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Summit Soldier Labbe Receives Silver Star
(January 31, 2011) |
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U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua R. Labbe, from Stonington, Conn., and an infantry squad leader with 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment from the 10th Mountain Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, received the Silver Star during a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Khilligay, Afghanistan, Feb. 16. Labbe is credited with saving the life of one soldier and protecting numerous soldiers during a complex attack which lasted more than six hours.
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KHILLIGAY, Afghanistan – U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua
R. Labbe of the 10th Mountain Division's 1st
Brigade Combat Team received the Silver Star
medal, the nation's third highest award for
valor in combat, Feb. 16, during a ceremony at
Forward Operating Base Khilligay, in northern
Afghanistan.
Labbe, from Stonington,
Conn., an infantry squad leader with 1st
Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, is credited
with saving the life of one soldier and
protecting numerous soldiers during a complex
attack which lasted more than six hours.
“We are here to recognize the sacrifice and
courage of the soldiers and leaders in Shafi
Khel on Oct. 6,” said Lt. Col. Russell Lewis,
1-87 commander, said during the ceremony. “Sgt.
Labbe is a hero, he didn't go out on Oct. 6 to
earn an award — he just did his job. Except his
job that day called for extraordinary actions
and he stepped up and helped his comrades.”
On Oct. 6, 2010, Labbe's platoon was
conducting a joint combat patrol in the village
of Shafi Khel, Baghlan province, Afghanistan
with their Afghan national security force
partners.
While establishing an
observation post on a hill top, Labbe and
soldiers from 1st Squad as well as the mortar
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came under enemy fire. Initially the enemy
attacked the soldiers of 3rd Platoon with
rocket-propelled grenades. |
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“One truck of ours was hit by an RPG,” Labbe said. “When I
saw that truck get hit, I immediate started suppressing with
the mortar system.”
Over the next four hours, the
platoon came under RPG and small arms fire. Labbe directed
the soldiers on the hill to return fire with multiple
weapons systems. The hill top then came under sniper fire,
forcing Labbe and the other soldiers to take cover in holes
they had dug.
Later, Labbe was told to collapse
their position on the hill top and return to the base of the
hill where the remainder of his platoon was located.
“I had to get out of my hole and run to the other hole
where the mortar system was,” he said. “When I got to the
hole, I got everyone one up, got them online, and got
everybody ready. As soon as we got out of the hole we got
sniper fire again.”
With three of the five soldiers
making it across the hill to the other hole safely, Labbe
and Pfc. Parker Radatz had returned to the mortar hole due
to the accuracy of the sniper fire. Labbe and Radatz
gathered themselves and attempted to get across the hill
again.
“I ran to my hole thinking he was right
beside me, little did I know he had actually tripped and
fell,” Labbe said. “I turned around and I saw him trying to
get his composure to get back up, but he couldn't because
there were multiple rounds impacting all around him.”
With complete disregard for his own safety, Labbe ran
across the exposed hilltop to the fallen soldier through
enemy fire, picked him up and brought him to safety.
“I just did what I had to in that situation,” Labbe
said. “He has people that care for him and love him, I knew
I had to go pick him up and get him to safety. It's my job
to take care of my men.”
Later, as the platoon moved
down the road the tow bar pulling the battle-damaged vehicle
snapped. While Labbe and three soldiers began repairing the
tow bar, once again the platoon came under small arms fire
from nearby rooftops and walls. Labbe immediately returned
fire with his M4 rifle.
The small arms fire
discontinued for a moment, allowing Labbe to run back to his
vehicle to retrieve an M249 machinegun. He moved to a
position allowing him to pull security down the alley way
and the walls where they had received fire from. At this
point, the enemy hopped over the walls and began engaging
the platoon again.
With the enemy less than 20 meters
away, Labbe stood completely exposed on the road and
continued to shield the recovery crew as he fired the
machinegun from his shoulder. After expending the 200-round
ammunition pouch, he fired the weapon using his 30-round M4
rifle magazines.
“I engaged them for roughly two
minutes and continued to pull security until the tow bar was
fixed,” he said.
Once the vehicle was recovered, 3rd
Platoon continued down the road where they were ambushed.
While still in close contact with the enemy, another vehicle
suddenly plunged into an irrigation ditch. Labbe immediately
dismounted and moved under fire to the stuck vehicle.
He coordinated the evacuation and recovery of the
vehicle while still being engaged with RPG and machinegun
fire from compounds and tree lines from less than 100 meters
away. Labbe remained exposed to the enemy until the rest of
the platoon recovered the vehicle and mounted back in their
trucks.
“I feel honored to receive the Silver Star,”
he said. “However I don't think just my actions alone
allowed us to be victorious that day. It was the whole
platoon. Everyone who was out there that day played an
important role in getting everyone back here alive. I
couldn't have done what I did that day without my brothers
in 3rd Platoon.”
Over the course of more than six
hours of close combat, Labbe went above and beyond the call
of duty as a squad leader.
“Today we recognize his
actions because they are not common,” said Lewis. “His
actions that day distinguished him from others and truly
impacted the outcome of the fight in Shafi Khel.” |
Article and photo by Army Sgt. Blair Neelands
1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public
Affairs
Copyright 2011 | |
Provided
through DVIDS
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