Soldier Receives Silver Star

An Army platoon leader has earned the Silver Star medal for valor during a Nov. 16 firefight in Afghanistan. Capt. William G. Cromie and the 173rd Brigade Combat Team’s 3rd Platoon were ambushed after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device on Korengal Road, west of Kandahar, while on a mission to check a report that enemy elements had placed an IED in the road. Two of Cromie’s soldiers who moved into positions to cover their comrades found themselves pinned down and running low in ammunition. While Cromie braved enemy fire to resupply the two soldiers, other comrades called in a close-air support strike. The platoon counterattacked, pushing the enemy into a fortified compound, then cleared the compound and killed the militants. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 101, presented Cromie with the medal during a July 14 ceremony at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.