Sargent First Class Paul Ray Smith

SFC Paul R. Smith

A normal birth, a normal family, a normal childhood, an extraordinary purpose. He was born to Donald and Janice Pvirre in El Paso, Texas on September 24, 1969. When he was still young, he and his family moved to Tampa, Florida, where he enjoyed the life of a public school student. He participated in football and worked as a carpenter's assistant. He also enjoyed tinkering with antique cars, taking them apart and building them up, and collecting rocks from the ocean. In 1988 he graduated from high school and a year later, joined the army.

His name, Paul Smith. To most of us, it means nothing, but to some, it meant the world. Once Paul enlisted in the army, he quickly finished basic training and was assigned in Germany. While he was there, he met his wife, Birgit, from whom he would father two children, David and Jessica. Later, Smith was sent as a United States soldier to the Persian Gulf War, followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and finally Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2002, he was promoted to Sargent First Class. Afterwards, in 2003, he was busy preparing his men for the Iraq war in Kuwait.

"Smith took a strict approach to training his men, ensuring that his platoon was proficient in handling weapons and prepared for urban combat." He was a leader and a hero, disputable by no one, and it was through his following actions that this really shined through.

In his final tour of duty, in the opening 48 hours of the Iraq War, Sargent First Class Paul Ray Smith marched his men towards Baghdad and was assigned to creating a prisoner-of-war holding area in a courtyard near Baghdad International Airport. This was "Objective Lion." During the obtaining of the POW camp, his company was ambushed with enemy fire. One soldier confirmed over one hundred enemies. Immediately, he organized a response to the enemies, but was outnumbered and outgunned. At the start of the battle, he called in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and with hand grenades and anti-tank weaponry (rocket launchers), started firing back. As the firefight proceeded, a mortar was launched at one of SPC Smith's vehicles, injuring it's three occupants. He staged the evacuation of the injured men, but the only manned vehicle left for their defense was the Bradley tank, which was low on ammo and being bombarded by enemy fire, therefore being forced to withdraw. Forced to deal first with the men in the tower, Smith climbed the wall of the tower, killing the men inside, and gaining control of it. Next, Smith goes back to the operational but unmanned vehicle that was hit by the mortar, manning it's fifty caliber machine gun and returning fire on the men outside the courtyard. His actions reduced the size of the enemy forces, but was fatally wounded in the process.

For his heroic actions, Sargent First Class Smith received the highest award possible for a US soldier, the Congressional Medal of Honor. By the end of his battle, he had destroyed half of his enemies, and saved the lives of countless men under his command. Without his quick action and strategies, who knows what would have happened. It is for these reasons that I consider SFC Smith a hero. Anybody in this world could look to him for inspiration as to the characteristics that they should hope to have. He was a father and husband that gave his life the noblest way I can think of: serving his country.