Airman receives 'Grateful Nation Award'

  • Published
  • By Terri Lukach
  • American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  An Airman was among six servicemembers honored for heroism in the war on terrorism at an award dinner Nov. 15 in Arlington, Va.

Tech. Sgt. Robert Jeeves received the award as a tactical air coordinator attached to U.S. Army Special Forces.

The honorees performed acts of heroism, putting the mission and the lives of others before themselves, officials said. Though clearly feeling honored, they all credited their fellow servicemembers rather than themselves.

"It was the other guys who got it for me," Sergeant Jeeves said, a sentiment echoed by all of his fellow award recipients.

"Many times it is the generals and higher-ranking officers who get the plaudits for successful operations -- and understandably so," said Tom Neuman, the executive director of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, in announcing the program last year. "But it is the lower ranks who are most often in the line of fire. Their tremendous courage and devotion to duty deserves frequent public recognition."

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressed the people at the dinner. He said America's military men and women "tear your heart out with their love and their incredible devotion to this nation and to each other.

"You can bank on the fact that you're hearing about one-tenth of 1 percent of what that individual did to be nominated," he said.

General Pace also praised the families of those on the front lines, saying those "who serve at home show a strength and courage far beyond the courage of the moment in battle."

To hold families together during deployments, he said, "takes tremendous energy, love and strength of character."

The award recipients, all veterans of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, were selected by their respective services.

Others are:

-- Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert Frank Lieske of the 1st Cavalry Division.

-- Navy Seaman Luis Fonseca Jr. of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

-- Marine Corps Cpl. Gary Spangler of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

-- Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Heidi Eystad of the U.S. Coast Guard Activities, New York Detachment at Sandy Hook.

-- Army Master Sgt. Roger Thompson of the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne).

Introduced last year by the institute, the "Grateful Nation Award" was created to recognize the courage and dedication of those most often in the line of fire: the enlisted, noncommissioned and junior officers fighting on the front lines of freedom.