'I don't think anybody joins up to win medals'

Valor rarely takes place in a bubble. Marine Corps Maj. William D. Chesarek Jr. understands that.

Make no mistake. He’s honored that he received Britain’s Distinguished Flying Cross — the equivalent to the American Silver Star — in March, from Queen Elizabeth II, no less. But his actions in aiding British soldiers in Iraq, and risking his own hide to get a wounded soldier out of harm’s way, weren’t all his own making or ever part of his intent.

“I don’t think anybody joins up to win medals or anything like that,” said Chesarek, a helicopter pilot who was providing support for British ground forces during an operation in the city of Al Amarah last year, when things took an unexpected turn. “It’s not something that guys seek out.”

Chesarek certainly didn’t think a queen’s commendation was coming his way when he set out from the British base on the night of June 10, 2006. As part of a military exchange program, Chesarek was deployed with British troops around the southern city of Basra.

That night, in his Lynx AH7 helicopter, and with British Royal Navy Lt. David Williams and British Royal Marine Lance Cpl. Max Carter in the cockpit with him, Chesarek set out to keep about 100 British soldiers with the 20th Armoured Brigade supported as they looked for an insurgent weapons cache.

As the operation stretched into the morning and the soldiers prepared to leave the area, a ground vehicle became disabled. And insurgents took advantage.

“It kind of delayed the process, and now it’s going from night to day,” Chesarek recalled. “They started taking more fire as well.”

While Chesarek and his guys in the air tried to find the sources of the insurgent attacks — he estimated it was the work of five to 10 groups of men — civilians started emerging to see the spectacle, making it more difficult for the helicopter to single out and fire back at the insurgents.

“There were a couple different crowds,” Chesarek said. “I think the insurgents were using them and hiding behind them.”

As the summer sun climbed higher into the clear Iraqi sky, attacks on the marooned ground forces increased, and one British soldier was shot in the head. Chesarek and his crew landed and evacuated the casualty.

During the chaos, Chesarek also drew enemy fire away from the ground troops and called in air support that helped disperse the insurgents during the incident.

As the chopper pulled away from the scene, an RPG whizzed by the aircraft.

“I remember looking behind me in the face of my door gunner and laughing briefly at the expression on his face after that barely missed,” Chesarek said.

Chesarek said he doesn’t recall any hesitation during that day, just the need to make sure his crew had their heads on straight.

There’s always the concern that the distance of a helicopter from the ground can lessen the urgency of the event going on below, he said.

“Oftentimes you get removed with the din of the helicopter,” Chesarek said. “You don’t deal with the sounds. All you hear is that helicopter.”

Despite his honor, Chesarek said that the Brits with him, Lt. Williams and Lance Cpl. Carter, were not recognized for their part. And that bothers him.

“I think it would’ve been nice,” he said. “I guess sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time and you’re able to make a difference. For each award, there’s 20 other instances where something just as special happens. Oftentimes, it doesn’t get recognized.”