Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers to Receive Medal of Honor

 

WASHINGTON, DC – On February 29, 2016, President Barack Obama will present the Medal of Honor to Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers, U.S. Navy.  Senior Chief Byers will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions while serving as part of a team that rescued an American civilian being held hostage in Afghanistan on December 8-9, 2012.

Senior Chief Byers will be the eleventh living service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan.  He and his family will join the President at the White House to commemorate his example of selfless service. 

Senior Chief Byers was born in Toledo, Ohio on August 4, 1979.  He graduated from Otesgo High School in Tontogany, Ohio in June 1997.

Senior Chief Byers currently holds a National Paramedics License, and will graduate from Norwich University with a Bachelor of Science in Strategic Studies and Defense Analysis in early 2016.

Senior Chief Byers entered the Navy in September 1998, attending boot camp and Hospital Corpsman School at Great Lakes, Illinois.  He served at Great Lakes Naval Hospital, and then with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.  In 2002, he attended the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL course, graduating from Class 242, and completed the Special Operations Combat Medic course in 2003.  Senior Chief Byers has been assigned to various east coast SEAL teams, and completed eight overseas deployments with seven combat tours. 

Senior Chief Byers’ awards and decorations include five awards of the Bronze Star Medal with Combat V device, two awards of the Purple Heart, the Joint Service Commendation Medal with Valor device, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat V device, two additional awards of the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, two awards of the Combat Action Ribbon, three Presidential Unit Citations, two Joint Meritorious Unit Awards, two Navy Unit Commendations, and five Good Conduct Medals. 

Source: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary