Bush awards first medal of honour in Iraq War

WASHINGTON - President Bush has awarded the first Medal of Honor in the Iraq war to Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who saved dozens of soldiers before he died in a firefight days before Baghdad fell.

Bush presented the military's highest award for bravery to Smith's young son at a White House ceremony attended by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a roomful of military men and women from all branches of the armed services.

"On this day two years ago Sergeant Smith gave his all for his men. Five days later Baghdad fell and the Iraqi people were liberated," Bush said.

Smith and about three dozen soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division were building a temporary jail for captured prisoners near the Baghdad airport when they came under fire from about 100 of Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard, Bush said.

With his wounded men in danger of being overrun and enemy fire from a watchtower pinning them down, Smith manned a 50-caliber machine gun and kept firing until he was killed by shots to the head.

"From a completely exposed position, he killed as many as 50 enemy soldiers as he protected his men," Bush said. "Sergeant Smith's leadership saved the men in the courtyard, and he prevented an enemy attack on the aid station just up the road."

Smith's hometown is Tampa, Florida but his family lives in Holiday, Florida.

- REUTERS