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The
President of the United States
Takes Pleasure in Presenting
The Distinguished Service Cross
To
Coffman, James H, Jr.
Colonel, U.S. Army
Citation:
For exceptionally valorous
conduct while assigned as the Senior Advisor to the 1st Iraqi Special
Police Commando Brigade during a lengthy battle on 14 November 2004 in
Mosul, Iraq, during which the unit likely would have been overrun were
it not for the courageous leadership of Colonel Coffman and the one
Commando officer not wounded. At approximately 1030 hours on 14
November, Colonel Coffman moved with a Commando Quick Reaction Force (QRF)
to reinforce a Commando platoon under attack at the Four West Police
Station in Mosul. As the QRF neared the besieged platoon, it came under
intense rocket-propelled grenade, mortar, machinegun, and AK-47 fire by
a large insurgent force. Over the next four hours, the enemy repeatedly
assaulted the Commandos' position, at times culminating their attacks
twenty meters from Colonel Coffman's location. With all but one of the
commando officers killed or seriously wounded by the initial enemy fire,
Colonel Coffman exhibited truly inspirational leadership, rallying the
Commandos and organizing a hasty defense while attempting to radio
higher headquarters for reinforcements. Under heavy fire, he moved from
Commando to Commando, looking each in the eye and using hand and arm
signals to demonstrate what he wanted done. At one point, an enemy round
shattered Colonel Coffman's shooting hand and rendered his M4 rifle
inoperable. After bandaging his hand, Colonel Coffman picked up AK-47s
from Commando casualties and fired them with his other hand until each
ran out of ammunition. With the assistance of the one remaining Commando
officer, Colonel Coffman redistributed ammunition among the uninjured
commandos until he had only loose ammunition that he loaded by placing
magazines between his legs and using his one working hand. Throughout
this period, he repeatedly demonstrated exceptional courage and an
extraordinary example to the commandos as they repulsed attack after
attack by the enemy. Four hours after the start of the battle, a second
Commando element arrived and Colonel Coffman guided them to his
position. Even after their arrival, he continued to direct the fight,
refusing to be evacuated until the enemy was defeated. Shortly
thereafter, attack helicopters also arrived, followed closely by a
Stryker Brigade QRF, and Colonel Coffman used Iraqi radios to direct air
strikes and to provide vital information on the location of enemy and
friendly forces. After supervising the evacuation of several dozen
wounded Commandos, Colonel Coffman led a squad-sized element to the Four
West Iraqi Police Station, fifty meters ahead of the Strykers, to make
contact with the Commandos still in the station. After they linked up,
the Strykers moved forward, and attack helicopters engaged the buildings
occupied by the enemy, following which Colonel Coffman returned to his
original position to ensure that all of the Iraqi casualties had been
evacuated. Only then did he consent to be evacuated for surgery for his
own serious wound. During the fierce four-hour battle, twelve Commandos
were killed and 42 were wounded. Twenty-five enemy were killed and many
dozens more were wounded.
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