When he saw a rocket-propelled grenade explode near fellow Green Beret Staff Sgt. Richard Harris during the battle following a 2011 ambush in Afghanistan, then-Staff Sgt. Bell thought: “I’m pretty sure Rich is dead.”
Harris was not dead; the blast against a wall about 7 feet behind him was closer to the beginning of his fight than its end. After momentarily losing consciousness, he recovered and valiantly fought, largely to protect his fallen team leader, Master Sgt. Danial “Slim” Adams. He braved close-range enemy fire multiple times to protect Adams from the insurgents, even after realizing Adams had died from his wounds.
Nearly five years later, during a June 3 ceremony at Fort Carson, Colorado, now-Sgt. 1st Class Harris received a Silver Star Medal — the Army’s third highest valor award — for charging into open territory with a grenade launcher in one hand and an M4 firing in the other.
“It does bring a little bit of closure,” Harris said, according to a 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) press release describing the ceremony and the Sept. 13, 2011, attack in Wardak province, Afghanistan. “This ceremony has ended up being a reunion, and a celebration of [Adams], his life and his sacrifice.”
Bell — now a chief warrant officer 2 — remembered Adams as a “true leader,” “amazing man” and “wonderful husband and father.”
Harris’ Silver Star citation reads: “SSG Harris’ continuous noble actions during the fight were the primary reason his fallen Team Sergeant’s body did not fall into enemy hands. Despite the daunting nature of the events, SSG Harris displayed incomparable valor, bearing true faith to the ideal of ‘never leaving a fallen comrade,’ and leading his Team in regaining the initiative in a perilous situation.”
A spokesman for 10th Group, Lt. Col. Sean Ryan, said the unit was unsure why it took five years to recognize Harris. Attempts to reach Harris for comment were unsuccessful; Ryan said he deployed shortly after the ceremony. Other team members are also deployed.
Accounts of the battle come from the citation and the10th Group press release. First names were not provided by the Army to protect Special Forces operatives.