Thursday was a special occasion for Lawton Public Schools because the Life Ready Center hosted Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee, a Medal of Honor recipient and western Oklahoma native.
“A lot of our students come from military families, and they’re considering the military as a career,” mentioned Kevin Hime, LPS superintendent. “I think it’s really amazing that our kids are able to just be in the presence of somebody who did for his country what (Plumlee) did and to just get a better understanding of how it was during the wars.”
Plumlee, a 2000 graduate of Clinton High School, met with Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps cadets in addition to different class leaders and instructed them how he acquired the Medal.
“I always get excited talking to young people who are contemplating or taking that first step to join because I want to share my experience and all the mistakes I made,” Plumlee mentioned. “I hope they took away the sense of purpose that I’ve gained through my service, and the value I’ve taken from the military and that ownership of the country. I hope they kind of think of that and anchor their service in that fashion.”
Then-Staff Sgt. Plumlee distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and past the decision of responsibility whereas partaking with the enemy in assist of Operation Enduring Freedom in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, on Aug. 28, 2013.
Plumlee was with members of his unit at Forward Operation Base Ghazni when insurgents detonated a 400-pound automotive bomb that blew open a 60-foot-wide breach in a fringe wall.
Plumlee and members of his particular operations group instantly jumped in a close-by truck and raced towards the blast to defend the bottom. When they arrived, his group encountered insurgents coming by way of the wall, all carrying explosive vests.
Plumlee exited the car and used his personal physique to protect the driving force. Outnumbered and with out regard for his personal security, at instances armed with solely a pistol, Plumlee attacked the rebel forces, taking them on one after the other.
“Now, Master Sgt. Plumlee, this recognition has been too long delayed for you and your family, and no one will ever forget how you sprang into action when the enemy attacked our base,” mentioned President Joseph Biden throughout a White House ceremony, Dec. 16, 2021. I’m grateful in your continued service and dedication to the nation.”
For Plumlee, the award was much less about his actions, somewhat the actions of these he served with that day.
“What this award means to me is that I will be a representative for the valor that occurred on that day, and I will represent those men that came with me to that fight,” Plumlee mentioned. “Not a doubt in my mind that either one of those guys could have filled my shoes if I had been the one that had been injured. It’s heady talk to think that I’m a representative of the best that the Army has.”
Plumlee was born in Clinton, Oklahoma. He grew up engaged on his household’s cattle ranch and oil subject instrument firm. He started his navy profession by becoming a member of the Oklahoma National Guard, serving within the forty fifth Field Artillery Brigade as a rocket artilleryman (13M) throughout his junior 12 months of highschool. After graduating highschool in 2000, Plumlee joined the United States Marine Corps the place he was chosen to attend the Marine’s Amphibious Reconnaissance Course and have become a Basic Reconnaissance Marine.
After getting back from a deployment to Iraq, Plumlee determined to make a change in his profession trajectory and joined the U.S. Army beneath the 18X program in January 2009, as a Special Forces weapons sergeant (18B) and was assigned to 4th Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne). There, he served in numerous rotations by way of the Indo-Pacific space of accountability. Plumlee deployed to Afghanistan in April 2013, the place his unit was tasked with conducting stability operations. Later on this deployment, he was positioned at Forward Operating Base Ghazni, which was topic to a posh assault on Aug. 28, 2013.
¬“I joined because I wanted an adventure and I wanted to get out of southwestern Oklahoma,” mentioned Plumlee, who remains to be serving as a group sergeant with 1st Special Forces Group. “I continue to serve because of the value I get from my service. Every time I deploy and come back, I look at the country and I look around and see what everyone’s doing, and I know that that all those actions are taking place on a bedrock of security that that me and my fellow service members have provided and it’s a such a rewarding thing for me.”
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