Retired soldier waited 20 years for Bronze Star
A retired soldier from Averill Park finally received a belated Bronze Star Medal with V device for valor in battle.
Retired New York Army National Guard Master Sgt. Luis Barsallo received the medal that he earned in recognition of saving six wounded and other soldiers during two battles in 2004 in Iraq.
Maj. Gen. Raymond Shields, state adjutant general, presented the medal to Barsallo during a ceremony at the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs Headquarters in Latham Thursday. Shields noted Barsallo earned the award for his heroism in combat in April and May 2004. The Bronze Star is the fourth highest award a soldier can earn for valor, Shields said.
Barsallo earned the medal while serving as a platoon leader with the New York Army National Guard’s and Glens Falls based C Company, 2nd. Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment. His unit was attached to the 1st Infantry Division at Samarra, Iraq.
In 2004, Barsallo’s regiment was mobilized and deployed to north central Iraq. The battalion’s C Company was assigned to the division’s 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, which was responsible for the city of Samarra.
Why the long wait for the medal? Barsallo should have received it much sooner.
The paperwork, documentation and recommendation for the award had to go through the active Army’s 1st Infantry Division chain of command. But, all that documentation got lost, according to Maj. Katie Schin, executive officer of the New York National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion. Shin and other administrative officials successfully led an effort to find the original documents and resubmitted a request for the medal.
“The hardest part was finding the officers who would have signed the awards form back in 2004; the battalion, brigade, and 1st infantry Division commanders,” she explained. They persevered until they succeeded because what Barsallo did in 2004 deserved recognition, Schin said.
On April 11, 2004 the first combat incident was recorded by the Army as the Battle of Easter Sunday. That resulted in the death of Pvt. 1st Class Nathan Brown of South Glens Falls when the C Company’s 2nd platoon was ambushed. Barsallo’s platoon was ambushed by insurgents with improvised explosive devices and rocketpropelled grenades.
Six members of the platoon were severely wounded, but they survived thanks to Barsallo’s actions, Shields said. “Luis saved lives by staying calm and directing fires on enemy positions,” Shields said.
Barsallo quickly went back out into the ambush kill zone to reposition a five-ton truck so soldiers could fire a machine gun from that vehicle and zero in on the enemy. That suppressive fire enabled evacuation vehicles and rescuers to get to the wounded soldiers, Shields added.
Army records document Barsallo quickly deployed his squad to respond to the attack. Barsallo left his covered position to drive a 5-ton truck out of the kill zone and positioned it to provide suppressive fire on the enemy, allowing the six badly wounded soldiers to be evacuated.
“He put himself in immediate and direct harm’s way to save his fellow soldiers,” Shields said. “Luis was determined that others would not die that night.”
Barsallo then led his squad in an assault on the enemy positions until the quick reaction force arrived to take over the fight.
The second combat incident took place on May 29, 2004, while Barsallo’s squad was attached to A Company of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment as a blocking force. The squad came under enemy small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Barsallo responded by exposing himself to the enemy fire as he ran to a machine gun position. He took charge of the machine gun crew and directed fire at the enemy, killing two insurgents and forcing the rest to withdraw.
“Barsallo’s strong leadership, unmatched personal courage, and strong situational awareness, successfully eliminated the enemy, allowing for the successful completion of the A Co mission,” the Bronze Star Medal citation says.
Barsallo retired from the New York Army National Guard in 2020 after 29 years of service in the Army. He had served eight years in the active Army and 21 years in the New York Army National Guard. Today, he works as a health care navigator for the Albany Housing Coalition, which provides veterans housing services.
Soldiers promoted
Keith Myers of West Sand Lake has been promoted to first sergeant while assigned to the New
York Army National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters.
Anthony Smith of Gansevoort has advanced to sergeant first class while on duty with Joint Force Headquarters.
Kenneth Jones of Valley Falls was promoted to sergeant first class while serving with 204th Engineer Platoon.
Other New York Army National Guard soldiers who were promoted include:
Staff sergeant: Larissa Cook, Schenectady, Company G, 427th Brigade Support Battalion; Nicholas Goldberg, Albany, Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment; Lindsay Gravell, Latham, Company E, 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment; Nashayla Harper, Watervliet, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 42nd Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade; Daniel Huehn, Cohoes, Company B, New York National Guard Recruiting & Retention Battalion; Matthew Lenhart, Schenectady, Company D, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, Kyle Meybaum, Gansevoort, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment; Mallorie Meyer, Queensbury, 42nd Infantry Division Band; and Charles Olson, Averill Park, Medical Readiness Detachment.
Sergeant: Madison Barber, Watervliet, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 42nd Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade; Jovan Campbell, Watervliet, Company B, New York National Guard Recruiting & Retention Battalion; Murray Canteen, Company G, 427th Brigade Support Battalion; Natalie Chandler, Cohoes, Signal Intelligence and Sustainment Company, 42nd Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion; Lenae Davis from Ballston Spa, 1501st Quartermaster Company and Joshua Delgado, Troy, 1427th Transportation Company.
Also, Raquel Egea, Albany, Battery A, 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery Regiment; Victoria Kingman, Cairo, Joint Force Headquarters; Garrett Mcdonald, East Greenbush, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment; and Timothy Pysher, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 42nd Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade.