1st SF Group awards Silver Star Medals.(UPDATE)

Members of the 1st Special Forces Group, Fort Lewis, Wash., gathered July 16 for the awarding of Silver Star Medals to two Soldiers, honoring each for bravery during Operation Iraqi Freedom last year.

Sergeant 1st Class Chad M. Kite and Staff Sergeant Christopher L. Federmann were presented the medals by Lieutenant General Robert W. Wagner, commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, and Brgadier General Michael S. Repass, commanding general of the U.S. Special Forces Command. Kite and Federmann were both awarded the nation's third highest medal for valor for their part of an operation to capture a suspected terrorist leader in the city of Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq, on June 3, 2007.

Both were part of the primary assault force, consisting of 17 soldiers--a mixture of U.S., coalition and Iraqi soldiers. A second assault force, consisting of nearly 30 U.S. and coalition soldiers, was staged in another part of the city waiting as the quick-reaction force.

The assault force came under heavy enemy sniper fire from multiple directions.

"As it unfolded, it was chaotic," said Kite. "We were surrounded."

Kite and Federmann, along with two other coalition soldiers, moved 100 meters under hostile fire. Kite suppressed the enemy, while Federmann threw multiple hand grenades, neutralizing the enemy threat. They called the second assault force forward to their location and immediately began taking fire.

Despite multiple attempts to neutralize the enemy, the threat could not be eliminated, so Kite and Federmann again moved under heavy enemy fire to engage the enemy.