Jefferson to present Memorial Day oration
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| Former Ambassador Ryan Crocker and then Staff Sergeant Lawrence Jefferson II. |
This year, Jefferson, now a Sergeant First Class, will mark Memorial Day here in his home town, presenting the Memorial Day oration during services at Grandview Cemetery.
Jefferson, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, enlisted in the U.S. Army in May, 1989, reporting to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for basic training. In April, 1990, he earned his parachutists badge at Fort Benning, Georgia, joining the elite ranks of the Airborne.
He served in Kuwait and Iraq during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991 with the 36th Engineer Group, assigned to the 2/18th Infantry of the 197th Infantry Brigade. He returned to combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2005, and yet again during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2008-2009, serving with both the 1st Infantry Division, the “Big Red One,” and the 101st Airborne “Screaming Eagles.”
While engaged in several actions, including an action in May, 2008, for which he is under consideration for the Bronze Star for Valor, the action for which he received the Purple Heart came in November, 2008, when he was part of a convoy providing security for Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Dell, who was touring locations within the city of Herat.
A few minutes after the convoy linked up with the Ambassador’s vehicle, an alert went over the radio channels to all the vehicles in the convoy; a vehicle was approaching fast. Jefferson floored the gas as the gun turret on the Humvee spun around. Before the specialist manning the machine gun could engage the vehicle, a loud explosion erupted just outside the driver’s side door.
“It was like being hit with a sledge hammer and a shockwave like a wall of water rolled through the UAH (up-armored Humvee),” Jefferson wrote in his after action report. “Stuff flew everywhere. Things turned to chaos … I could not see anything due to the smoke, dust and whatever else, and I was getting tunnel vision at the steering wheel. The entire left side of my body was numb from the concussion … I remember trying to hang on to get us to safety. I must have passed out at this time, because when I came to, I was sitting there in the drivers seat and the vehicle was stopped. I looked around to see if there was anyone there and if they were okay.”
Rather than concern himself with his own injuries, which he assumed were minor, once he shook the cobwebs clear he went to work providing comfort and aid to others in his vehicle who were more obviously injured, and assisted in getting the vehicle and those in it to a hospital, where it was determined that Jefferson had suffered a severe concussion and inner ear damage.
“He was looking after one of my foreign service brethren,” Crocker said in pinning on Jefferson’s medal. “They were setting up to ambush Ambassador Dell.”
Jefferson’s actions and those of the soldiers he was serving with in that Humvee were credited with spotting the suicide bomber and forcing him to detonate his explosives early, sparing Ambassador Dell and his retinue.
Jefferson, now awaiting medical retirement due to the severity of his injuries, is currently assigned to Idaho National Guard Detachment 1, Company A, 145th Brigade Support Battalion in his hometown of Bonners Ferry, which he first visited while on leave in 1992.
“I met Tonya Hurst and fell in love with Bonners Ferry while on leave in December, 1992,” he said. “After release from my first active duty tour, I moved to Bonners Ferry in 1993, joining the 116th Engineer Battalion … the rest is history. I am still married to my wonderful wife and best friend, Tonya, we have a daughter in the Navy, and two great teenage sons.”
In addition to the Purple Heart, Jefferson wears a chest full of ribbons; the Meritorious Service Medal, three Army Commendation Medals, five Army Achievement Medals, and six Reserve Army Achievement Medals, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with a campaign star, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, two overseas service ribbons, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with meritorious device, the NATO Medal, and more.