Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe, a dedicated and heroic soldier, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary bravery and selflessness during the Iraq War.
Cashe’s actions, which cost him his life, demonstrated exceptional heroism when he risked everything to save his fellow soldiers after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device (IED) on October 17, 2005.
Cashe joined the U.S. Army in 1989 and served in various roles across the globe, including stints in Korea, Germany, and the Gulf War.
His career advanced as he became a respected leader, eventually serving as a platoon sergeant with the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division in 2004. By 2005, he was on his second tour in Iraq, where he found himself at the front of a convoy when disaster struck.
The convoy, conducting a routine clearance patrol, was caught in a dust storm when Cashe’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle hit an IED. The blast ruptured the fuel cell, and the vehicle quickly caught fire, trapping six soldiers inside.
Despite being covered in fuel and suffering severe injuries, Cashe risked his life to rescue the trapped soldiers. He managed to pull them from the burning vehicle, even retrieving the body of an Iraqi translator who had been killed. Cashe suffered second- and third-degree burns over 72% of his body.
He was airlifted to an Iraqi hospital and later transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, where he passed away from his injuries on November 8, 2005.
His heroic actions did not go unnoticed, and in 2005, he was nominated for a Silver Star. However, the push to award him the Medal of Honor gained momentum after more was learned about his courage.
In 2019, retired Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, and former Special Forces officer Michael Waltz began advocating for the upgrade of his award.
This effort culminated in the passage of a bill in 2020 that allowed for the Medal of Honor to be awarded for actions taken during Operation Iraqi Freedom, waiving the five-year statute of limitations.
On December 16, 2021, Cashe’s widow, Tamara, accepted the Medal of Honor on his behalf from President Joe Biden. At the ceremony, President Biden praised Cashe as “a soldier’s soldier” who “literally walked through fire for his men.”
Cashe became the seventh soldier from Operation Iraqi Freedom to receive the Medal of Honor and the first African American since the Vietnam War.
