Navy SEAL Edward Byers

superbeets · Feb 27, 2016

[h=1]'I'm not a hero', says Navy SEAL who used his body to shield American hostage from gunfire in Afghanistan as he prepares to be awarded the Medal of Honor[/h]

Navy SEAL Edward Byers earned the Medal of Honor for his actions during a hostage rescue mission in Afghanistan in 2012
Byers shielded the hostage from gunfire with his own body as a team member was killed
He is the Navy's first living winner of the award in decades

By DAILY MAIL ONLINE REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 07:04, 27 February 2016 | UPDATED: 07:10, 27 February 2016

superbeets · Feb 27, 2016

The Navy's first living winner of the Medal of Honor in decades said he doesn't consider himself a hero in an interview ahead of Monday's award ceremony.
'[My daughter] has five different nicknames [for] me, and not one of them is hero,' Edward Byers said.
Byers, a Navy SEAL, will be given the United States' highest military honor by president Barack Obama for his actions during a 2012 rescue mission in Afghanistan's Laghman Province.

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Edward Byers, a Navy SEAL, will be awarded the Medal of Honor at a ceremony Monday

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Byers earned the Medal of Honors for his action during a rescue mission in Afghanistan in 2012

superbeets · Feb 27, 2016

During the nighttime mission, Byers protected an American hostage with his body under gunfire, according to a Navy account of the mission.
The hostage, Dr. Dilip Joseph, was saved from the single-room compound where he had been held by Taliban fighters.
But one of Byers' SEAL teammates, Nic Checque, was killed during the mission.
In the interview, Byers explained how he handed off the hostage to other US soldiers before helping medics trying to resuscitate Checque.

Navy SEAL Nic Checque, left, was killed during a mission to save Dr. Dilip Joseph, right.

'I'm going to be a representative for the Navy and the Naval Special Warfare community and there's a weight that that carries with,' Byers said in the interview.
'And that weight is the sacrifices that everybody has made within this community, guys like Nic Checque and all my other brothers who have fallen. It's an affirmation, once again, of the job that we do.'
The Navy lists seven other living recipients who belong to the branch. They were honored for their actions during the wars in Vietnam and Korea.