Published: Saturday, June 23, 2007
Five at Whidbey earn Bronze Stars
OAK HARBOR - Five members of a Whidbey Island Naval Air Station bomb-disposal unit have received Bronze Stars for heroism under fire after dismantling as much as 40 tons of explosives in Iraq.
Receiving the awards Thursday were Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11's Lt. Cmdr. Nicholas Smith, Ensign Robert Mendenhall, Explosive Ordnance Technician Senior Chief Robert Zimmerman, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Chief Richard Higbee and Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class Petty Officer Harvey Fisher.
A major part of the mobile unit's job was to prevent improvised explosive devices from shutting down military supply lines. When troops found a roadside bomb, they called for the mobile unit.
The sailors were part of 36 teams, which included troops from other branches of the military, supporting the Army's 101st Airborne Division in an area of northern Iraq.
The five sailors were deployed to Iraq for either six or nine months at different times, with some leaving in January 2006 and others later.
Overall, Mobile Unit 11 has received at least 26 Bronze Stars since November. Three were given posthumously to three sailors who were killed in April.
Like police bomb squads, the unit uses robots and other technology, but the sailors say the bombs they work with are often more dangerous than the enemy fire they're exposed to virtually every day.
"I'm still completely amazed with their destructive power," Zimmerman said.
Still, Higbee said he didn't feel extraordinary.
"The bottom line is we go out to do our jobs, just to keep our troops safe," he told the Skagit Valley Herald.
Receiving the awards Thursday were Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11's Lt. Cmdr. Nicholas Smith, Ensign Robert Mendenhall, Explosive Ordnance Technician Senior Chief Robert Zimmerman, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Chief Richard Higbee and Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class Petty Officer Harvey Fisher.
A major part of the mobile unit's job was to prevent improvised explosive devices from shutting down military supply lines. When troops found a roadside bomb, they called for the mobile unit.
The sailors were part of 36 teams, which included troops from other branches of the military, supporting the Army's 101st Airborne Division in an area of northern Iraq.
The five sailors were deployed to Iraq for either six or nine months at different times, with some leaving in January 2006 and others later.
Overall, Mobile Unit 11 has received at least 26 Bronze Stars since November. Three were given posthumously to three sailors who were killed in April.
Like police bomb squads, the unit uses robots and other technology, but the sailors say the bombs they work with are often more dangerous than the enemy fire they're exposed to virtually every day.
"I'm still completely amazed with their destructive power," Zimmerman said.
Still, Higbee said he didn't feel extraordinary.
"The bottom line is we go out to do our jobs, just to keep our troops safe," he told the Skagit Valley Herald.
Comments
(
