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MCLEAN, VA – Two fallen Navy petty officers became the 18th and
19th recipients of the National Intelligence Medal for Valor in a
July 22, 2013 ceremony at the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence here.
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Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper, left,
posthumously awards the National Intelligence Medal for Valor to
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jared Day's parents, Karolyn Kimball
Day and Sam Day of Salt Lake City, in a ceremony at the Office of
the Director of National Intelligence in McLean, Va., July 22, 2013.
(DOD photo by Terri Moon Cronk)
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper, left,
posthumously awards the National Intelligence Medal for Valor to
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Strange's mother, Elizabeth
Strange of Philadelphia, in a ceremony at the Office of the Director
of National Intelligence in McLean, Va., July 22, 2013. (DOD photo
by Terri Moon Cronk)
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 The families of Petty Officers 1st Class Jared W.
Day and Michael J. Strange received the posthumous awards.
Calling Day and Strange “two young heroes who gave the last full
measure of devotion to their country,” Director of National
Intelligence James R. Clapper presented the medals in front of a
standing-room-only gathering of families, friends and shipmates.
Day, a few days shy of his 29th birthday when he died, was a
tactical communicator, and Strange, 25, was an information
operations operator. Both were assigned within Naval special
operations when they responded Aug. 6, 2011, to enemy forces
escaping from a nearby raid in an enemy-contested valley of eastern
Afghanistan, the award citations read.
Knowing the valley
served as an enemy safe haven with no sustained coalition force
presence, and knowing that their mission was to interdict and ambush
an armed enemy force, Day and Strange volunteered to pursue an enemy
known to have attacked and killed coalition forces with plans for
future attacks, the citations said.
Both “selflessly chose to interdict the
fleeing enemy when [they] boarded the helicopter with [their]
teammates,” the citations said, but the aggressive mission ended
tragically when their helicopter was struck by a rocket-propelled
grenade, causing it to crash and killing all on board.
Twenty-eight other Americans, eight Afghans and a military working
dog were en route to assist an Army Ranger unit engaged in a
firefight with Taliban forces west of the Afghan capital of Kabul,
Clapper added.
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“For each of them, the courageous
choice to ride to the sound of gunfire was one they'd made
many times before,” he told the audience.
The accident was the largest single loss of American life
during the Afghanistan campaign and the greatest single loss
of life ever suffered by the U.S. Special Operations
community, Clapper said.
The U.S. intelligence
community looks up to Day and Strange for their heroism and
for “setting the example for our entire community,” Clapper
said. “They served at an amazing nexus of the Navy, special
operations and the intelligence community.”
Serving
with the Navy SEALS, he added, Day and Strange were unique,
elite and truly remarkable young men.
“We continue to
look to them as selfless examples of service to this great
nation,” Clapper said. “They were the best of us.”
Both men are now part of the history of this country, he
said, calling them “a legacy of sacrifice toward something
larger than just oneself.”
Sam Day and Karolyn
Kimball Day of Salt Lake City received the medal for valor
for their son.
“He was just amazing,” Karolyn Kimball
Day said of her son, adding that he was only 6 years old
when he declared he wanted to join the Navy, and did so when
he was 19.
“He was always the funny one” she said.
“He always got up with a smile, and went to bed with a
smile. He always took the underdog under his wing.”
“[The National Intelligence Medal for Valor] is a great
honor, and it shows how much Michael was appreciated,” said
Elizabeth Strange of Philadelphia, who accepted the medal on
his behalf.
Michael Strange also joined the Navy at a
young age, his mother said, adding that she and Michael's
father had to sign papers when he was 17 to allow him to go
into the Navy when he graduated from high school at age 18.
“It was a decision he made, and he was really
determined,” she added.
Strange's family didn't
believe he wanted to join the military at first. His mother
said he wasn't one to arrive at school on time, but he
scored very high on tests and was excited when the Navy told
him about the jobs he could perform.
“He meshed well
with the Navy, [and] I couldn't believe it,” his mother
said. “He excelled at it.”
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2013
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