'My baby brother will go down in history.' Late Fort Benning soldier to receive the Medal of Honor

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Alwyn Cashe will be the first Black service member to receive the Medal of Honor for fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq. He’ll receive the award Dec. 16, White House officials confirmed.

Credit: Courtesy of the U.S. Army

Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, a Fort Benning soldier who died after rescuing six comrades and an interpreter from a burning vehicle during fighting in Iraq, will be awarded the Medal of Honor during a ceremony Dec. 16, White House officials announced Friday.

The announcement comes 16 years after Cashe’s death. Family members and supporters have pushed nearly as long for the recognition. Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, a former Fort Benning commander and Cashe’s battalion commander, has led the campaign.

Cashe will be the first Black service member awarded the Medal of Honor for fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq.

 “Have you ever won the lottery? That’s what it feels like,” Cashe’s sister, Kasinal Cashe White, told the Ledger-Enquirer. “I’ve been waiting on this so long.”

Cashe and his heroic action

Cashe will be awarded the Medal of Honor for the heroic actions he took Oct. 17, 2005, after a roadside bomb ruptured the fuel cell of the vehicle he was riding in during a patrol near Samarra, Iraq.

The citation written for Cashe’s Silver Star award outlined his actions that day. At the time, Cashe was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. It was based at Fort Benning before the Iraq deployment.

According to the account, the Bradley fighting vehicle stopped and erupted in flames. Cashe, the gunner, was slightly injured and drenched in fuel from the initial blast. He left the gunner’s hatch and began rescuing men.

He made multiple trips to the burning vehicle. He pulled six soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter from the wreckage. Cashe suffered second and third-degree burns over 72% of his body, and he refused evacuation until the other wounded soldiers were taken to safety.

Cashe died from the injuries he suffered on Nov. 8, 2005, at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was 35.

“I was there,” White said. “I got to spend the last three most precious weeks of his life with him. ...When he took his last breath, I was there. When he came home from the hospital in 1970, and my mom laid him on the bed, I was there. And I lost him laying in a bed in a hospital.”

Cashe was the youngest of 10 children and grew up outside of Orlando, Florida. His father died when he was six years old, and Cashe entered the military after he graduated high school. Those close to Cashe described him as firm but fair and caring.

“(His battle buddies) said he would dress you up and down,” his sister said. "But if you were the one to get that 'Dear John' letter or some bad news from home, he’d be the one to sit with you through it all. You can’t ask for better than that.”

Cashe will receive the honor alongside two other service members: Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee, a Green Beret who fought off Taliban suicide bombers in Afghanistan in 2013; and Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Celiz, who was killed while protecting a U.S. helicopter evacuating soldiers from Taliban fighters in 2018, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

Celiz was an Army Ranger assigned to Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah, Georgia.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Telegraph.