By Capt. Christopher Colster USASOC
Public Affairs
Two Special Forces Soldiers received the Silver Star during an award ceremony July 2 at Fort Bragg, N.C. Capt. Kenneth Dwyer and Staff Sgt. Rodney Scalise were recognized with the military’s third highest valor award for their gallantry under enemy fire during a battle on Aug. 19, 2006, in Afghanistan.
“When we hear the words ‘gallantry and valor,’ we see it in everything they did that day. This does not happen frequently,” said Lt. Gen. Robert Wagner, commanding general of U.S. Army Special Operations Command. “The Silver Star is extremely rare. I only wish that some of these children were older and could better understand what heroes their fathers are.”
TWO MEDALS, ONE TEAM
Dwyer and Scalise, both of 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), were deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. According to the award citations, Scalise and Dwyer were conducting a combined Afghan National Army and U.S. Special Forces patrol in the vicinity of Yakden Village in the Cahar Cineh Region, Oruzgan Province, when they were ambushed by a numerically-superior anticoalition militia force. Both men’s actions in battle led to the survival of their Special Forces detachment.
With ANA and U.S. Forces pinned down in a U-shaped ambush, Dwyer moved his vehicle through small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire to draw enemy fire and establish a support fire position to provide relief for the pinned down Soldiers.
Dwyer then charged from his position to draw the attention of enemy fire to free the pinned down forces.
He continued to engage the enemy forces until friendly forces were again able to maneuver.
Dwyer returned to the position of the Operational Detachment 785 commander and assisted him in coordinating indirect fires. He then used various individual and vehicle-mounted weapons systems to fire into the enemy’s positions until he was critically injured by an air burst RPG.
Scalise, a Special Forces medic, also jumped into action upon contact and manned a 240B machine gun until he became aware of casualties. At that time, he dismounted his armored vehicle, moved more than 100 meters through heavy enemy fire and began triage of three casualties.
He quickly identified that the most severely wounded individual, an Airman attached to the detachment, had already succumbed to his wounds. Scalise then provided lifesaving first aid to Dwyer and another SF team member.
To protect both casualties, Scalise supervised their movement in the back of an open-bed truck to a more secure location. With the casualties out of the battlezone, Scalise returned to his vehicle and fought his way through a three-kilometer rolling ambush back to the team’s base camp where he continued to care for his two comrades.
During the ceremony, Dwyer thanked his family, teammates and others for their sacrifices that allowed him to perform so well. Most of all, though, Dwyer thanked his medic, Scalise, for saving his life.
“I don’t have the words or actions now, or for the rest of my life, to explain to Staff Sergeant Scalise how grateful I am,” said Dwyer.
Scalise acknowledged the personal significance of his Silver Star, but said he feels the award symbolizes the heroism of his team during its battle with enemy forces.
“To me this is all not necessary. I wasn’t the only one there who was doing the right thing; I just happened to be the medic,” said Scalise.
He also stressed Dwyer’s role in his own destiny. “The one most responsible for saving the life of Captain Dwyer is Dwyer himself. The real reason he is alive today is because he is extremely hard headed,” chuckled Scalise.
