Alwyn Cashe to Be Awarded with Medal of Honor as First Black Recipient Since 9/11

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Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe is set to become the first Black service member to be awarded aMedal of Honorsince 9/11.

Cashe will be posthumously awarded the honor on Thursday, when his widow, Tamara, will accept the award on his behalf,The Washington Postreported. The late veteran died at age 35 on Nov. 8, 2005 after suffering burns when he rescued his fellow soldiers from a Bradley Fighting Vehicle that had been hit with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq.

While Cashe had been riding ahead of the vehicle before it was struck, he jumped into the flames to rescue six soldiers, plus an Iraqi interpreter, who had been trapped inside when the vehicle was hit, according toU.S. Army website.

He was drenched in fuel while he entered the vehicle at least six separate times to rescue those inside, according to thePost. Cashe suffered burns on about 72% of his body, and later died of his injuries at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, per the U.S. Army.

“Throughout the entire engagement, Cashe repeatedly placed himself in extreme danger to protect his team and to defeat the enemy,” the U.S. Army website states. “Cashe’s extraordinary heroism and selflessness beyond the call of duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.”

Cashe was initially awarded a Silver Star for his heroic actions, but thanks to an online campaign, his award was changed to the Medal of Honor — the highest military valor award in the nation — according totheTodayshow.

“This is probably the clearest-cut case of a Medal of Honor action that I’ve ever seen,” Vietnam veteran and historian Douglas Sterner told thePost.

Cashe’s sister, Kasinal Cashe White, spoke totheTodayshowabout her brother and what his late honor means to her.

“It’s important that he receives it as a soldier, for what he did. I don’t ever want anybody to say, ‘He got it because he was a Black man and there was a push,’ " she toldTodayin November 2020. “No. He got it because he deserved it.”

source: people.com