By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Cheryl Jones gets goosebumps just thinking about her former student in hand-to-hand combat with the Taliban and rescuing an American hostage.
And there he was this morning, Navy SEAL Edward C. Byers Jr., receiving the Medal of Honor for his heroic efforts.
“Eddie. We just called him Eddie,” recalled Jones, the health and physical education teacher at Otsego High School where Byers graduated in 1997. “He was really a kind kid. He was very respectful, very polite, very quiet.”
All the Otsego High School students were called to the auditorium this morning to watch Byers receive his award at the White House. They sat in respectful silence as the alumnus of their school was bestowed the honor by President Barack Obama.
Byers, 36, who grew up in Grand Rapids, talked often in school of wanting to join the elite Navy rank.
“He always wanted to be a SEAL. He would talk about it endlessly,” said Tom Ferdig, who was a year behind Byers in school.
Few doubted his commitment, but at the time it seemed a pretty lofty goal for a small town boy, said Ferdig, who now teaches history at Otsego High School.
Long before he was hiking on missions across Afghanistan, Byers was camping and learning outdoor skills with Boy Scout Troop 325 in Grand Rapids.
“He was just a nice kid, who was always willing to do things,” said Pam Heyman, a library media specialist at Otsego, whose son was in the troop with Byers.
“I wasn’t surprised. He always said he was going to be in the military,” Heyman said. “The students are excited that somebody from this little community could go on and do great things.”
In a recent story in Stars and Stripes, Byers described the night in 2012, when his unit rescued Dr. Dilip Joseph from the Taliban deep in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
The hostage, who was in Afghanistan to establish medical facilities, was told “the Americans are not coming for you,” Obama said. “They were wrong.”
After walking four hours in the freezing night to reach the Taliban camp, Byers was the second SEAL through the door of a tiny, one-room building where Joseph was held hostage. Byers killed two armed Taliban fighters before identifying Joseph and shielding him from harm. As bullets flew across the room, Byers leaped on top the doctor, using his own body armor to shield the captive as his fellow SEALs exchanged gun fire with enemy fighters.
Byers on a Navy SEAL mission in photo from Stars and Stripes
As Byers protected Joseph, he spotted an AK-47-wielding Taliban guard just inches away. He continued to shield Joseph with his body as he grabbed the gunman by the throat, pinning him to a wall long enough for another SEAL to shoot him dead, according to the Stars and Stripes.
His good friend Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas Checque was shot after being the first man through the door during the rescue. Once outside, Byers, a medic, turned his attention to Checque, spending the 40-minute flight back to Bagram Airfield trying to resuscitate his friend. Checque was declared dead at the American base.
Byers is just the sixth Navy SEAL in history to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He’s the 11th living American service member to receive the medal for actions in Afghanistan.
Obama called Byers “a special breed of warrior that so often serves in the shadows.”
The president talked of Byers’ childhood in Grand Rapids, where he would play in the woods with friends, wearing camouflage and pretending to be soldiers. He mentioned Byers’ mom, who still lives in the Grand Rapids area, whose first question to her son when told about the award was, “Do you think I can come?” She and Byers’ wife, daughter, siblings and about 50 cousins were at the White House for the ceremony.
Another relative, Pat Kitchen, of Tontogany, came to the high school to view the ceremony. Her daughter, married to Byers’ nephew, was at the White House for the event.
“He’s just a very down to earth gentleman. Very sweet,” Kitchen said. “He looks just like any guy next door.”
Byers is already a highly-decorated sailor. He served 11 overseas deployments including nine combat tours, fighting multiple times in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s been awarded the Bronze Star with “V” device for combat valor five times as well as two Purple Hearts and two Combat Action Ribbons.
Prior to today’s ceremony, Jones had conversations in her classroom about Byers’ accomplishments.
“Guys, think about this, a student from little Otsego. Dreams and aspirations can come true,” she said. “He’s receiving the greatest honor. He was just a scrawny little kid. He walked these halls. We are beyond proud.”
“I don’t know the kids can wrap their heads around it,” Jones said.
But the significance of Byers’ actions was not lost on the students.
“It was awesome, very motivational,” said senior Drew Teifke, who is enlisted in the Marines. “Maybe someday I can do half of what he does. I would leave tomorrow and fight for my country.”
Teifke noted the rarity of such military awards. “How crazy is that? He’s one of them and he’s from Grand Rapids.”
Adam Dunfee, a freshman, was proud that a graduate of his school had accomplished such heroics.
“You never see someone from a small town do things like that,” he said.
