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WASHINGTON – Dillon Behr never understood how he and Ron Shurer had been awarded the same prize for their actions in the middle of a six-hour wild fight in which their green beret unit was almost invaded by the icy cliffs of is from Afghanistan.
All 12 members of Operation Detachment 3336 fought valiantly on 6 April 2008 on this mountain in Nuristan province, where they were sent to kill or capture a high-ranking leader of the insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami. Gulbuddin, said Behr Sunday. But Shurer not only kept Behr alive after being shot in the hip early in the battle known today as the Battle of the Shok Valley, but he also made sure what all American troops.
"Without Ron Shurer by my side, I would be dead that day. No question, "said Behr. "His presence gave me the confidence to know that I could do it. There is a good chance that he was badly wounded or killed on the battlefield … we could all be dead there.
A few months after the battle, 10 soldiers who fought that day received the Silver Star, the country's third-highest honor for their value, representing the highest number of rewards won in a single engagement since the Vietnam War. . On Monday, Shurer's Silver Star was elevated to the Medal of Honor when President Donald Trump awarded the former Green Beret the highest military distinction at a White House ceremony.
Trump smiled widely as he presented the prize to Shurer, tapping the old green beret on the shoulder of his blue uniform.
Behr and two other members of Shurer's unit who fought in the battle with him attended the ceremony, as well as two Afghans who fought alongside them. The improved price has felt right, said Behr.
"Knowing that he received the Silver Star, the same price as me, that did not really seem fair," Behr said the day before the ceremony. "So, to see him elevated and honored with the country's highest honor – there is no one else who could deserve it more, and I am extremely proud to know him."
For Shurer, a 37-year-old secret service agent since leaving the Army in 2011, the improved award was unexpected and resulted from a Pentagon scan launched in 2016 on rewards post-911 high-level combat.
On September 4, Shurer was summoned to the west wing. There, the president told the soldier that he would receive the medal of honor, said Trump during the ceremony.
"It was a moment that I will never forget," he said in the East Room of the White House to an audience of only senior military officials, secret service agents and family and friends of Shurer . "It's a beautiful story … for Ron, a good man."
Before meeting with Trump, Shurer said that he was unaware that his Silver Star was under study for an upgrade.
"Since we got the word, I felt all the emotions – pride, humility, a little embarrassed," he said. There is "so much to try and assimilate. It's certainly something you want to grow, but you would never have considered it in this conversation. "
In the end, said Shurer, the prize is to recognize the other men who fought alongside him on this mountain ten years ago.
"I want to dedicate this to the other men of ODA 3336," he said Monday just after receiving the award. "Without them, this medal of honor would never really have been possible. It was really a team effort.
& # 39; Total Chaos & # 39;
The Green Berets and a hundred Afghan commandos dispatched as part of this mission could realize that something was wrong soon after their arrival. The unit was forced to drop about 10 feet of hovering helicopters, which could not find a place to land, and had to climb an almost vertical cliff of more than 100 feet to reach the enclosure where their target was to be, according to soldiers who served in this mission.
Behr said that he immediately felt a sense of "fear."
Then the battle broke out – heavy fire of rifles and machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades swept over some 200 to 300 enemy fighters from the air positions.
"It was an onslaught of fires and explosions for a very long time," said Behr, then a first class sergeant and communications specialist for the unit. "Total chaos."
The ground commander of the operation, Lieutenant-Colonel Kyle Walton, then captain, divided the team into several assault elements, going up the cliff with Behr and several others. Down the cliff, some Afghan commandos were wounded. Shurer, the only doctor on the operation, started treating them.
"Blood everywhere," said Trump, describing the details of the battle. "It was a difficult, difficult situation."
Not long after, Walton remembered, the situation for him and the others at the top of the cliff was becoming untenable.
With his team out of control, in trouble and making victims, Walton was forced to call Shurer to his post.
"When I called Ron, there was a silence on the radio for a few seconds, because everyone understood what it meant – that it was bad," Walton said. "He had to climb a mountain under fire with two other members of the team. When he arrived, almost everyone was injured. We were under direct fire. We were stuck with almost nowhere to go except for this 100 foot cliff.
The Afghan interpreter of the unit, whom they knew as C.K., was fatally wounded. Behr was down and even after the arrival of the F-16 Fighting Falcons and the Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II, the soldiers continued to be hit by a combination of enemy fire and air raids. shrapnel from "nearby" strikes, bombs called near their own position.
Shurer went to work on Behr, calmly reassuring his friend that he would get there.
He checked the wounds of others. C.K. was not going to get there; the others were lucky to live if they could be evacuated. But Behr was in the worst shape, with a hip injury and another arm wound, Shurer recalls.
"Constant bleeding," said the former doctor. "I got to the point where … I just had to use my fingers to [a clotting agent] inside and then bandaged it as hard as possible. "
Shurer was hit twice – once in his helmet, leaving him momentarily stunned, then back into his arm. He continued to work.
Behr, in a state of morphine stupor, believed that he was going to die. He said a prayer.
Then "Ron slapped me in the face and said," Wake up. You are not going to die today, "he said. "I knew at that moment that I was going to get there."
"Quiet, collected and cool"
After hours of fighting, the unit still was not cleared.
Walton feared that his strength was about to be surpassed.
As the insurgents approached his position, Walton grabbed a grenade and called for a massive "close danger" strike, waiting to scare away his entire team.
They were "all ready to make the ultimate sacrifice," he said.
The bomb fell. And then he saw the image he would remember forever – Shurer's body covered the wounded he was working on during the fight.
"At that time, the strike we called on our own position exploded just above us and blocked the sun. As the dust settled, Ron Shurer was the first thing I saw on top of his injured teammates, protecting them even until the end when we had all accepted the fact that we were going to fight, "said l & # 39; officer. "Ron Shurer always thought of others."
The explosion of the bomb allowed the team to protect themselves enough to remove the wounded.
Shurer put together tubular nylon straps to form a makeshift sling to get Behr and the others off the cliff to bring them to the helicopters. They would survive.
Sgt. Matthew Williams, another Green Beret who served on this mission, acknowledged that Shurer's confidence was to allow the unit to survive the battle.
"His ability to handle an unmanageable situation and stay calm, sated and cool – has always been this guy, hanging out, coaching or otherwise," said Williams, still at the 3rd Special Forces Group. "It really came out at the worst moment and that's why we were all able to get out of this position as a team."
The mission may not have been a success, but Shurer has managed to ensure the survival of his fellow soldiers.
"We had already participated in fights, even for this deployment," he said. "Nothing like that before. Fortunately, we were all incredibly well trained, we trusted each other and everything worked for us that day. On our worst day. "
Shurer said Sunday that his comrades' appreciation of his actions that day was more important to him than receiving the Medal of Honor.
"It means a lot more," he said. "I know the women of these guys, their children. The simple fact of knowing it – it's very humiliating for them to say [he saved their lives]. Fortunately, it worked for me to help these guys.
Shurer, who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer last year, hopes his award will draw attention to the sacrifices made over the years by the Green Berets and that it continues to do today, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other African countries.
"J & # 39; hope [it will] reminds the American public about all the servicemembers we still have there, still doing the missions today, while quietly continuing their work, you do not ask for recognition ", has-it- he declares. "Whatever the small voice I receive, I hope I can just direct attention that way."
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Twitter: @CDicksteinDC
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