[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 14 (Monday, April 11, 2005)]
[Pages 558-560]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Presenting Posthumously the Congressional Medal of Honor to 
Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith

April 4, 2005

    Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House. Today is a special 
occasion: We are here to pay tribute to a soldier whose service 
illustrates the highest ideals of leadership and love of our country.
    Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith of Florida gave his life for 
these ideals in a deadly battle outside Baghdad. It is my great 
privilege to recognize his extraordinary sacrifice by awarding Sergeant 
Smith the Medal of Honor.
    I appreciate Secretary Don Rumsfeld joining us today; Secretary Jim 
Nicholson of the Department of Veterans Affairs; Senator Carl Levin, 
Senator Bill Nelson, Senator Mel Martinez, Senator Johnny Isakson, and 
Congressman Ike Skelton. Thank you all for joining us.
    I appreciate Secretary Francis Harvey, Secretary of the Army; 
General Dick Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Pete 
Pace, Vice Chairman; General Pete Schoomaker, Chief of the Army.
    I want to thank the Medal of Honor recipients who have joined us 
today: John Baker,

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Barney Barnum, Bernie Fisher, Al Rascon, and Brian Thacker. Honored you 
all are here.
    I appreciate the family members who have joined us today. Thank you 
all for coming: Birgit Smith, his wife; Jessica Smith; David Smith; 
Janice Pvirre, the mom; Donald Pvirre, stepfather; and all the other 
family members who have joined us. Welcome.
    I appreciate Chaplain David Hicks for his invocation. I want to 
thank Lieutenant Colonel Tom Smith for joining us, who was Paul Smith's 
commander. I particularly want to welcome soldiers from the 3d Infantry 
Division, Paul's unit in Iraq.
    The Medal of Honor is the highest award for bravery a President can 
bestow. It is given for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in 
the face of enemy attack. Since World War II, more than half of those 
who have been awarded this medal gave their lives in the action that 
earned it. Sergeant Paul Smith belongs to this select group.
    The story of Paul Smith is a story of a boy transformed into a man 
and a leader. His friends and family will tell you that he joined the 
Army in 1989 after finishing high school. When he joined the Army, he 
was a typical young American. He liked sports; he liked fast cars; and 
he liked to stay out late with his friends, pursuits that occasionally 
earned him what the Army calls ``extra duty''--[laughter]--scrubbing 
floors.
    Two things would change Paul's life and lead him to the selfless 
heroism we honor today. The first would come when he was stationed in 
Germany and fell for a woman named Birgit Bacher. It turns out that Paul 
had a romantic streak in him: On the first night he met her, Paul 
appeared outside Birgit's window singing ``You've Lost That Loving 
Feeling.'' [Laughter] In 1992, the two married, and soon a young soldier 
became a devoted family man who played tee-ball with his son and taught 
his daughter how to change the oil in his Jeep Cherokee.
    Second great change in Paul's life would come when he shipped off to 
Saudi Arabia to fight in the first gulf war. There the young combat 
engineer learned that his training had a purpose and could save lives on 
the battlefield. Paul returned from that war determined that other 
soldiers would benefit from the lessons he had learned.
    Paul earned his sergeant's stripes and became known as a stickler 
for detail. Sergeant Smith's seriousness wasn't always appreciated by 
the greener troops under his direction. Those greener troops oftentimes 
found themselves to do tasks over and over again, until they got it 
right. Specialist Michael Seaman, who is with us today, says, ``He was 
hard in training because he knew we had to be hard in battle.'' 
Specialist Seaman will also tell you that he and others are alive today 
because of Sergeant Smith's discipline.
    That discipline would be put to the task in a small courtyard less 
than a mile from the Baghdad airport. Sergeant Smith was leading about 
three dozen men who were using a courtyard next to a watchtower to build 
a temporary jail for captured enemy prisoners. As they were cleaning the 
courtyard, they were surprised by about a hundred of Saddam Hussein's 
Republican Guard.
    With complete disregard for his own life and under constant enemy 
fire, Sergeant Smith rallied his men and led a counterattack. Seeing 
that his wounded men were in danger of being overrun and that enemy fire 
from the watchtower had pinned them down, Sergeant Smith manned a 50-
caliber machine gun atop a damaged armored vehicle. From a completely 
exposed position, he killed as many as 50 enemy soldiers as he protected 
his men.
    Sergeant Smith's leadership saved the men in the courtyard, and he 
prevented an enemy attack on the aid station just up the road. Sergeant 
Smith continued to fire and took a--until he took a fatal round to the 
head. His actions in that courtyard saved the lives of more than 100 
American soldiers.
    Scripture tells us, as the general said, ``that a man has no greater 
love than to lay down his life for his friends.'' And that is exactly 
the responsibility Paul Smith believed the sergeant's stripes on his 
sleeve had given him. In a letter he wrote to his parents but never 
mailed, he said that he was prepared to ``give all that I am to ensure 
that all my boys make it home.''
    On this day 2 years ago, Sergeant Smith gave his all for his men. 
Five days later, Baghdad fell, and the Iraqi people were liberated. And 
today we bestow upon Sergeant Smith the first Medal of Honor in the war 
on terror.

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He's also the first to be awarded this new Medal of Honor flag, 
authorized by the United States Congress. We count ourselves blessed to 
have soldiers like Sergeant Smith, who put their lives on the line to 
advance the cause of freedom and protect the American people.
    Like every one of the men and women in uniform who have served in 
Operation Iraqi Freedom, Sergeant Paul Smith was a volunteer. We thank 
his family for the father, husband, and son and brother who can never be 
replaced. We recall with appreciation the fellow soldiers whose lives he 
saved and the many more he inspired. And we express our gratitude for a 
new generation of Americans, every bit as selfless and dedicated to 
liberty as any that has gone on before, a dedication exemplified by the 
sacrifice and valor of Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith.
    And now if his family would join me, please. Lieutenant Commander, 
please read the citation.

Note: The President spoke at 3:07 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Paul Ray Smith's son, David A. 
Smith, and daughter, Jessica M. Smith; and Maj. Gen. David Hicks, USA, 
Army Chief of Chaplains. Following the President's remarks, Lt. Cmdr. 
Keith B. Davids, Navy Aide to the President, read the citation.