For action above and beyond the call

Weir to Receive Bronze Star Medal

by Rich Dinsmore,
Managing Editor

  As family and friends continued to deal with the emotional news that SGT David Weir had been killed in Iraq, they were also beginning to learn more about the circumstances that surrounded his death, and that David was being hailed as a hero by his fellow soldiers and commanders.

  While making plans for a memorial service to honor their son, brother and husband, the Weir family also learned that David was being awarded not only the Purple Heart, but a Bronze Star Medal as well. The Bronze Star is awarded for valor and when the information about the battle that took his life began to surface it became evident that David was indeed a hero.

  According to reports from his unit, Company “C”, 1/61^st Brigade, 506^th Regimental Combat Team, 101^st Airborne Division (Air Assault), SGT Weir’s actions that day most probably saved the lives of as many as three of his fellow soldiers and were a major reason the mission was successful.

  The unit’s after action reports note that Weir’s patrol had been operating for about two hours, hunting about a dozen insurgents thought to be Al-Qaeda in Baghdad. In what has been described as a running gun battle at times, eleven of the suspected terrorists had been killed when a final burst of gunfire from a twelfth found SGT Weir, mortally wounding the young sergeant and wounding a medic who had come to his aid.

  According to his Brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Winski, “Sergeant Weir stepped up when the need was greatest and went beyond the normal duty to protect his fellow soldiers and take the fight to the enemy,” during the height of the gun battle. Apparently the last of the twelve insurgents, who was captured alive, fired off a final burst from his AK-47 assault rifle, hitting and fatally wounding SGT. Weir, and wounding the medic who came to Weir’s immediate aid.

  Reports from the Brigade headquarters, still incomplete and subject to confirmation, indicate that Weir was picked up by a Medevac helicopter but died enroute to the aid station. The medic was treated for his wounds and transported to Germany for further treatment.

  The family received word late Saturday afternoon that Weir was to be posthumously promoted to Sergeant and awarded the bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart Medal, along with the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Operation Enduring Freedom Medal, Operation Iraqi Freedom Medal and others.

  A complete report on the battle and SGT Weir’s individual actions of that day will be released after all the reports have been filed and the required investigation into his death has been completed.

  Upon learning of the Bronze Star Medal and Weir’s reported actions in the battle, David’s life-long friends, who have been at the family’s side since the news came of his death, said that they were not surprised. “That’s the kind of guy David was,” said Marc Whitmire, David’s best friend since grade school at Oak Grove. “If there was a job to be done, David was the guy you could count on to get it done. No matter what, he was a true friend - first, last and always.