COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Fort Carson officials say a sergeant who intercepted one suicide bomber in Afghanistan will receive the Silver Star, the Army’s third-highest medal for combat valor.
Sgt. Andrew Mahoney with the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team will receive the award Monday. Mahoney tells The Gazette ( ) the award is bittersweet.
On Aug. 8, the brigade’s commander, Col. James Mingus, and others were walking to an Afghan provincial building. Soldiers say Capt. Florent Groberg and Mahoney threw a suicide bomber to the ground after he moved toward Mingus, who survived.
Maj. Christopher Thomas says a second suicide bomber struck from a different direction, killing command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Griffin of Laramie, Wyo.; Maj. Thomas Kennedy; and Air Force Maj. Walter Gray. USAID foreign service officer Ragaei Abdelfattah also was killed.
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Information from: The Gazette,
