WASHINGTON — Mortally wounded by enemy gunfire, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Celiz waved for a U.S. medevac helicopter to leave him behind and fly out of harm’s way that day in Afghanistan three years ago. The Army Ranger had just fought bravely to repel an ambush and had shielded fellow troops as they carried a wounded ally aboard the chopper.
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“You see movies made about the type of guy he was,” said 2nd Lt. Garrett White, who fought alongside Celiz that day in 2018. “He always put everyone else before himself.”
Celiz, who was assigned to Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah, is among three soldiers with Georgia connections who received the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest medal for valor in combat — during a White House ceremony Thursday.
“Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude today as we honor unparalleled courage, commitment to duty and indispensable, indisputable gallantry,” President Joe Biden told about 120 guests, including the Medal of Honor recipients’ friends and family members.
Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, who died from his injuries after rescuing fellow soldiers during an enemy ambush in Iraq 16 years ago, also received the honor posthumously. Cashe, who was stationed at Fort Benning, helped get his trapped soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter out of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle that had been disabled and set ablaze by a roadside bomb. Flames burned nearly three-quarters of Cashe’s body. He died from his wounds three weeks later.
Speaking to reporters at a hotel near the Pentagon Wednesday, Cashe’s friends said he commanded so much respect among the troops he led that they most feared disappointing him whenever they got in trouble. Some fondly nicknamed him “Daddy Cashe.”
Supporters have recommended that Fort Benning be renamed after Cashe, who became the first African American recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.
“The only possible way I could fathom to heap a little more prestige on the Medal of Honor is to receive it in the shadow of these two men. It is so humbling. When you read both their narratives and you are going to be a part of their story — it is an astounding weight to carry."
His older sister, Kasinal Cashe White, recalled how her granddaughter told her this week she had decided to focus on Cashe’s heroism as part of her high school Black History Month project next year. White also underscored the significance of her family’s humble beginnings.
“If a poor kid from Oviedo, Florida, can go after his dreams, can make friends and make this happen, our nation’s highest honor… there should be no stopping anybody, not in this country,” she said, “especially a poor Black kid. If he could do it, stop the excuses. Let’s just do it. That’s what it means.”
Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee, a Special Forces soldier who underwent training at Fort Benning, also received the Medal of Honor. He received it for his heroic actions while responding to an enemy truck bomb attack on a U.S. base in southeastern Afghanistan in 2013. The blast blew a gaping hole in the base’s perimeter. Enemy fighters wearing Afghan army uniforms and suicide bomb vests poured in.
Plumlee thought he would die that day as he raced to the scene and fatally shot some of the attackers. One of the suicide bombers exploded when Plumlee shot him at close range, injuring his back. Moments later, Plumlee carried a wounded U.S. soldier to safety and gave him first aid.
“If a poor kid from Oviedo, Florida, can go after his dreams, can make friends and make this happen, our nation's highest honor… there should be no stopping anybody, not in this country, especially a poor Black kid. If he could do it, stop the excuses. Let's just do it. That's what it means."
Plumlee spoke to reporters Wednesday about the significance of receiving the medal alongside Cashe’s and Celiz’s families.
“The only possible way I could fathom to heap a little more prestige on the Medal of Honor is to receive it in the shadow of these two men,” he said. “It is so humbling. When you read both their narratives and you are going to be a part of their story — it is an astounding weight to carry.”
Garrett White, the soldier who served with Celiz, said they were preparing to attack the enemy in Afghanistan’s Paktia Province early one morning when they came under fire. An ally was injured and pinned down in the gunfight. Celiz, White said, turned to his fellow soldiers and quoted a line from the comedy-drama, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
“We are in a tight spot,” he told them, eliciting laughter.
Next, Celiz grabbed a rocket launcher and fired on the enemy, putting them on the defensive. A medevac helicopter landed to pick up the wounded ally. Seeing the rescue chopper, the enemy went on the attack again. Celiz moved from behind cover to put himself between the enemy and the troops carrying the casualty to the helicopter. White saw a few rounds kick up dust by Celiz’s feet. Celiz skipped as if he had been hit, White said, and then collapsed and went unconscious. The helicopter, which was hit with 22 enemy rounds during the firefight, returned to pick him up. Celiz ultimately died from his wounds.
“I think about him every day and the heroism he displayed on that battlefield,” White said.
Celiz, who was from South Carolina, is survived by his wife, Katie, and their 11-year-old daughter, Shannon. Katie Celiz recalled how they met while working together at a grocery store in 2002. He impressed her one day by secretly filling her jacket pockets with rose petals. They married five years later.
“When I heard the story about Chris and how he decided to wave off the helicopter, I wasn’t surprised that he would choose to do that,” she told reporters. “I am still a little angry at him for deciding to do that. But I understood why he felt the need to do it. Chris really believed that being there for his men — protecting his men — was everything.”
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