One ran into a burning airplane saving the pilot, another pulled a drowning nurse to safety, the third defeated two gunmen stopping a home invasion and all three North Carolina National Guard (NCNG) Soldiers were honored with the NCNG’s Soldier and Airman Medal (NCSAM) at a ceremony at Guard headquarters in Raleigh, March 24, 2017.
The ceremony was part of the celebration of the NCNG’s birthday noting its founding with the Carolina Charter to “… levy, muster and train men …”in 1663.
“We have made our mark joining a long line dating back before the country was born,” said Army Maj. Gen. Greg Lusk, the adjutant general of North Carolina, commander of the NCNG.
Usually an organization born more than 350 years ago recognizes its history at a birthday but this year the NCNG made history bestowing the NCSAM for the first time to Sgt. Charles Roper, Specialists Semantha Bunce and Robert Shook.
The NCSAM pays tribute to personal heroism or extraordinary achievement by voluntary action above and beyond the call of duty that sets the individual apart from his or her comrades or from other persons in similar circumstances.
“We needed a way to formally recognize those who go beyond,” said Lusk.
Lusk invited each Soldier on stage at the headquarters auditorium to pin the medal to their uniform and thank them as another soldier read their accomplishments to the audience. The stories of the first Soldiers nominated reads like a summer blockbuster.
In February 2017, Roper, a Soldier with Det. 1, 210th Military Police Company, witnessed a small plane crash into the woods. He drove across ditches and farm fields to reach the burning plane. He quickly retrieved the pilot and moved him away from danger and when first responders arrived, he helped extinguished wreckage.
“I did not expect this new medal but I am honored,” said Roper.
Bunce serves with headquarters 105th Engineer Battalion. In November 2015, two armed assailants broke into her home. She maneuvered through gunfire and engaged her intruders with her own firearm wounding one of her assailants and being wounded during the crossfire driving them from her and her infant child’s home. Then she returned to her child and called authorities while administering self-aid to her wounds.
“It is amazing, she fought off attackers and then tended to her son,” said Crystal Hopping, a friend of Bunce who attended the ceremony.
Shook is assigned to the 151st Engineer Company. On duty in October 2016, he rushed to the rescue of a nurse who was trapped in floodwaters caused by Hurricane Matthew. He jumped into the rushing water once the nurse lost her grip from a rescue line thrown to her. He quickly retrieved her and began to move her back to his tactical vehicle. After realizing the current was too strong, Shook began to tread water until a swift water rescue boat arrived and loaded her aboard.
“It does not surprise me, he (Shook) always wanted to be a Soldier and save people as his purpose in life,” said Dana Shook, mother of Spc. Shook.
After each Soldier received the medal from Lusk, they joined him with other Guard leaders in cutting the NCNG birthday cake with a ceremonial sword.
The NCNG was also honored by its Commander in Chief Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina, with a proclamation declaring March 24, 2017 “North Carolina National Guard Heritage Day” across the state.
The NCNG has served with distinction in World War 1 and World War 2. Since 9-11, more than 22,000 NC National Guardsmen deployed for wartime service. The NCNG was the first to deploy a Reserve component attack aviation battalion into Afghanistan in 2002. The NCNG is the only state to have an Armored Brigade Combat Team deploy twice as an independent maneuver brigade commanding its own terrain in Iraq.
Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, well over 3,000 Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen have supported N.C. and many other states in response to natural disasters.
“We are there every single day,” said Lusk.