airborne
Division and stationed at the Herrera and Rahman Kheyl combat
outposts and at the Gardez forward operating outpost. The
unit is largely made up of Vermonters, but includes soldiers
from Maine and New Hampshire.
Also recognized during the ceremony was combat medic Sgt.
Michael Mulcahy, who was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor
for his bravery during a platoon ambush that claimed the
lives of two Guard soldiers, Sgt. Tristan Southworth of
Walden and Sgt. Steven Deluzio of Glastonbury, Conn.
Mulcahy who was assigned to the small Herrera outpost in
Paktya province, braved enemy fire during back-to-back
ambushes near Mullafatee village on Aug. 22, 2010, according
to a narrative detailing his exploits.
Carpenter, reading a portion of the narrative to soldiers
and attendees at the ceremony, described how Mulcahy ``led
the way uphill through accurate heavy volumes of enemy fire''
in order to reach injured soldiers.
At one point, according to the narrative, Mulcahy used his
body to shield a wounded Southworth from heavy enemy fire.
``Mulcahy moved with very little cover through RPG (rocket-
propelled grenade) and extremely heavy machine gun fire to .
. . Southworth,'' the narrative said.
After determining Southworth had died, Mulcahy again risked
his life to treat another wounded soldier.
Mulcahy, described by a colleague at the ceremony as a
``very humble guy'' went up to Southworth's parents after the
ceremony. The three exchanged long, tearful embraces.
``We are proud to know him,'' Julie Southworth, Tristan
Southworth's mother, said of Mulcahy after the ceremony
ended. She said the family had not met Mulcahy previously.
Mulcahy told Guard officials he did not want to be
interviewed.
Carpenter, speaking of the unit award, said the 172nd
Infantry carried out 4,300 combat patrols during the
Afghanistan deployment. Twenty-six members were awarded
Purple Hearts for injuries sustained during combat, he said.
``Their expertise in bringing decisive combat power to bear
on the enemy wherever and whenever needed set the conditions
for overwhelming victory and represents a phenomenal
effort,'' the unit award narrative said in part.
The unit also served in the only province where no
civilians were harmed or killed during parliamentary
elections in 2010. Paktya's turnout for the elections topped
94,000, a 15 percent increase over its turnout in the
previous election.
The unit also worked on various economic development and
governance projects, and helped train Afghan army, police and
medics.
Attending Sunday's ceremonies were U.S. Sen. Bernie
Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Gov. Peter Shumlin
and Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, who had spent the day before as an
honorary Guard member. John Tracy, a veteran and Vermont
office director for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., represented
Leahy. All but Scott spoke briefly at the ceremony.
``This is a really emotional day for me,'' said Lt. Col.
Robert Charlesworth, who was based at Gardez and oversaw the
172nd Infantry's operations in Afghanistan. ``To finally see
these guys and gals recognized for the accomplishments that
they had in Afghanistan is very satisfying.''
Charlesworth, who now works at the Pentagon as a staff
planner with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the gains made
by the infantry unit in Paktya have mostly held up since the
deployment ended.
He said the outposts at Herrera, Rahman Kheyl and Gardez
where the soldiers served have been either dismantled or
substantially altered since the unit left Afghanistan.
Charlesworth said he's hopeful for the future of
Afghanistan as the United States continues to withdraw combat
troops from the country and wind down its operations there.
``It's a pretty pivotal moment in history right now in
Afghanistan,'' he said. ``We're in the final stages of trying
to put together our bi-lateral security agreement with
Afghanistan to try to solidify all of the gains we helped the
Afghans build over there. I think the next year is going to
be critical.''
During the course of Sunday's ceremony, one of the soldiers
in the unit collapsed as the result of an apparent seizure.
The proceedings were halted briefly while several soldiers
came to his aid. The soldier, who was not identified, was
able to walk under his own power out of the building. Maj.
Chris Gookin, the Guard's spokesman, said later Sunday he did
not believe the soldier had to be hospitalized.
Two other of the 600 soldiers who stood during the hour-
long event also grew faint during the proceedings and were
assisted by their comrades.
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