Love and Respect Above All Else

This week I’m doing something a little different. I’m not going to write about the characteristics of a leader capable of leading an elite team. I’m not going to discuss the components that make up an elite team.

?Instead, I’m going to share the story of a Medal of Honor recipient who gave his life saving others in 2005. Sergeant First Class Alwyn C. Cashe.

?He wasn’t a Green Beret, and he wasn’t part of a Special Operations unit. He was a soldier in an Infantry Regiment serving in Iraq following the invasion in 2003. On October 17th, 2005, Cashe was in the front seat of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle when it was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) and burst into flames.

?The driver, Staff Sergeant Douglas Dodge, burned his hands while trying to exit the burning vehicle. After grabbing a breaching tool to force open the hatch to the troop compartment, the effects of the explosion caused him to fall to the ground and be sick.

What happened next was not the writings of someone in Hollywood, but the instincts of a leader who cared deeply about his teammates.

?Sergeant First Class Cashe managed to escape the vehicle through the gunner’s hatch and move around to the driver’s side. When he saw the driver on the ground he yelled “Dodge! Where are the boys?” Covered in fuel, his uniform so drenched in it that it had started to melt off, he reached into the burning Bradley to start pulling his wounded team members from the wreckage.

Cashe wasn’t just facing the flames though; he was also under fire from the enemy who had set the IED and were waiting for the Americans to hit it.

?With flames engulfing the entire vehicle, coming out of every portal, Cashe’s uniform ignited. The flames gripped his fuel-soaked uniform and quickly spread over his entire body. Ignoring the intense pain, he reached into the inferno and began pulling out his soldiers.

?He didn’t do this just once. He reached into the burning wreckage again and again, all while still on fire himself. So dedicated to his men, he continued to take control of the chaotic situation even after the crew from a trailing Bradley arrived on scene to help with the casualty evacuation.

Ultimately, the national translator who was in the vehicle was killed, and 10 soldiers were wounded. Seven of those were very seriously wounded, including Sergeant First Class Cashe, who suffered from second and third degree burns over 72% of his body.

But his actions saved the lives of six of his soldiers.

A Vietnam veteran and historian who has spent decades studying military awards called Cashe’s actions “The clearest-cut case of a Medal of Honor action” he had ever seen.

?But what drives a leader to risk everything for their team?

?Certainly not everyone can say they would have done the same thing. In a world where it has become far too common for people to stand by instead of taking action to help others, what was it that saw Cashe reach into that fire not once, but six times?

?Love and respect.

?His sister said it best when describing her brother’s actions. Kasinal Cashe White, said in an interview that her brother, “Did what he did out of love for his men, and respect for his men.”

?I have always believed that leadership is a privilege and that the best leaders are those who truly value their people. Alwyn C. Cashe could have saved himself. But he was the type of leader who would not have been able to live with himself if he hadn’t taken action to save his men. Men who he valued even above his own life.

?This Memorial Day weekend, I will be reflecting on the great men I have known and lost during the years since 9/11. Some to the hell that is war, and others to the hell that is coming home.

?May we all pause, take a moment to say thank you, and perhaps be inspired to lead a little better by people like Medal of Honor recipient, Sergeant First Class Alwyn C. Cashe.