(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant First Class Benjamin F. Jones, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Senior Weapons Sergeant with Operational Detachment Alpha 344 (ODA-344), Company A, 2d Battalion, 3d Special Forces Group (Airborne), in action against enemy forces in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, in Afghanistan, on 19 July, 2003. On that date, Sergeant First Class Jones was traveling in Afghanistan’s “Ambush Alley,” near Lwara on the Pakistan border, when his Humvee convoy came under attack. His group was driving up the side of a gorge where a mountain wall rose on one side and a 30-foot drop was on the other. He watched as bullets shattered the back window of the Afghan vehicle in front of him as he scanned the terrain looking for the enemy and a way out. He saw the Afghan soldiers in front of him jump from their vehicle and into a ditch as he tried to find the source of the gunfire. Seeing heads at the top of the ridge, he started strafing the area until he was himself, shot in the leg. After bandaging his wound he continued firing and rounded up the Afghans while also bandaging the Afghan with the worst wound. He then got the convoy facing back downhill and drove to safety. Sergeant First Class Jones’ gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.