06JUN2007: Serving with 3rd Platoon Charlie Company, 1-508 PIR, SGT Charles Wyckoff and his men were on patrol in Afghanistan's deadly Helmand province right in the midst of the fighting season. In the middle of the patrol, Taliban fighters opened fire on the exposed American element forcing Wyckoff and his men to take cover. From a covered position, Wyckoff identified a source of enemy fire from behind a nearby wall. These walls in southern Afghanistan are thick and easily able to stop bullets. If they were going to destroy the enemy fighters and be able to safely exit the area, someone would have to get behind that wall. Without regard for his own safety, SGT Wyckoff ran across an open field to maneuver behind the enemy. Turning the corner, he found himself mere feet from two Taliban fighters. One was aiming an RPG at his men about to pull the trigger and the other turned to face Wyckoff with an AK-47. Rather than save himself, Wyckoff ignored the fighter just feet in front of him to shoot the enemy with the RPG, killing him before he could fire it at his men. Simultaneously, Wyckoff was shot and killed by the second Taliban fighter. Putting his men before himself, SGT Charles Wyckoff gave his life so that his brothers may live. For his brave actions that day, Wyckoff would be awarded, posthumously, the Distinguished Service Cross.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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