Osprey crew awarded medals in historic fight | osprey, crew, marines - News Source for Jacksonville, North Carolina - jdnews.com
Osprey crew awarded medals in historic fight
December 16, 2011 6:06 PM
LINDELL KAY - DAILY NEWS STAFF
Four Marines were awarded medals Friday for action taken during the first engagement of enemy forces by an MV-22B Osprey.
Capts. Thomas Keech and Matthew Cave, Sgt. Justin Barfield-Smith and Cpl. John Cederholm received the Air Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device for Valor for actions during a June 12 mission.
After several ground missions failed to re-supply Marines fighting in the Sangin River Valley of Afghanistan, an Osprey was sent into the combat zone. The four-man crew of Keech, Cave, Barfield-Smith and Cederholm flew in with food, water, medical supplies and ammunition for the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, which had sustained heavy casualties throughout the day, according to award citations.
While unloading supply crates, the crew came under small arms and medium machine gun fire from Taliban forces. The pilots called in cover fire providing the crew enough time to unload supplies and re-board the aircraft.
The Osprey’s pilots told The Daily News on Friday that their aircraft was on the ground and under enemy fire for around three minutes, but it felt like time had ground to a halt and everything moved in slow motion.
As soon as the last crate was unloaded, the Osprey took flight with Cederholm firing the aircraft’s only weapon, a ramp-mounted machine gun, at approaching Taliban troops. Cederholm became the first Marine to ever engage the enemy from a MV-22B.
He downplayed the historical aspect of his mission Friday, saying he was just doing his job.
“I may have been the first, but I won’t be the last,” he said. “Others have done it since me and we will keep doing it as long as we have to.”
Cederholm’s father, Marine Col. Mike Cederholm, was present for the awards ceremony held at the VMM-264 hangar aboard New River Air Station.
“I’m so proud of my boy,” the elder Cederholm said of his son. “I’m in awe of these young men and women who continue to answer the call.”
Col. Cederholm said the four Marines receiving the award were representative of the around 250 members of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264.
Cpl. Cederholm’s mother, Rebecca Cederholm, said she didn’t realize until the citations were read at the ceremony that her son had gotten off the aircraft to help ground troops unload supplies.
Each member of the four-man crew exhibited courage during their mission, according to their individual awards.
Cave and Keech landed the Osprey on the first run and provided accurate enemy positions to friendly forces, which allowed support aircraft to suppress Taliban forces with rocket fire. Barfield-Smith helped unload supplies and called out targets to Cpl. Cederholm once the Osprey was back in the air.
The pilots and crew showed their “skillful airmanship, steadfast aggressiveness, and exemplary devotion to duty in the face of hazardous flying conditions,” their award citations read.
Receiving the Air Medal is not uncommon among flight crews, but being awarded the combat distinguishing device for valor is rare, said 1st Lt. Kristin Dalton, the director of public affairs for MCAS New River.
(I didnt post David Axe's rehash of this story because even though there was absolutely no information with which to slam the V22, he couldn't just grit his teeth and report on it without stuffing his treasure trove of weasel words in his attempt to continually taint public perception.)