2006 Keeper of the Flame Award: Duncan Hunter

On September 20, 2006, the Center for Security Policy paid tribute to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter and Those Who Serve – the men and women who render invaluable service to the Nation in the War on Terror.

Congressman Hunter’s address to the nearly 400 attendees at this elegant black-tie dinner held at Washington’s landmark Union Station was preceded by a welcome from Dinner Chairman Jim Pitts, Corporate Vice President of the Northrup Grumman Corporation, and remarks by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.  The Keeper of the Flame Awards were presented to Rep. Hunter and five outstanding representatives of Those Who Serve in the U.S. armed forces by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace,
respectively.

The event featured a moving video tribute produced by Renegade Productions to one of America’s great patriots, former Reagan Secretary of Defense and the first recipient of the Keeper of the Flame AwardCaspar Weinberger, Sr.  Fittingly, Caspar Weinberger, Jr. was on hand to pay tribute to those honored in his father’s last book (which was completed shortly before his death this past spring), entitledHome of the Brave.  The volume tracks the stories of several of nineteen of today’s military heroes, four of the five of whom were recipients of Flame awards in recognition of their service and on behalf of all those who serve in their respective military branches.  The five servicemen honorees were:

• Sergeant Michaeux Sanders, USA.  On April 4, 2004, on what was suppose to be his last day in Iraq, then-Specialist Micheaux Sanders and his unit were called to the aid of a patrol trapped in an ambush by Iraqi insurgents. During the battle, a round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder and out the other side, but he continually waved off the medics who tried to come to his aid. Fighting furiously but low on ammunition, Sanders repeatedly exposed himself to the enemy, firing whatever weapons he could find, and helping save several of his fellow crewmembers.  Sergeant Sanders was awarded the Silver Star.

•  Captain Brian Chontosh, USMC.  Caught in an ambush in Iraq, Chontosh ordered his vehicle’s driver to advance directly at the enemy position enabling his .50 caliber machine gunner to silence the enemy.  Chontosh then directed his vehicle into the enemy trench, and began to clear it. His ammunition depleted, Chontosh, with complete disregard for his safety, twice picked up discarded enemy rifles and cleared over 200 meters of the enemy trench, and disrupted the ambush.  Captain Chontosh was awarded the Navy Cross.

•  Hospital Corpsman Third Class Luis Fonseca, USN.  In Nasiriyah Iraq, during a battle with the Saddam Fedayeen, Fonseca raced through mortar, rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire tending to wounded Marines, even carrying an injured Marine twice his size on his back for over two hundred yards to bring him to safety. After his brave dash and continuous deadly artillery barrages, Fonseca repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to treat Marines wounded along the unit’s perimeter and was able to evacuate them to safety.  Corpsman Fonseca was awarded the Navy Cross.

• Technical Sergeant Stephen Achey, USAF.  During Operation Anaconda, March 2002, in the frigid, icy mountainous terrain of the Shahikot Valley in Afghanistan, then-Staff Sergeant Stephen Achey’s job was to call in precision air strikes on enemy targets.But when his team was ambushed by a hurricane of Al Qaeda and Taliban fire, a mortar blast damaged his communications equipment.  Springing to his feet and running at top speed, Achey was able to retrieve another radio.  He then alternated between the radio and his rifle to orchestrate gunship and fighter attacks that destroyed numerous enemy positions and facilitated the extraction of his wounded brothers in arms.  Sergeant Achey received the Silver Star.

•  Lieutenant Junior Grade Bradley Middleton, USCG. In June 2005, LTJG Middleton assumed the duties of Executive Officer of the US Coast Guard Cutter Maui, deployed to the Arabian Gulf in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.  Over the course of this one-year tour, LTJG Middleton spent over 5,000 hours underway in Iraqi waters and completed approximately 100 vessel boardings in order to ensure the security of coalition forces and assets off the coast of Iraq.

Among those in attendance from the Administration for the seventeenth annual Keeper of the Flame Award were: Deputy National Security Advisor J.D. Crouch; Homeland Security Advisor to the President Fran Townsend; Senior Director of Defense Policy and Strategy at the National Security Council William Luti; Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph; Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance Paula DeSutter; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations Jeffrey Nadaner; and Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security Ken Rapuano; as well as Senators Jon Kyl and James Inhofe, the 1994 and 2005 Keeper of the Flame Award recipients, respectively.

Other distinguished guests included: Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Gen. James Jones, James Cartwright USMC and Gen. Norton Schwartz, Commander, U.S. Transportation Command; former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith; and former National Counterintelligence Executive Michelle Van Cleave. USMC; Commander of Strategic Command Gen.

The event concluded with moving remarks by Westwood One’s nationally syndicated talk show host Lars Larsen, who recently lost a close friend in combat in Iraq.  Mr. Larsen joined in thanking Congressman Hunter and all Those Who Serve, and encouraged their support through the work of the Center for Security Policy.