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 Specialist Jeremiah A. Church, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a reconnaissance platoon machine gunner with Troop B, 5th Squadron, 73d Cavalry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, during combat operations in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, on 8 August 2006, in Iraq. The gallant actions of Specialist Church, without thought for his own safety, was in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 82d Airborne Division, and the United States Army.
NARRATIVE TO ACCOMPANY AWARD:
Specialist Jeremiah A. Church distinguished himself by exceptional valorous conduct as a reconnaissance platoon machine gunner with Troop B, 5th Squadron, 73d Cavalry (Airborne Reconnaissance), 82d Airborne Division, FOR Caldwell, Iraq, on 8 August 2007 during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Specialist Church’s platoon was conducting an intelligence gathering operation approximately 22 kilometers north of Baquba, Iraq, near the village of Naqeeb and reconnoitering support by fire positions for another troop in support of an upcoming squadron operation. As the convoy of 11 gun trucks moved out, Specialist church, serving as an M2 .50 caliber gunner, was on the gun of the second truck, following an Iraqi Police pickup with the village mayor and his armed escort. As they maneuvered down a restrictive canal road, the IP pickup and Specialist Church’s vehicle were engaged by intense, accurate fire from a DSHKA 14.7-mm machine gun mounted in a technical vehicle 200 meters north of his position. Rounds impacted on and around his vehicle, destroyed the pickup and killed one IP instantly. Specialist church immediately engaged, killing two insurgents. Simultaneously, large volumes of fire erupted from the trenches that surrounded his platoon’s position. Because of terrain, none of the other vehicles could engage with accurate fires so Specialist Church was now in an intense firefight with over 30 well-entrenched insurgents that controlled the dominant terrain and were heavily armed and well supplied. Specialist Church identified three more insurgents in a nearby canal and killed them with a short burst of fire. While engaging, he was shot through his left wrist by a 7.62 mm. round but ignored the pain and continued his stalwart defense. Although suffering from arterial bleeding and intense pain, he continued to load and fire at the enemy. While reloading with one hand, he put his wounded hand into the turret so that the forward observer could apply a pressure dressing to cover the hole in his wrist. Now reloaded, with rounds bouncing inside of his turret, Specialist Church began again engaging the DSKHA that now had his platoon pinned down. This allowed them valuable time to turn around on the canalized road, kill three more insurgents and take the gun out of action. His wrist still bleeding profusely, Specialist Church applied a tourniquet to himself and then, completely disregarding his own safety, exited the truck under intense fire and gathered more ammunition to reload his machine gun, firing his M4 as he dismounted. Specialist Church continued engaging and destroying enemy forces, now firing from trenches, bunkers, tree tops and buildings, for another few minutes until he passed out from pain and blood loss. The forward observer manned his machine gun and while continuing the engagement, Specialist Church regained consciousness and started gathering and passing ammunition to the new gunner. Twice he dismounted his vehicle under a murderous hail of gunfire to gather more ammunition. Specialist Church’s heroic actions were directly responsible for destroying a DSHKA, 11 insurgents and covering other Paratroopers displacement under heavy fire even though he was severely wounded. His courage under fire is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflects distinct credit upon himself, Task Force Headhunter, the 82d Airborne Division, and the United States Army.