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SSG
Jamyn
Peterson
wouldn't
describe
himself
as a
hero, he
said.
But
during
his last
deployment
to the
remote
Oruzgan
province
in
Afghanistan
from
December
2006
until
January
2008,
the Army
Reservist
repeatedly
demonstrated
his
dedication
to his
comrades
and to
his
duties.
Peterson
was
recognized
for his
service
with a
Purple
Heart
and two
Bronze
Star
Medals,
one with
‘Valor.'
The
second
Bronze
Star
recognized
his
performance
as team
leader
as
“absolutely
phenomenal,”
according
to the
award
citation.
But it
was the
bravery
he
demonstrated
during
an
ambush
that
earned
him the
Bronze
Star
with
‘Valor.”
“I was
honored,”
Peterson
said of
receiving
the
medal,
“but I
was more
honored
that my
guys got
them.”
SSG Matt
Winters
and SGT
Ben
Mogenson
were
riding
with him
on June
16, 2007
when
their
convoy
was
ambushed
on the
road
home.
When a
bomb
exploded
just
feet
from
their
truck,
the
truck
leading
the
convoy
sped
ahead to
avoid
the
blast.
But they
took a
wrong
turn.
Peterson
and his
team had
a
choice:
stay on
the road
that led
back to
camp or
follow
their
comrades
the
wrong
way into
enemy
territory.
They
decided
to
follow
their
comrades.
It
wasn't
long
before
the
first
truck
was hit
by a
rocket
propelled
grenade
that
went
right
through
it,
forcing
everyone
out of
the
truck.
And
while
there
were
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only
six soldiers between their
two trucks, “there were over
100 bad guys. They were only
90 feet away. You could see
them. They were just lined
up,” he said. |
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“It was
like
hail
coming
down on
the
truck.
It was
like
incessant
bullets
raining,”
Peterson
said.
That's
when he
directed
his
vehicle
right
into the
middle
of the
ambush
to
provide
cover
and
support
to the
disabled
vehicle.
“The one
thing I
remember
was that
I could
have
stayed
in the
truck
and
gotten
killed,
but if I
got out
of the
truck I
was
going to
get
killed.
Pretty
much we
were
going to
die,” he
said.
“Life
flashes
before
you.”
But
Peterson
did get
out of
the
truck,
and was
able to
set up
behind
the hood
of the
disabled
vehicle
so he
could
provide
cover
while
the
other
soldiers
tended
to the
injured.
They
were
able to
hold the
enemy at
bay
until
Afghan
Army
soldiers
arrived
on the
scene to
help.
When the
enemy
saw the
two
trucks
with 15
Afghan
soldiers
in it,
they
started
to flee,
Peterson
said.
“They
kind of
saved
our
lives,”
Peterson
said.
“We'd
built
enough
of a
rapport,”
he said,
“that
they
came to
help
us.” It
was an
act
which
demonstrated
not only
their
loyalty,
but also
their
bravery,
he said.
Peterson
spoke as
highly
of
Winters
and
Mogenson.
“They
were
more
aware of
what was
going
on.
That's
more
brave
than
me,” he
said.
“Those
guys
were
aware
what was
going on
and
still
kept at
it. They
did a
great
job.”
Peterson,
however,
said he
is most
proud of
his work
with the
people
of the
Oruzgan
province.
Working
with the
local
community,
he and
his team
set up
the only
local
health
clinic
for
miles
around,
a radio
station,
as well
as a
primary
school
for the
local
children
that
teaches
reading,
writing,
arithmetic
and
Islam.
“Any
good we
wanted
to do,
we were
able to
do it,”
Peterson
said.
“Being
out in
the
middle
of
nowhere,
I
thought
I was in
a place
where I
belonged.”
Despite
the
enemy's
opposition
to the
school,
the
students
would
get up
at five
in the
morning
to walk
five
miles to
school.
They
would
have to
skirt
Taliban
checkpoints
to avoid
getting
beaten,
Peterson
said.
“They
are
worried
if
they're
going to
get
beaten
with
sticks
on the
way to
school,
and
they'd
still
come,”
Peterson
said.
The
enemy
“rocketed
us twice
while
the
students
were in
there,
but they
kept
coming.”
“It was
a pretty
amazing
experience.
A good
learning
experience,”
he said
of the
deployment.
“That's
one
thing
that I
take
away
from
this,
how the
human
being
can
adapt to
any
situation.”
Peterson
is still
an
active
reservist
training
troops
heading
to
Afghanistan.
“That's
what I
have a
passion
for now,
making
sure
that
these
troops
are
ready to
hit the
ground
when
they go
down
range,”
he said.
Peterson,
who will
likely
redeploy
shortly,
said
it's
important
to
remember
that the
army is
made up
of
individual
men and
women.
“If I
don't go
someone
less
experienced
will
have to
go.
There's
an
obligation
there,”
he said.
“Somebody's
got to
do it.”
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