It took them more than three and a half years, but two determined brothers who were members of the Alabama Army National Guard's 711th Signal Battalion in Mobile finally achieved a long sought goal.
Col. Scott Gedling and Cmd. Sgt. Maj. Jackie Gedling worked tirelessly to gain approval to award the Bronze Star Medal to a Soldier for heroic actions while he was in a unit attached to the 711th in Iraq.
Sgt. 1st Class Harold C. Smith of Pensacola, Fla. finally received the Bronze Star in a ceremony at his home armory in Crestview, Fla. Sgt. Smith had been a member of the Florida Army Guard's 653rd Signal Company (Tropo) that deployed to Iraq in 2004.
Then a Lieutenant Colonel, Scott Gelding was commander of the 711th and his brother, Jackie, was operations sergeant major while the unit was deployed to Iraq. The presentation of the award marked the culmination of dedicated efforts by the Gedling brothers to honor Smith for gallantry.
Smith was originally nominated and the initial approval granted for the award while the units were still in country in Iraq in 2004, but the award was delayed because of a minor technicality.
Over the next three years, the brothers made numerous phone calls, wrote letters and sent countless e-mails to break the logjam holding up the award of the medal. Scott and Jackie were both aware of the magnitude of Smith's actions and were resolute in seeing the medal formally presented.
Smith was honored for his actions at Camp Echo near Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq. He was cited for "continually exposing himself to hostile fire while coordinating Apache helicopter gunships and Spanish forces to repel an attack at a provincial government building."
"It was a very ugly situation, but his efforts largely contributed to what went on that day and saved a lot of coalition lives," Scott Gedling recalled.
Later when the camp was under attack again, Smith moved to the Spanish tactical operating center during a mortar and small arms fire attack. He coordinated MEDEVAC support for the injured and directed armored support to key areas to repel the attack.
In another instance, the medal citation said Sgt. Smith "displayed remarkable courage while engaging enemy insurgents when his convoy was hit with small arms fire and a barrage of mortars. He instinctively located and returned fire at enemy targets until all his vehicles had exited the kill zone. His actions helped get the convoy to safety with no casualties or major damage to unit personnel or equipment."
Smith was also cited for his resourcefulness in making sure down times were minimal on communications equipment and links for supported coalition forces.
Col. Scott Gedling is now assigned as deputy chief of staff for operations in the Alabama Army Guard's Joint Forces Headquarters in Montgomery. He presented the medal to Smith in a brief ceremony at the Crestview armory with Smith's family and fellow unit members present.
CSM Jackie Gedling was also there for the program. When the ceremony was over, he joined his brother, Scott, and reflected on an effort they began nearly four years ago that went all the way to the U.S. Congress before finally coming to fruition.