Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler, hero, husband, father of four returned home on Saturday.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley render honors as an Army carry team moves the transfer case of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler during a Dignified Transfer at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Oct. 24, 2015.. DoD photo by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz
Photo of “Dignified Transfer” (family approved media coverage) courtesy Jake Tapper @jaketapper
Update:
Please watch and listen to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter describe the rescue mission in the first three minutes of this Pentagon briefing on the fight against ISIL:
Original story:
This morning, the following “Army Casualty Report” was waiting in my mailbox.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Oklahoma, died Oct. 22, in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, from wounds received by enemy small-arms fire during an operation.
He was assigned Headquarters U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
It is a significant report for two reasons:
First, and tragically, Master Sergeant Wheeler is the first American killed in action by enemy fire while fighting ISIL militants. (The Military Times notes, “At least seven others have been killed in other situations since Operation Inherent Resolve began last year.”)
Second, Master Sergeant Wheeler was part of a team of U.S. Special Forces who joined Kurdish peshmerga fighters in a courageous and dangerous predawn raid on an ISIL prison near the town Hawija in northern Iraq, about 90 miles south of Irbil.
The daring rescue raid — a raid wherein about 70 hostages were rescued, five ISIL fighters were detained and where “important intelligence about the terrorist group [was] recovered” — was pretty much overshadowed in the national news by the day-long GOP Benghazi hearings.
ABC News reports, “The U.S. Army soldier killed in the raid that freed 70 hostages from an ISIS prison in northern Iraq was a highly-decorated, veteran member of the elite Delta Force…”
Lest we forget that our troops are still in harm’s way, here is the full DOD report:
U.S. Special Forces supported an Iraqi peshmerga operation earlier today to rescue about 70 hostages from an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant prison near Hawijah, Iraq, Defense Department Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters at the Pentagon this afternoon.
American Special Forces personnel carried out the planned operation at the request of the Kurdistan regional government after learning through intelligence sources that the hostages faced imminent mass execution, Cook said.
The Special Forces mission was consistent with Operation Inherent Resolve’s counter-ISIL efforts to train, advise, and assist Iraqi forces, he emphasized.
One U.S. service member and four peshmerga soldiers were wounded when ISIL extremists fired on U.S. and Iraqi forces during the rescue, he said, adding the U.S. service member was medically treated but later died.
The recovered hostages were placed with the Kurdistan Regional government, Cook said, adding that no hostages died during the rescue to his knowledge.
“The U.S. provided helicopter lift and accompanied Iraqi peshmerga forces to the compound,” where ISIL held the hostages, Cook said. While it appears more than 20 hostages were Iraqi security forces’ members and the remaining hostages were Iraqi civilians, that review remains under way.
“Five ISIL terrorists were detained by the Iraqis and a number of ISIL terrorists were killed,” he said. “In addition, the U.S. recovered important intelligence about ISIL.”
Cook offered the department’s sincere condolences to the family of the U.S. service member who died in the operation.
“The U.S. and our coalition will continue to work with our Iraqi partners to degrade and defeat ISIL and return Iraq to the full control of its people,” he added.
The press secretary said the commander of U.S. Central Command, Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, offered his condolences in a statement earlier today.
“We commend and congratulate the brave individuals who participated in this successful operation that saved many lives, and we deeply mourn the loss of one of our own who died while supporting his Iraqi comrades engaged in a tough fight,” Austin’s statement read. “Our gratitude and heart-felt condolences go out to this young man’s family, his teammates and friends.”
Lead photo: Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler – Courtesy of U.S. Army/Reuters
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.