By Regina Thomas
Staff Writer

On Monday Feb. 29, President Barack Obama awarded Navy Seal Edward Byers Jr. with the highest military honor- the Medal of Honor. He was awarded this for his brave rescue of American citizen Dr. Dilip Joseph who was held hostage by the Taliban back in 2012.

Byers was a part of Navy SEAL Team 6- the famous group who took down al-Qaeda founder and leader Osama bin Laden.

The rescue of Joseph took place on the night of December 9, 2012 in eastern Afghanistan. SEAL Team 6 was less than 100 feet away from the building where Joseph was being held when bullets started flying. SEALs rushed to the door and Byers ripped off the blanket that covered it- exposing him to enemy fire. As Byers moved inside, a rifle was aimed at him, but Byers fired back. He threw himself over the hostage, protecting him from the bullets.

Joseph describes the rescue to CBS stating, “The first thing I heard was a gunshot. Then I heard my name, ‘is Dilip Joseph here?’ and that hit me, ‘boy this is a rescue.”

But tragedy also came with this successful mission. Leader of the mission, Nicolas Checque, was shot as soon as he entered the door.
Joseph told CBS, “He died to save my life. It is hard to live with the idea that somebody died for my sake.”

The special thing about this award is that only five other SEALs have ever received it before. Those being Lt. Joseph R Kerrey in 1970, Lt. Thomas R Norris in 1976, PO Michael E Thornton in 1973, Lt. Michael P Murphy in 2007, and PO Michael A Monsoor in 2008.

Joseph was glad to hear about Byers’ award and told CNN that he was “thrilled that he is getting this accolade and being honored this way,” declaring that he was, ““more than worthy” of the award. Joseph continued, “Byers gave me a second chance in life.”