William D. Swenson

William D. Swenson (born 1978) is a former captain in the United States Army who was awarded the Medal of Honor on 15 October 2013. He was the first living United States Army officer to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, as well as the sixth living recipient in the War on Terror.

Military career
Swenson graduated from Seattle University with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science. He commissioned from Officer Candidate School as a United States Army infantry officer in September 2002. His military education includes Ranger School and Airborne School, and has deployed three times in the War on Terror, once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan. He has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. At the time of the Battle of Ganjgal, Swenson was a Captain in 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, detailed as an Embedded Trainer for the Afghan Border Police.

He left the Army in February 2011 and currently lives in Seattle, Washington.

Awards and decorations
The U.S. Army lists Swenson’s awards and decorations as including:
 * Combat Infantry Badge.svg Combat Infantryman Badge
 * USA Parachutist.png Basic Parachutist Badge
 * RangerTab TIoH.gif Ranger Tab
 * 10MountainDivCSIB.jpg 10th Mountain Division CSIB

Captain Swenson has got five Overseas Service Bars.

Medal of Honor action
On September 8, 2009, Swenson was part of an operation to connect the Afghan government with native elders in the Ganjgal Valley in Eastern Kunar Province in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. According to the U.S. Army's detailed Official Narrative, the coalition force's 106-man column entered the valley and was ambushed at about 6 a.m. by as many as 60 insurgent fighters who soon surrounded the column on three sides, situated on terraced high ground. Within an hour, communication to the front of the column, including four U.S. servicemen, was lost. Meanwhile, Captain Swenson, who initially was positioned toward the rear of the column, called for air support, and with two comrades crossed 50 meters of open space under direct enemy fire to administer life-extending first aid to his severely wounded sergeant. When the column was surrounded by enemy fighters that advanced within 50 meters, Swenson responded to Taliban demands for surrender by throwing a hand grenade, an act of defiance that rallied his comrades to repel the enemy advance. Swenson and comrades moved his sergeant and other wounded to a helicopter for medical evacuation before returning to the enemy's "kill zone" for at least two more trips in an unarmored vehicle to evacuate additional wounded. Returning even more deeply through the kill zone toward the location of the head of column in search of the four U.S. servicemen, Swenson's party first rescued and recovered several Afghan National Security Force wounded and dead. Finally, Swenson and a small contingent recovered the four fallen U.S. servicemen who had been discovered by a search and rescue aircraft at noon. The 6-7 hour firefight caused 15 coalition deaths, including the four U.S. servicemen and Swenson's friend SFC Kenneth Westbrook. He used a VSB panel to single for a MEDIVAC to land, using his own body he drapped the VSB panel over his body and laid down on the ground, with Swenson's actions believed to have directly contributed to saving more than a dozen Afghan lives.

Medal of Honor award
Swenson received the Medal of Honor on 15 October 2013. He was nominated for his actions as an Embedded Trainer in the Battle of Ganjgal near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on 8 September 2009. He is reported to have repeatedly entered the "kill zone" in order to rescue wounded American and Afghan soldiers, much like his teammate Dakota Meyer who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2011.

For reasons which remain unclear, the paperwork was lost, causing a significant delay in the nomination process. Some believe that Swenson was being punished for loudly criticizing his senior officers (for not sending fire support) in an after-action investigation into the battle. His case was reopened in 2011 at the urging of Marine Corps General John R. Allen. Dakota Meyer strongly advocated for Swenson's Medal of Honor in his book, Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War, writing that if it weren't for Swenson, he (Meyer) would not be alive today.

Hall of Heroes Induction Ceremony
Following the Medal of Honor presentation at the White House, on October 16, 2013, Swenson was inducted into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes. The ceremony was officiated by Chuck Hagel, the Secretary of Defense. Hagel was assisted by the Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh, Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno and the Sergeant Major of the Army, Raymond F. Chandler. During the ceremony, Chuck Hagel apologized to Swenson for the mishandling of his award nomination, which had been delayed for 19 months because of what officials called a bureaucratic oversight. McHugh later told the standing room only audience that the Army would implement a new process providing greater oversight to "ensure that no future award packet is lost along the way or paperwork misplaced or somehow forgotten in the fog of war." The new directive, McHugh stated, required Medal of Honor nominations be sent immediately to Army Human Resources Command, known as HRC. "As soon as an honors packet is created at battalion level, we will have immediate visibility at Army headquarters," he told the audience.

Referencing allegations that Swenson's award had been intentionally lost as a result of his criticizing leadership actions after the battle, Odierno said that "Swenson's strength of character was undeniable. Even after the battle, Will was not afraid to point out deficiencies in the operation that caused difficulties in obtaining the appropriate and timely support necessary. He recognized the importance of assessing performance, and had the character to stick to his convictions."

Following the presentation of his framed citation and the personal Medal of Honor flag, Swenson spoke briefly.

"'I look at this crowd and I see the strength of a nation and I see the strength of a fighting force, one that I fought proudly with. I look at my fellow Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force, a team that I fought side-by-side with as brothers. It's the proudest moment of my life and I'm honored and privileged to know these men.'"