Veterans Voice: Ty Michael Carter

Medal of Honor winner, Staff Sergeant Ty Michael Carter was born in Oregon in the 1990’s, but subsequently moved to California. He joined the U.S. Marines and attended Combat Engineer School. He was deployed to Okinawa and Japan. He showed promise as a marksman, but left the Marines after his initial tour of duty.

He attended college in California, was married, and was the father of a daughter. The marriage did not last however, and be joined the U.S. Army. He served two tours of duty in Afghanistan. During his first tour, he was assigned to Bravo Company, 3rd Squadron, 61st Calvary Regiment.

The outpost was constructed at the confluence of the Kushtowz and Landay Sin Rivers. It was built to extend the reach of Afghanistan and Coalition Forces in the remote Kamdesh district. COP Keating was backed up by Observation Post Fritsche, a platoon-sized post located some 1500 meters to the south and separated by very rocky ground. OP Fritsche could only provide mortar support to the south side of the battle area.

In 2009 he was assigned to Combat Outpost (COP) Keating, a company-sized outpost in Nuristan Province. The outpost was on low, constricted ground near two small villages. Their attempts to forge a relationship with villagers was mostly unsuccessful, but they did receive a warning from the locals they were about to be attacked, but only 6 minutes before the attack began. In addition to the 53 American men, there was a small contingent of Afghan troops.

On October 3rd, the Outpost came under attack from more than 300 anti-Afghan forces armed with AK-47’s, heavy machine guns, and RPG’s (rocket propelled grenades). The enemy was firing down on them from a rugged hill full of rocks and crevices which provided excellent cover for the attackers. There was, however, a rough access road built in a series of switchbacks which eventually provided an attack route for the enemy.

Only six minutes after receiving a warning, the outpost came under heavy enemy fire. Most men in the COP were unaware of the warning, but quickly responded. The attack was well-coordinated and the amount of firepower was well beyond anything encountered in the area previously. 

The friendly Afghan forces received several casualties after which the remaining troops abandoned their positions with some fleeing into the countryside and the others taking cover in a fortified building and did not participate in the rest of the battle.

U. S. forces quickly filled the Afghan positions and began returning fire. Three of the Americans raced to the southern edge of the compound, taking cover in two multi-purpose armored vehicles to provide themselves with cover. Sgt. Bradley Larson and Staff Sgt. Justin Gallegos immediately engaged the enemy with the .50 caliber and M240 machine guns mounted on the vehicles. Moments later, Staff Sergeant Carter sprinted through heavy fire to the vehicles. Carter gave two bags of M240 ammo to Gallegos and most of his M4 magazines to Spc. Stephen L. Mace.

Realizing they needed lubricant for the .50 caliber along with more ammunition, Carter again raced through enemy fire to bring 2 cans of lubricant for the machine gun. He again went for ammunition through enemy fire and had to shoot the lock off of the ammo shed to secure more ammunition, which he again carried back to the three men. At this point Sgt. Vernon Martin joined the men at the vehicles. 

Soon after the vehicle became the target of enemy RPG’s which destroyed the .50 caliber and wounded three of the men. Now 30 minutes into the day-long battle with both machine guns disabled, the men came under heavy small-arms fire. At this point Gallegos left the position to link up with other members of B Company while Carter and  Larson provided covering fire. Nonetheless, Gallegos was struck by enemy machine gun fire and died instantly.

During the RPG strike, Spc. Mace was wounded by shrapnel and crawled to a low place about 30 meters from the vehicle. Larson and Martin went back to the shredded vehicle. At the same time a second vehicle arrived at the scene with 3 men inside to provide reinforcement. Their vehicle came under RPG attack and was destroyed, wounding one of the men inside. The wounded man exited the vehicle but was immediately killed by small arms fire.

A few of the enemy had breached the perimeter wire. Carter and Larson quickly engaged them, killing two and causing the rest to retreat back to cover on the hillside. But enemy fire had set several buildings on fire sending heavy smoke into the sky.

Low on ammo, Carter again returned to the ammo storage under heavy fire. He also checked on the second vehicle, discovering it empty, but grabbed an M249 light machine gun with a partial drum of ammunition. They decided to take the ammo from the machine gun and use it in their M-4’s.

Carter and Larson focused on accurate fire to conserve ammo. Heavily out-manned and outgunned, they managed to keep the enemy at bay, Carter taking out a 2-man RPG team. Their accurate fire prevented another breach of the perimeter. In the meantime, wounded Mace took additional hits and was pleading for help.

Carter made the decision to help Mace, recognizing he would likely be killed in the process. He sprinted to Mace under heavy enemy fire, placed a tourniquet on Mace’s shattered leg, then picked him up, carrying him to the relative safety of the vehicle. Putting him safely in the vehicle, Carter returned to the fight.

With no communication with other members of Company B, the men feared the compound had been overrun. Needing both ammo and recon, Carter again under took the dangerous run to the compound. He encountered the body of Gallegos, assured that he was dead, but took the Sgt’s radio. Hearing the traffic, he knew members of the company were still engaging the enemy. He took the radio and additional ammo back to Larson and the Humvee. On the radio, he learned the enemy had breached the perimeter and the men had formed a new perimeter around the control building.

The other members of B Company launched a counter-attack, killing a number of enemy soldiers and at least temporarily securing the outpost. Meanwhile, Carter realized that Mace was in critical need of medical assistance. He called for an evacuation helicopter which was only able to come in under cover of darkness to rescue Mace. Despite valiant efforts, Mace succumbed to his wounds.

Twelve hours into the battle, reinforcements from a QRF (Quick Reaction Force) landed at OP Fritsche and hiked into the battle zone. They found the enemy in retreat at this point, but managed to kill two on the switchback road.

Over the next two days there were additional engagements and Coalition Forces killed one of the top enemy commanders affiliated with the Taliban.

The tremendous tenacity of the American troops prevented an enemy victory and Sgt. Carter received the Medal of Honor for his heroic efforts. 

 

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