President Biden and American Gratitude Why hasn’t the White House announced a posthumous Medal of Honor for Alwyn Cashe yet? By James Freeman
“We have nothing to announce at this time,” says White House National Security Council assistant press secretary Patrick Evans via email today on the potential scheduling of a Medal of Honor ceremony for American hero Alwyn Cashe. This Thanksgiving week President Joe Biden should express the thanks of a grateful nation and honor the memory of the courageous Cashe.
A year ago this column noted the amazing sacrifices Cashe made for his fellow soldiers while sustaining fatal burns in Iraq in 2005. Even while on fire, he pulled his wounded comrades out of a Bradley fighting vehicle under furious attack.
Once the Pentagon had learned the full story of his selfless actions, both houses of Congress acted by unanimous consent last year to make Cashe eligible for the Medal of Honor, which normally must be awarded within five years of the actions giving rise to the award. Then-President Donald Trump signed the law making Cashe eligible and the presentation was expected this year.
But now it’s late November and for some reason the expected presidential action still hasn’t occurred. Last month the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board wrote:
The 16th anniversary of Alwyn Cashe’s heroism in Iraq came and went on Sunday… And yet, we’re still waiting for the Biden administration to get off its rear end and schedule a ceremony finally granting Cashe the honor he earned with his life.
… Raised in Seminole County, Cashe went straight from Oviedo High School to the U.S. Army in 1988. He served in the Gulf War and then in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
On Oct. 17, 2005, Sgt. 1st Class Cashe was a gunner on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Daliaya, Iraq, when it was hit by an improvised explosive device during a reconnaissance mission… Even after his clothes caught on fire, Cashe continued to pull other men clear of danger.
Cashe suffered burns over three-quarters of his body, and died three weeks later, on Nov. 8, 2005, at a burn center in Texas. He was 35 years old.
Cashe was awarded the Silver Star but, as the Los Angeles Times reported in 2014, his battalion commander began campaigning for a Medal of Honor after learning the full measure of Cashe’s heroism…
A doctor who treated Cashe said he and others agreed that “…if his actions don’t deserve the Medal of Honor, we had trouble imagining anything that…would.”
In May an Army Times headline announced, “Fort Stewart has a spot saved for Alwyn Cashe’s expected Medal of Honor.” Davis Winkie reported :
When you look at the top of the sign in front of the newly-renamed Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe Garden outside the 3rd Infantry Division headquarters on Fort Stewart, you quickly realize — it’s blank.
“We have intentionally left that blank,” confirmed Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto, the division’s commanding general, when Army Times asked about the sign. The spot at top remains vacant for a long awaited Medal of Honor.
Cashe’s expected award loomed over the Thursday morning gathering to rename the installation’s ceremonial garden for the Iraq War hero.
A report on the ceremony in the Lawton Constitution noted:
Kasinal Cashe White, Alwyn’s sister, spoke on behalf of the Cashe Family, who were greeted and honored with applause.
“To me, he was known as Al, my baby brother,” recalled White. “He was a country boy from Florida, loved the outdoors and loved his Family. Not only his blood Family, but the Army Family he gained while serving the Nation.”
In May Jeremy Redmon reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “Cashe’s family and friends are waiting for the Biden administration to announce the ceremony date” and noted:
Cashe cared deeply about the soldiers with whom he served, said Col. Jimmy Hathaway, who was Cashe’s company commander in Iraq.
“He loved his guys through and through,” Hathaway said, “and would do just about anything for them.”
The U.S. Army website has the details on that awful night n Iraq:
The blast ignited the fuel cell on the vehicle causing fuel to spew everywhere. The vehicle came to a stop and immediately erupted in flames.
Sergeant First Class Cashe was initially slightly injured and drenched with fuel. Despite his condition, he bravely managed to get out of the gunner’s hatch, crawl down the BFV and assist the driver out of the driver’s hatch.
The driver had been burned and Sergeant First Class Cashe extinguished his flames. The following minutes were crucial. Six soldiers and a translator were in the back of the Bradley. Flames had engulfed the entire vehicle from the bottom and were coming out of every portal. The squad leader inside the vehicle managed to open the troop hatch door to help the soldiers escape.
Without regard for his personal safety, Sergeant First Class Cashe rushed to the back of the vehicle, reaching into the hot flames and started pulling out his soldiers. The flames gripped his fuel soaked uniform. Flames quickly spread all over his body.
Despite the terrible pain, Sergeant First Class Cashe placed the injured soldier on the ground and returned to the burning vehicle to retrieve another burning soldier; all the while, he was still on fire.
Mr. Redmon writes of the moments after the blast for a soldier named Douglas Dodge:
When he regained consciousness, the smoke was so thick that Dodge couldn’t see anything except for the glow of the fire all around him. He swatted away the flames burning his face and used a crowbar to wedge open the Bradley’s troop hatch. He climbed through it and fell to his knees outside, dazed. That is when he saw Cashe. Dodge noticed fire had burned away Cashe’s uniform, leaving him only with boots, a helmet and body armor.
“Where are the boys?” Cashe yelled, according to a written statement Dodge submitted in support of the Medal of Honor for Cashe. “We gotta get the boys out.”
… Cashe’s sister remembers the first thing he said when she arrived to care for him at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.
“How are my boys?” he asked her.
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