[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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