WASHINGTON — (CNN) The nation’s highest medal for valor in combat, the Medal of Honor, will be awarded this month to a U.S. Navy SEAL for his role in rescuing an American civilian being held hostage by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
President Barack Obama will award Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers the honor for what the White House called “his courageous actions” and “selfless service” during the December 2012 operation that involved “hand to hand combat” with multiple adversaries according to the Pentagon.
According to an unclassified summary obtained by CNN from a defense official, Byers “displayed superior gallantry, extraordinary heroism at grave personal risk,” and is “unquestionably deserving of the Medal of Honor.”
The rescue of American Dr. Dilip Joseph took place in eastern Afghanistan and resulted in the death of a member of the Navy’s Special Warfare Development Group, more commonly known as SEAL Team Six.
The unclassified summary said that Chief Byers was the second member of the rescue team to enter the building where Dr. Joseph was being held.
The report states that the first team member to enter was “immediately shot by enemy AK-47 fire” and that upon entering Byers “immediately engaged a guard” in a firefight, and managed to tackle another guard, subduing him by way of “hand-to-hand combat.”
When the other rescue team members called out to Dr. Joseph to identify himself, Byers heard an unknown voice speaking English, and “immediately leaped across the room and selflessly flung his body on top of the American hostage, shielding him from the continued rounds being fired across the room,” the report said.
The report also states that while shielding Joseph with his body, Byers engaged another insurgent and “was able to pin the enemy combatant to the wall with his hand around the enemy’s throat” until the other members of the team could “fire precision shots” to take out the final combatant.
In an effort to save the team member who had been shot, Byers, a certified paramedic, “performed CPR during the 40-minute flight to Bagram Airfield,” the report said.
At the time NATO officials said that Joseph was in imminent danger of injury or death when the rescue mission was launched.
Byers will be the eleventh living service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan.
Byers, an Ohio-native, will be joined by his family during the ceremony, which will take place at the White House, according to the official press release.
The 37-year old Byers joined the Navy in 1998 as a Navy Corpsman, and has been assigned to various SEAL teams, having completed seven combat tours and where he received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat V device, and two Purple Hearts among other citations.
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