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 Corporal Mjoshua R. Laughery, United States Army, for exceptionally valorous action to the United States as a Devil Company Team Leader, 2d Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Task Force WARRIOR, Afghanistan, from 24 October 2010 to 23 October 2011, during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM XI. Corporal Laughery’s actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect distinct credit upon him, Task Force PATRIOT BRIGADE, the Combined Joint Task Forces-Afghanistan, and the United States Army.
NARRATIVE TO ACCOMPANY AWARD:
Corporal Mjoshua R. Laughery, United States Army Team Leader, was forward deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREECOM XI from 24 October 2010 to 23 October 2011 as part of Task Force WARRIOR. On 12 September 2011, 2d Platoon, Devil Company, the battalion’s Counter-Improvised Explosive Device platoon, came under sudden, intense enemy fire while conducting a battle damage assessment patrol in Mashin Kala village, Wardak Province, Afghanistan. While under close-range enemy fire, a U.S. squad maneuvered on insurgent forces and cornered them in a large underground cellar complex of several rooms. Soldiers used smoke and fragmentation grenades to neutralize the insurgents. As Soldiers started to enter the cellar opening to clear the rooms, one insurgent sprinted from the cellar into the squad, firing his AK-47 at very close range towards the squad’s security perimeter. The insurgent collided with the Platoon Sergeant, and simultaneously deployed a grenade in an attempted suicide attack. The grenade detonated in very close proximity to the Platoon Sergeant and Senior Team Leader, wounding them and causing life-threatening injuries to the Section Sergeant and Platoon Medic. Corporal Laughery, recognizing that every NCO in his support channel was wounded, immediately and without orders coordinated for Casualty Evacuation and additional security from Devil Company’s Quick Reaction Force. Corporal Laughery then ran from his truck to establish a Casualty Collection Point. He then cleared through the large qualat above the cellar to ensure local security and allow for further treatment of his wounded brothers. Corporal Laughery grabbed another Soldier, and led the team into the dark cellar complex, into the direction of enemy fire, where he fought in an extremely confined and dangerous environment. He engaged and killed one insurgent at a distance of one meter. The platoon ran out of fragmentation grenades, and Corporal Laughery directed a Soldier to employ an incendiary grenade into the cellar complex. After the effects of the grenade subsided, and with an extreme disregard for his life, Corporal Laughery again led the team to clear the cellar complex, where he engaged another insurgent while simultaneously receiving automatic rifle fire from less than twenty feet away. The team finally killed all the insurgents in the complex, and Corporal Laughery conducted non-standard ground casualty evacuation of the wounded troops to Combat Outpost SULTAN KHEL while under continued threat of attack from an identified enemy rocket-propelled grenade team. Corporal Laughery’s extreme courage and aggressiveness, with incredible courage under fire, led to the destruction of a Taliban insurgent cell. His extraordinary bravery under fire undoubtedly saved the lives of two of his fellow Soldiers.