The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier’s Medal to First Lieutenant Joseph B. Wingard, United States Army, for heroism on 3 May 2010 at Forward Operating Base Kala Gush, Afghanistan. On that day, First Lieutenant Wingard rushed to a helicopter that crashed while landing at the Forward Operating Base. Arriving only fifty seconds after impact, he assessed the scene, while running with a litter towards the still moving wreckage and saw that the helicopter had rolled onto one side, was leaking fuel, and ammunition and high explosive mortar rounds from the helicopter’s cargo were strewn across the crash area. The engines were still running and the rotor head with ragged broken rotor blades was still turning violently causing the wreckage to shake. Once he reached the aircraft, he climbed onto the shaking fuselage and only feet from the still turning rotor blades, he helped create an opening to extract the injured aircrew. He helped pull the first two crewmen out of the wreckage, then turned his attention to disabling the still running helicopter while other responders extracted the last crewman. Leaning inside the damaged cockpit, he worked to remove the debris to gain access to the panels, and continued until another responder told him the last crewman had been extracted. Fist Lieutenant Wingard’s exemplary courage and heroism reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.