The White House is set to announce that Sgt. Maj. Pat Payne will receive the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military's highest decoration for valor, two sources confirmed to Connecting Vets.
Payne served in the U.S. Army's counter-terrorism unit, Delta Force. On Oct. 22, 2015, Payne and Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler were part of an operation alongside the Kurdish Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) north of the town of Hawija, Iraq, a known hotbed for Islamic extremism. Kurdish CTG has been trained by, and often works alongside Delta operators.
The mission was to raid a prison facility run by ISIS and free prisoners of war, some of whom were captured members of the Iraqi security services. POW rescue missions are one of the main reasons that Delta Force was created, as envisioned by the unit's founder Col. Charlie Beckwith.
After Delta operators breached the entrance to the prison, the joint American-Kurdish team came under small arms fire. Wheeler and Payne ran toward gunfire to gain a foothold in the building and assault forward. Wheeler was shot and killed, the first American killed in action in the fight against ISIS.
https://connectingvets.radio.com/articles/delta-operator-to-receive-the-medal-of-honor-for-deadly-raid?fbclid=IwAR3yO2KzcQeMuaGGq02qOLHB8bdUcFQW_cRr6JdP-Vy8NdDQP8wFMNLfia0
