The medal will be awarded posthumously to Army Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe and Army Sergeant First Class Christopher Celiz, as well as Army Master Sergeant Earl D. Plumlee.
Cashe, while on fire and exposed to enemy gunfire as he was serving in Iraq, pulled several soldiers and an interpreter from a burning vehicle that was hit by an improvised explosive device. He died as a result of his wounds. Cashe was awarded a Silver Star for his heroism, but it took a new law, which was signed by then-President Donald Trump, to exempt his case from a deadline for a Medal of Honor.
Celiz is being honored for his actions in Afghanistan in 2018. While clearing an area of enemy forces, the unit Celiz led came under enemy fire. He exposed himself to enemy fire more than once, including when he used his body as a shield for an injured person he loaded into a medical evacuation helicopter and guarded it as it took off without him. As he faced gunshots, he waved the aircraft off, telling them to leave without him. Celiz died of his injuries on a later evacuation flight.
Plumlee, the only living Medal of Honor recipient for Thursday’s ceremony, will be awarded for his actions in Afghanistan in 2013. After insurgents bombed a perimeter wall at Forward Operating Base Ghazni and attempted to move in, Plumlee and other drove toward the explosion. He used his body as a shield for the driver, killed insurgents while armed only with a pistol, carried a solider to safety and administered aid. One firing insurgent he killed was wearing a suicide vest, which detonated when Plumlee fired.
Ahead of Thursday’s ceremony, Biden sign H.R. 5142 into law, which awards the Congressional Gold Medal to the 13 US service-members who died during the bombing near Kabul airport on August 26th, 2021 — amid the US military exit from Afghanistan.
In May, Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to Ralph Puckett Jr. — a United States Army Ranger who led the defense against six Chinese assaults on a frozen hill in the Korean War.
Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are expected to attend Thursday’s Medal of Honor ceremony as well.
