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Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
January 6, 2008 By Louis Hansen, Virginian-Pilot
A Richmond-area police officer has been awarded a Silver Star for valorous actions in Iraq while deployed with his Army National Guard unit.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 James B. Herring left his armored Humvee twice to protect his fellow soldiers during a withering ambush near Baqouba, Iraq, in December 2006, according to an Army citation of the award.
Herring, 46, is a warrant officer with Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. He received his award in a ceremony Saturday in North Carolina.
Herring is also a lieutenant in the Chesterfield County Police, where he has been since 1983. His mother, Susan Dillon, and stepfather, Michael Dillon, live in Norfolk.
Herring deployed to Diyala province in Iraq in 2006. On Dec. 23 of that year, his unit and members of the Iraqi army loaded into five heavily armored Humvees to search for insurgents in the village of Tahrir.
Spc. Stephen Haas, Spc. Broughton Aragon, Staff Sgt. John Mason and Herring rode in the lead vehicle. Herring, in a telephone interview, said the patrol unit hit "ambush after ambush" as it chased several gunmen deep into the village.
The Humvee lurched down a small path when 20 insurgents began firing automatic weapons and grenades from behind a concrete wall.
Herring saw enemy machine gunners focused on the back of turret gunner Aragon. He leaped out of the vehicle and shot the gunners before they could strike Aragon, according to the citation.
After he returned to the vehicle, he learned that Haas, the truck's driver, was struck in the leg and badly injured. Herring again left the truck, dodging rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire.
He circled around to the driver's side, pulled Haas from his seat and placed him in the back of the Humvee, where a medic treated him.
Herring, who has been with the guard unit for almost 23 years, said he never thought twice about rushing into danger to protect his soldiers. "I know almost every single guy," he said. "I would take it personally, almost, that the enemy would attack us."
Four hours after the skirmish, Herring hopped in another Humvee and rode on another mission, where he would survive his fourth ambush of the day.
January 6, 2008 By Louis Hansen, Virginian-Pilot
A Richmond-area police officer has been awarded a Silver Star for valorous actions in Iraq while deployed with his Army National Guard unit.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 James B. Herring left his armored Humvee twice to protect his fellow soldiers during a withering ambush near Baqouba, Iraq, in December 2006, according to an Army citation of the award.
Herring, 46, is a warrant officer with Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. He received his award in a ceremony Saturday in North Carolina.
Herring is also a lieutenant in the Chesterfield County Police, where he has been since 1983. His mother, Susan Dillon, and stepfather, Michael Dillon, live in Norfolk.
Herring deployed to Diyala province in Iraq in 2006. On Dec. 23 of that year, his unit and members of the Iraqi army loaded into five heavily armored Humvees to search for insurgents in the village of Tahrir.
Spc. Stephen Haas, Spc. Broughton Aragon, Staff Sgt. John Mason and Herring rode in the lead vehicle. Herring, in a telephone interview, said the patrol unit hit "ambush after ambush" as it chased several gunmen deep into the village.
The Humvee lurched down a small path when 20 insurgents began firing automatic weapons and grenades from behind a concrete wall.
Herring saw enemy machine gunners focused on the back of turret gunner Aragon. He leaped out of the vehicle and shot the gunners before they could strike Aragon, according to the citation.
After he returned to the vehicle, he learned that Haas, the truck's driver, was struck in the leg and badly injured. Herring again left the truck, dodging rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire.
He circled around to the driver's side, pulled Haas from his seat and placed him in the back of the Humvee, where a medic treated him.
Herring, who has been with the guard unit for almost 23 years, said he never thought twice about rushing into danger to protect his soldiers. "I know almost every single guy," he said. "I would take it personally, almost, that the enemy would attack us."
Four hours after the skirmish, Herring hopped in another Humvee and rode on another mission, where he would survive his fourth ambush of the day.