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A ‘fallen angel,’ then a Silver Star

Nov-30-2007 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune

The soldiers of Charger Company were rehearsing for another mission at their base near Iskandiriyah, south of Baghdad, when they got the call the afternoon of Jan. 28.

There was a “fallen angel,” a downed U.S. military aircraft, near Najaf, about 60 miles away. Get there as soon as possible, they were told, and secure the crew and the wreckage.

The Charger soldiers and their commander, then-Capt. Brent Clemmer, thought they’d be back to base by midnight.

But things proved to be a great deal more complicated than that near the village of Zarqa.

Over the next 24 hours, Clemmer would lead his men as they defended the downed helicopter, fought hundreds of dug-in, heavily armed fighters, and then provided medical and humanitarian aid to hundreds of wounded and shattered men, women and children when the battle was done.

For his bravery and leadership at Zarqa, the Army on Thursday presented Clemmer with the Silver Star, the military’s third-highest award for combat valor.

Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., the Fort Lewis commander, pinned the medal on Clemmer in a ceremony before the assembled troops of Clemmer’s old unit, the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment.

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