"LT Tyler Jensen repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to save a fellow soldier who was wounded. His courage, superlative combat skills and tactical leadership under overwhelming direct enemy fire were instrumental in preventing the enemy from overrunning his patrol."
On 27 JAN 2007, LT Jensen was on a patrol, embedded with a few Americans and 30+ Afghan National Army soldiers. His mission was to train the ANA but on this day the Taliban had repeatedly ambushed them and the good guys had survived. Trial by fire.
But the Taliban was persistent and attacked again, this time with more than 120 insurgents, hitting another US Soldier in the leg. The young LT from Provo, Utah noted bullets hitting all around his fellow soldier and knew it would be a matter of time before the enemy got lucky. He rushed into the hail of bullets pulling the American to safety.
But the ANA troops he was "training" were cut off from their American allies. The ANA Commander’s flight instinct kicked in and the LT’s interpreter had frozen into an instinctive fetal position. Unless the ANA could maneuver around, it would be untenable for reinforcements to get in to help.
The LT’s own training kicked in. He used the hand and arm signals his NCO’s had been teaching the Afghanis to lead troops in the battle for their lives. Language barriers become moot when a leader of men has taught the troops well. They performed well, killing dozens of Taliban insurgents and EARNING the LT a Silver Star, the first for a Utah Resident in 20 years goes to a Utah National Guard Lieutenant awarded 19 June 2008.
War on Terror News©2007-2008, ARM, all rights reserved. http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/
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