Today, Congressman Jim Baird (IN-04) applauded the passage of his legislation, the Nicholas Dockery Medal of Honor Act, to allow the President of the United States to award Major Nicholas Dockery with the Medal of Honor for his heroism in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Dockery is an Indianapolis, IN native and is the sole Army officer and one of only two U.S. officers to receive two Silver Stars for gallantry in the post-9/11 era. This legislation passed the U.S. House unanimously.
“I am pleased to see that my legislation to award Major Dockery with the Medal of Honor has passed the U.S. House,” said Congressman Baird. “Major Dockery demonstrated extraordinary heroism, going above and beyond the call of duty, while serving in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and selflessly risked his own life many times to save his soldiers. I hope the Senate passes this bill quickly so it can get signed into law by President Trump and award this American hero with the recognition he deserves.”
Additional Background on Major Nicholas Dockery:
Lieutenant Dockery received a Silver Star for his acts of valor on October 2, 2012. Then-Second Lieutenant Nicholas Dockery was serving as a Rifle Platoon Leader with the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While providing security for a meeting between U.S. and Afghan leaders in Kapisa Province, Lieutenant Dockery’s platoon was ambushed by Taliban fighters utilizing a mosque for cover. Under heavy fire, Lieutenant Dockery dismounted his vehicle and moved through the engagement area to support and re-establish communications with Afghan National Army (ANA) and Police (ANP) units that were pinned in place by enemy fire. Due to the dense maze of structures, Lieutenant Dockery formulated a plan to enter the village on foot to secure the village’s outer cordon. While securing the village, one U.S. team was forced into a compound and surrounded by Taliban fighters. Upon hearing that one of his soldiers was critically wounded by gunfire, Lieutenant Dockery ran through enemy fire to lead reinforcements to the compound.
During the fight, Lieutenant Dockery led his team in breaching six rooms, killing one enemy fighter, uncovering IED-making materials, and detaining two others. As the fighting continued, when enemy fighters threw hand fragmentation grenades over the compound walls, one landed in front of a fellow soldier. Seeing the grenade, Lieutenant Dockery shoved the soldier behind cover and shielded him from the blast with his own body.
Lieutenant Dockery then led the team into an adjacent alleyway to secure the compound. Facing a barrage of machine gun fire from 40 feet away, an RPG blast destroyed his team’s cover, wounding Lieutenant Dockery. Despite being wounded, he realized two soldiers were missing. Lieutenant Dockery located the first soldier; he carried him to safety and immediately returned to find two enemy fighters who were approaching the second unconscious soldier. Killing the two enemy fighters, he recovered the soldier, carried him to safety, performed CPR, and saved the soldier’s life. Lieutenant Dockery was simultaneously directing “danger close” 81mm mortar fire to suppress the enemy. When the rounds began hitting close to his position, Lieutenant Dockery used his own body to shield the wounded soldier as the rounds impacted nearby.
Air assets were unable to distinguish friendly forces from enemy, so Lieutenant Dockery left his position of safety and utilized an M320 grenade launcher to mark the enemy location for aerial assets to engage with 2.75mm rockets. In doing so, he saw two enemy fighters attempting to re-enter the building, which he killed with the grenade launcher. Despite Lieutenant Dockery’s efforts, aerial assets still could not distinguish between enemies and allies, so Lieutenant Dockery climbed on the roof to mark their location with colored smoke, running past a yet-unexploded enemy grenade to do so. The colored smoke attracted heavy rifle and machine gun fire from the enemy. With only a two-foot wall on the roof for cover, Lieutenant Dockery held the rooftop for over 30 minutes and held the enemy in place.
Later, during the exfiltration of his team and the wounded, his element again came under heavy fire. As the enemy closed in on their location, Lieutenant Dockery stayed behind to ensure the wounded made it safely back to the casualty evacuation point. Moving about the battlefield, he directed the Afghan Army Soldiers to fire RPGs on the enemy, effectively halting their final attack.
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