Bush awards Medal of Honor for Iraq duty

updated 7:56 p.m. ET April 4, 2005

WASHINGTON - Outnumbered and exposed, Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith stayed at his gun, beating back an advancing Iraqi force until a bullet took his life.

Smith is credited with protecting the lives of scores of lightly armed American soldiers who were beyond his position in the battle, on April 4, 2003, near the gates of Baghdad International Airport.

On Monday, exactly two years after Smith’s death, President Bush awarded him the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest honor for valor.

“We are here to pay tribute to a soldier whose service illustrates the highest ideals of leadership and love of our country,” Bush said in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Bush said Smith “gave his life for these ideals in a deadly battle outside Baghdad. It is my great privilege to recognize his great sacrifice by awarding Sgt. Smith the Medal of Honor.”

Smith’s widow, Birgit, decided that the couple’s 11-year-old son, David, would accept the medal on his father’s behalf.

“It was a very easy decision for me because, after all, he’s the man of the house now,” she said Monday. She said she often hears from the men her husband saved, as well as their families. “They’re so grateful for what Paul did that day,” she said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Third Medal of Honor since Vietnam War
It is only the third Medal of Honor given for actions since the Vietnam War, and the first from the Iraq war.

Smith, 33, was the senior sergeant in a platoon of engineers during the 3rd Infantry Division’s northward sprint toward Baghdad.

FREE VIDEO Recalling a brother April 4: Sgt. Matthew Keller and Spc. Michael Seaman talk to "Today" show anchor Katie Couric about Sgt. Paul Smith. Today show

By the morning of April 4, elements of the division had reached Baghdad and captured Baghdad International Airport, a key objective. Encircled Iraqi militiamen and Special Republican Guard forces inside launched counterattacks.

Near the eastern edge of the airport, Smith, a veteran of the first Gulf War, had been put in charge of his unit — 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 11th Engineer Battalion — while his lieutenant went on a scouting mission.

Smith’s mission was mundane enough — turn a courtyard into a holding pen for Iraqi prisoners of war. The courtyard, just north of the main road between Baghdad and the airport, was near an Iraqi military compound.

Soon after Smith and some of his platoon began work, records show, one trooper spotted dozens of armed Iraqis approaching from beyond the gated walls of the courtyard. Another group of Iraqis occupied a nearby tower.

Smith summoned a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and he and his troops gathered near the courtyard gate to fight the counterattack. An M113 armored personnel carrier joined the fray.

MORE FROM MIDEAST & N. AFRICA

Mideast & N. Africa Section Front

Iraq says Iranian troops left disputed oil well Israeli leaders condemn mosque attack   Israel admits harvesting organs in ’90s Top Iranian dissident cleric dies at 87 Iraqi troops in standoff with Iran Iran admits prisoners were beaten to death NBC: U.S. fired on al-Qaida targets in Yemen Mom of US hiker in Iran asks for 3 to be freed Newsweek: Is Iran playing games with jailed hikers? Pentagon: Insurgents intercepted spy videos Mideast & N. Africa Section Front   Add Mideast & N. Africa headlines to your news reader: