Heroes 2011
'It was heavy machine-gun fire'
The enemy attack and ensuing seven-hour battle weren’t nearly as surprising for Air Force Staff Sgt. Kenneth Walker III as the medal he earned for his actions that day.
Walker — a member of the Washington State Air National Guard — was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” for repeatedly putting himself in harm’s way during a fierce firefight in Afghanistan’s Ghosleck Valley on May 24, 2009.
But he had no idea that he had even been nominated for the medal until Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz pinned it on his chest during a September 2010 ceremony in Washington, D.C. Walker was there to receive another award: He had been named one of the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year.
“I had no clue,” Walker said about the medal, earned during his fifth deployment to Afghanistan. “I was nervous ... definitely proud because of the people I work with.”
Walker is a tactical air control party member, the liaison between troops on the ground and the vital air support they rely on from above. In early 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan and was attached to Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment (Task Force Spader).
On May 24, he was on a patrol to an Afghan village, the site of previous heavy enemy contact. Walker said he had butterflies in his stomach, knowing that there would likely be another fight that day.
They made it into the village, but started hearing Taliban radio chatter. Village elders said they couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be an attack and urged the military to leave. The only way out of the village, Walker said, was a roughly 40-yard bridge over a river. Most of the U.S. forces made it over the bridge with their Afghan counterparts, but the enemy opened fire as the last men — including Walker — tried to cross.
Walker was part of an eight-man group trapped in the village, and under fire.
“It was heavy machine-gun fire [and] small arms,” Walker said.
The Taliban “had good eyes” on the Americans.
Walker and fellow TACP Staff Sgt. John Robertson began communicating over their radios to pilots in Army attack helicopters and Air Force A-10 aircraft. Robertson called in aircraft to show the enemy “we’ve got aircraft on station,” Walker said. But it didn’t stall the attack.
Walker and Robertson were separated from their ground commander during the initial scramble for cover, but needed to link back up. Walker said the commander decided to come to them, and did so at a full sprint.
Walker stepped out into the open to help provide cover, and two enemy fighters opened fire on him. The bullets struck the wall next to him, spraying shrapnel into his hand, arm, neck and face.
“It knocked me on my back,” he said, describing a mixture of shock and pain.
Robertson reached out and pulled him behind the wall.
Walker’s right hand was too numb to use, so he switched his weapon to his left hand, stuck his head back out and shot and killed both of the Taliban who had fired on him.
Walker continued to feed radio messages to Robertson, who coordinated the airstrikes.
The command group was finally able to sprint across the bridge to join up with their patrol. Walker spotted more enemy while running, and began firing. He found an infantryman firing an M-240 machine gun, and asked to use it to help mark the enemy’s location for the pilots above. A helicopter pilot was able to follow the line of tracer rounds, and made two strafing runs. A 500-pound bomb dropped from an A-10 finally silenced the fire.
Walker said following the flow of the battle, interpreting calls from his fellow troops and then coordinating airstrikes is difficult.
“There’s so much going on at once,” he said. “You have to listen to what they’re saying” and paint the environment in your mind.
“It’s not that easy, but we do have the tools and skills to ... point the aircraft in the right direction.”
He said he didn’t think his injuries were serious enough to seek medical attention, so he “put some peroxide on it, took a nap, and we went out again the next day.”
After returning from deployment, however, he began experiencing problems with his hand and eventually had to have surgery.
In January, Walker was preparing for his sixth deployment to Afghanistan. He said each one gets tougher as his four children get older.
Publicity of his award also clued his family in to how dangerous his job can be.
“This one’s tough,” he said of the upcoming deployment. “They’re a little older now and they ask a lot of sincere questions.”
