Heroes 2006

Valor.

For more than four years now, American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have been fighting the war on terror. While politicians and pundits argue the merits and demerits of strategy and prosecution, the military man or woman has been slugging it out, every day, with a foe who is often unseen.

Day after day, they move among the chaos in Afghanistan or Iraq, trying to build bridges, to deliver supplies, to do as they have been asked to help build a stable society where there was none.

They move among the people, wanting to trust but knowing they cannot. They endure dust storms and boredom punctuated by moments of fury, and months of long, sleepless nights away from their loved ones.

Many have died or been maimed. And many, living and dead, have met the test of fear and violence with uncommon valor.

It’s hard for those who’ve not known war to capture what it is that these warriors experience. Where we could, we’ve left the talking to the warfighter. When asked or prodded about heroic deeds, the soldier or Marine will listen almost quizzically, as if wondering why you bothered to ask. “It’s just my job. … That’s what I’m paid to do.”

In interview after interview, these servicemembers played down their own deeds. They spoke only of their responsibility to their fellow fighter and the privilege of wearing the uniform.

An admirable humility shines through. They point out that they were part of a team; that someone else was the real hero, and even when devastated by injuries, expressing only that they wish to be back in the fight, because they have friends there — friends they would never let down.

Yet, they are heroes.

In this special section, Stars and Stripes, the independent newspaper authorized by the Department of Defense, looks at the deeds that have earned medals of valor for the servicemembers profiled in these stories. Those included stand as surrogates for the thousands of others so recognized.

Stripes focused on the highest honors given for valor in a war zone, irrespective of rank. This section pays tribute to the warfighter.

These vignettes aim to delve below the surface of press releases and welcome-home parades to describe what earning a medal for valor is really like, and to honor the living and dead who earned them.

This publication captures but a glimpse of the deeds U.S. servicemembers have performed in distant lands. We honor all those who persevere in the cause of liberty.

— Patrick Dickson,
Stars and Stripes

Hear Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert Maldonado describe the actions that led to his Navy Achievement Medal:

Read our profile of PO3 Maldonado

Tending to a devastated land: U.S. military personnel swooped into Pakistan in 2005 to provide aid after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake devastated the Kashmir region Oct. 8.

A fitting finale: The Pakistan relief effort was the final mission for the most decorated MASH in the U.S. Army.

For more profiles of heroic U.S. servicemembers, see the inaugural edition of Heroes, published in June 2005.