A special forces hero has been denied his opportunity to be awarded the Medal of Honor and was awarded the Silver Star instead, SOFREP reports. Staff Sgt. Earl D. Plumlee – a Green Beret – was credited with fighting off 10 Taliban attackers in Afghanistan after a car bomb ignited outside of his military base.
“I kind of have a lot of trust in the system, but if somebody says it’s broken, maybe it is,” Plumlee told The Washington Post. “But I’m always leery of decisions like this getting reversed.”
His commanding officers wrote in that he deserved to be awarded the Medal of Honor, but the Army’s Senior Decorations Board recommended the Silver Star, an award considered two levels lower.
“I think there are plenty of Medal of Honor recipients out there whose actions surpassed mine,” he humbly said. “But I think a downgrade to the Distinguished Service Cross wouldn’t have got everyone stirred up.”
The full original report can be read on SOFREP’s website linked here.
July 5th, 2016