FORT DRUM, N.Y. (May 7, 2015) -- One year after veterans lined the road and saluted as the hearse carrying Sgt. Shawn M. Farrell II entered Krumville Cemetery in Accord, his Family returned to Fort Drum to attend a ceremony April 30, in which leaders of 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), and members of Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3112 presented Farrell's wife, Allison, and mother, Heather Stokes, with a Bronze Star Medal with "V" device on Farrell's behalf.
The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to members of all branches of the military service, and it may be awarded for either combat heroism or meritorious service. The "V" device represents valor. It is worn to denote participation in acts of heroism involving conflict with an armed enemy.
Farrell distinguished himself on April 28, 2014, when his element came under heavy rocket and small-arms fire from a numerically superior enemy force with multiple fighting positions in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan.
Farrell assumed his position in the heart of the enemy neutralization zone and delivered accurate, devastating, suppressive fire. Although fatally wounded, he continued to provide covering fire and inspired his element to take the fight to the enemy.
"Units have mottos that get stated and repeated constantly," Capt. Travis Boudreau, former commander of A Company, 1-32 Infantry, said during the ceremony. "Chosin's motto is 'Against All Odds!' Attack's motto is 'Victory to the Bold!' ODA Team 3112's motto is 'All in!'
"I would like to say that Sgt. Farrell embodied all of the principles that these mottos represented, but I can't. He embodied something greater."
Boudreau continued on to say that "(Farrell) unflinchingly faced withering danger and his imminent mortality because he knew that as a member of that team, his actions at that critical moment affected more than (himself). His decision to forget himself and face that danger ultimately led to the eventual redeployment of all of his fellow Soldiers."
Farrell's actions were instrumental in gaining fire superiority that eventually routed the enemy from the area and saved the lives of his teammates. His actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, the Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, and the United States Army.
Members of ODA Team 3112 who were there with Farrell on that fateful day wanted to take time to remember him and the impact he had on them, saying "we're here to honor valor and remember his sacrifice. Facing the enemy, after hours of intense combat, Sgt. Farrell left this earth with three final words: 'I got him.'"
"Everyone in this room knows that not all 10th Mountain Division fighters are created equal; all SF operators are not created equal; unfortunately, some falter in the face of fear and adversity, and some rise to the occasion," said the Special Forces team leader, ODA Team 3112. "Sgt. Shawn Farrell will always be remembered as one who stood out, and (he) will remain an inspiration to his brothers in his infantry squad and platoon, and on Special Forces Operational Detachment 3112."
The final speaker during the ceremony was a member of the vehicle for which Farrell served as the gunner: Special Forces assistant team leader, ODA Team 3112.
"April 28th is a day that I won't ever forget. Shawn Farrell was a gunner on my truck. The day that firefight started he went down in a blaze of gunfire like all warriors want to," the SF assistant team leader said emotionally. "He didn't falter, he didn't quit; and we are here because of that. We use words like bravery, honor, integrity (and) valor. Shawn stood for all of them, and it showed."
In closing, the assistant team leader had one last thing he wanted everyone in the room to take with them as they parted ways.
"Let's honor his life. Let's live every day as if it's our last, and don't let his death be in vain," he implored. "We're going to do one more pushup, we're going to do one more pullup and we're going to run one more mile. We're going to do that for Shawn, because that's what he would have wanted."
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