Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for holding Iraqi forces at bay during an attack near Baghdad. The incident took place during the invasion of Iraq, in April 2003.
Prior to the attack, Smith was setting up a temporary prisoner-of-war holding area during the seizure of Saddam International Airport, when an Iraqi force of about 100 opened fire. Smith shot off about 400 rounds, allowing time for three wounded soldiers to be carried out and for his soldiers to regroup and mount an attack. Eventually, the Iraqi force was defeated, but not before Smith took a deadly enemy bullet.
Before deploying to Iraq, Smith had written to his parents, “There are two ways to come home, stepping off the plane and being carried off the plane. It doesn’t matter how I come home because I am prepared to give all that I am to ensure that all my boys make it home.”
Bush presented the award to Smith’s family at a ceremony at the White House in April 2005, exactly two years after his death.
