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The
President of the United States
Takes Pleasure in Presenting
The Navy Cross
To
Stephen
Bass
Chief Petty Officer, United States Navy
For
Services as Set Forth in the Following
Citation:
For extraordinary heroism while serving with the British
Special Boat Service during combat operations in Northern Afghanistan on
25 and 26 November 2001. Chief Petty Officer Stephen Bass deployed to the area
as a member of a Joint American and British Special Forces Rescue Team
to locate and recover two missing American citizens, one presumed to be
seriously injured or dead, after hard-line Al Qaeda and Taliban
prisoners at the Quala-I-Jangi fortress in Mazar-e-Sharif over powered
them and gained access to large quantities of arms and ammunition stored
at the fortress. Once inside, Chief Petty Officer Bass was engaged
continuously by direct small arms fire, indirect mortar fire and rocket
propelled grenade fire. He was forced to walk through an active
anti-personnel minefield in order to gain entry to the fortress. After
establishing the possible location of both American citizens, under
heavy fire and without concern for his own personal safety, he made two
attempts to rescue the uninjured citizen by crawling toward the fortress
interior to reach him. Forced to withdraw due to large volumes of fire
falling on his position, he was undeterred. After reporting his efforts
to the remaining members of the rescue team, they left and attempted to
locate the missing citizen on the outside of the fortress. As darkness
began to fall, no attempt was going to be made to locate the other
injured American citizen. Chief Petty Officer Bass then took matters
into his own hands. Without regard for his own personal safety, he moved
forward another 300-400 meters into the heart of the fortress by himself
under constant enemy fire in an attempt to locate the injured citizen.
Running low on ammunition, he utilized weapons from deceased Afghans to
continue his rescue attempt. Upon verifying the condition and location
of the American citizen, he withdrew from the fortress. By his
outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the
face of enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, Chief Petty Officer
Bass reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest
traditions of the United States Naval Service.
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