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Awards
Link to Full Article with Photos
PAO staff report
MOSUL, Iraq – Two Task Force 2-1 Soldiers were recognized recently for their actions during a fierce firefight that claimed the life of one of their compatriots and left several others injured.
Staff Sgt. Jamie Johnson and Sgt. Kenneth Plantz, both from the 2nd Platoon of Company C, received bronze star awards with “V” devices to signify valor for combat actions that occurred Nov. 19, 2005 in the al Sukar section of Mosul.
The platoon was called to assist an Iraqi Police unit that had been engaged by small arms fire and grenades at a house in an area known to U.S. and Iraqi forces to support many criminals, insurgents and terrorists.
They encountered seven al Qaeda extremists barricaded in the house determined to fight to their death.
A firefight ensued with the platoon deploying to clear the house and using attack aviation to finish the enemy combatants.
A number of the American Soldiers were wounded in the fighting as the insurgents abandoned their normal “hit and run” tactics and fought back furiously from fortified positions inside the house.
Pfc. Christopher Alcozer was mortally wounded while evacuating injured Soldiers from the house.
Johnson, platoon sergeant for 2nd platoon, knocked out a key enemy position with a grenade, an action considered to have been the turning point in the battle. He was then able to orchestrate the evacuation of casualties that saved the lives of 11 Soldiers, including four with critical wounds.
Plantz, a fire team leader with 2nd Platoon, disabled a member of the al Qaeda group who was firing on the platoon from a fortified position and initiated the withdrawal from the house, carrying more than half of his wounded comrades to safety.
Seven terrorists were killed and a huge weapons cache was found including rockets, mortar rounds, fragmentation grenades, land mines, assault rifles and instructions and materials for constructing improvised explosive devices.
The awards for Johnson and Plantz were presented by Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, XVIII Airborne Corps commanding general, who told the audience simply, “We are in the presence of greatness” as he went through the platoon shaking hands with the Soldiers and thanking them for their service and heroism.
Other members of the platoon have also been recommended for awards for their valor.
Since mid-September, Task Force 2-1 has detained hundreds of suspected insurgents, supported two national elections, helped reestablish the Iraqi Army and police, and initiated more than a million dollars in civilian reconstruction projects.