President Trump will reportedly award the military’s highest honor to a soldier who helped rescue some 70 prisoners being held by the Islamic State in 2015.
Sgt. Maj. Thomas “Patrick” Payne, an Army Ranger, will be receiving the Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the White House coinciding with the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Associated Press first reported on Wednesday. The Washington Examiner reached out to the Army for confirmation but did not immediately receive a response.
The award will be given for Payne’s heroic actions during an October 2015 raid on an ISIS compound in a town outside the Iraqi city of Kirkuk. The mission included both U.S. and Kurdish forces and was planned after it was discovered that about 70 prisoners were being held there and were in danger of being executed. Mass graves were reportedly spotted using aerial photos.
“Time was of the essence,” Payne described in a press release that was obtained by the Associated Press in advance of its publication. “There were freshly dug graves. If we didn’t action this raid, then the hostages were likely to be executed.”
The U.S. and Kurdish forces faced a heavy firefight once the mission began, which included clearing two buildings and involved between 10 and 20 U.S. troops. Some 40 hostages were moved from the first building. The second “heavily-fortified building, which was partially on fire,” as Payne described it, was more difficult to breach.
As gunfire and explosions proliferated the area, Payne and an Iraqi counterpart were able to use bolt cutters to cut several locks off a fortified door inside the building. The two men struggled to breathe but were eventually able to free the remaining hostages from the building, which was at risk of collapsing. Payne reportedly went back three times to ensure the hostages’ safe exit.
Payne was previously awarded a Purple Heart in a 2010 mission in Afghanistan. He also won the Army’s Best Ranger Competition two years after that. Payne, who is married and has three children, is stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
