The Herald-Zeitung

A 22-year-old New Braunfels resident and U.S. Army combat veteran has been nominated for the Bronze Star with Valor, the nation’s fourth highest medal for bravery.

It was only five weeks ago today that Spc. Jonathan Kaderli, a line medic, stood alongside 44 other soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team of the 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne) as the team came under a surprise attack.

Organized by Taliban insurgents who numbered in the hundreds, according to several published reports, the Taliban fought the Americans near the village of Wanat in the Kunar Province of northeastern Afghanistan — close to the border with Pakistan.

The battle occurred just after dawn at a temporary vehicle patrol base near the village, said Regiment Commander, Col. Charles “Chip” Preysler, in a recent interview with Stars and Stripes, a daily newspaper published for the U.S. military and their families.

A platoon-sized element of Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion and a smaller Afghan National Army force of about 25 men were occupying a hastily built area as was the norm over the 15 months that the unit had been in country, Preysler said.

The soldiers, who were scheduled to finish their deployment within several weeks of the attack, were on a reconnaissance mission to establish a presence and find a good location to connect with the local government, populace and Afghan National Police, he said.

When the raging attack finally ended about four hours after it began, Kaderli had lost nine brothers-in-arms, 20 percent of the entire unit.

Later, as reports of the attack became known, many around the nation mourned the incident, which marked the single worst loss of American life in Afghanistan since 2005.

“The noise of the mortars — that whistling noise — the A-10 (warplanes) and the Apache (helicopters) sent in to support us, it’s just like you see and hear in the movies,” said the soft-spoken Kaderli, who currently is on leave from his regiment’s headquarters of Vicenza, Italy, for several weeks.

Back from the 24/7 stresses of war, his plans include simply relaxing at home. On Saturday, the family hosted a barbecue and beer party — probably one of the best ways in the world to relax right now, Kaderli said.

Next weekend, he heads to Colorado and a reunion with a close friend and fellow soldier who is recovering from injuries suffered during the Battle of Wanat, as it has become known.

“Ever since basic training, Bill Hewitt has been one of my best friends and he makes me appreciate the Army,” said Kaderli, who began his military service a little more than two years ago.

“How could I sit back on the sidelines and watch the war on the news while all these young men my age were out there fighting,” he said. “I had to do something to help. That’s why I joined,”

While Kaderli’s nomination for the Bronze Star with Valor has been approved by his boss, an Army Major and medical commander, the young medic affectionately known as “Doc” prefers to think of his warrior brothers instead of himself and any award he could earn.

“Everyone that day was a hero,” he said with pride. “Everyone fought bravely, like true soldiers. Training and instinct took over as we fought for the man on our left and the man on our right.”

Kaderli, who feels uncomfortable sharing all the details of such a recent and traumatic event, said he might one day write about it in a book — something he has wanted to do all his life, never realizing it might entail writing a chapter so personal.

In the Stars and Stripes interview, Preysler said, “These guys fought for 15 months, and I mean this literally, they have fought harder and (had) more engagements, more direct-fire engagements, than any brigade in the United States Army in probably the toughest terrain.

“(They) are absolutely veterans and they know what they’re doing and they have that airborne spirit and they fought a very, very tough battle and held the ground and did everything they were supposed to do.”

Kaderli, the combat medic who normally carries an M-4 rifle, but who found himself helping defend the temporary base with a shotgun he commandeered from a HUMVEE after leaving his weapon to help a wounded soldier in the field, said “I wouldn’t have done anything differently.”

“I’ve no regrets, no-one cowered from their duties and everyone fought hard,” he said. “We were just going to work and we had a job to do.”

Mark Koopmans can be reached at mkoopmans(at)herald-zeitung.com