FORT HOOD, Texas – When Spc. Kraig Lemme was in fourth grade his class was visited by several Desert Storm veterans. The Soldiers made a lasting impression on him, and he made a promise to himself.

"I told myself, I’m going to be over there one of these days," Lemme said.

Lemme, now 24, fulfilled that promise by deploying with the 1^st Cavalry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom II in 2004. However the young boy who made that promise in a Tucson, Ariz. classroom never dreamed that while in Iraq he would become a hero.

"Heroic and selfless" is how he was described during a ceremony at Black Jack Field on Fort Hood, Sept. 15. During that ceremony, Lemme was awarded the Soldiers Medal by 2^nd Brigade Combat Team’s commander, Col. Bryan Roberts.

The Soldiers Medal is one of the highest honors that the Army can bestow on a Soldier and is reserved for those who distinguish themselves by a heroic act that does not occur during actual enemy conflict. As in Lemme’s case, the medal is usually awarded to a Soldier who risks his own life to save another’s.

An infantryman with Company A, 1^st Battalion, 5^th Cavalry Regiment, Lemme recalled the events that occurred early one October morning in 2004 that led to him receiving this prestigious award.

"We were out on a mission - command and control on the ground," Lemme explained. "We’d go out and anything that happened, we’d act on it."

Lemme, who was a member of his company commander’s personal security detail, said that they left Camp Liberty to patrol the outskirts of Baghdad at 10:00 p.m. and that the night was fairly uneventful. However, with the dawning of the new day came an unexpected call for help.

"We were out all night and it was coming into the morning," Lemme said, "We heard over the radio that a tank had flipped over into a canal."

His commander immediately headed toward the location of the overturned Abrahms, and upon reaching it, Lemme said it was obvious that the driver must have misjudged the turn after coming across the narrow canal bridge.

Lemme said that he and two of his fellow Soldiers, Sgt. Randy Mikai and Sgt. Geraldo Garza, both of whom were specialists at the time, climbed out of their own vehicle to assess the situation.

Their immediate focus turned to the Soldiers who were trapped inside.

"We knew if there were guys still in there we needed to try and get them out," Lemme explained.

Lemme, Garza and Mikai quickly removed their heavy protective gear and jumped from the embankment of the canal onto the underside of the Abrahms.

"We were banging to see if we’d get a response from them," Lemme recalled. "We couldn’t hear anything – we’re banging, we didn’t hear anything.

"We thought the guys were probably already gone, but the attitude was if we can save them, let’s save them," Lemme said.

The Soldiers decided their best option was to try to pull the overturned Abrahms out of the canal with another tank.

"We put together tow cables," Lemme explained. "We looped one around the wheel of the flipped over Abrams and we linked it together and put it around the hitch of the other Abrams."

Although they were not able to move the tank, they did raise the top of the tank just above the water line.

"It was barely out of the water to where you could just see the openings to the hatches," Lemme said.

Once they saw the hatches, Lemme said that they knew this was their only chance to evacuate the trapped Soldiers.

Lemme, who had been trained as a rescue swimmer, helped all three Soldiers trapped inside climb through the hatch and swim over to the shore. Although none of them appeared to be severely injured, all of them were very fatigued and understandably shaken by the event.

Lemme said that while waiting for a recovery vehicle, one of the Soldiers told him that his head had been pinned to the floorboard and he only had a small pocket of air to breathe from.

"They all said they were saying their prayers and didn’t think that they would make it out," Lemme recalled.

Fortunately, none of the Soldiers suffered any major injuries, and within a couple days were back to work.

Lemme said that he, Garza and Mikai were also fortunate that they were not injured during the rescue attempt.

"It wasn’t really secure and it could have fell at any time," Lemme said. "The vehicle could have fell on you or the cable could have snapped. All of these possibilities that could have put our lives in danger."

At the time though, Lemme said the fact that he might be endangering his own life never even crossed his mind.

"We weren’t even thinking," Lemme said. "We were just like, ‘Hey, lets get these guys out.’"

This demonstration of complete selflessness is what makes the Soldiers Medal so special – and rare.

"He didn’t have to think twice. What he has – it’s inherent," Roberts said of Lemme. "It’s very seldom that a commander gets to pin a Soldiers Medal on a comrade’s chest."

Lemme said that while he is honored to be awarded the Soldiers Medal, the fact that the three Soldiers are still alive today is what is most important. He said the possibility of receiving a medal never crossed his mind.

"You don’t want to see your buddies die," Lemme said, "I was just doing my job, like anybody would."

Col. Bryan Roberts, commander of the 1^st Cavalry Division’s 2^nd Brigade Combat Team, pins a Soldiers Medal onto the uniform of Spc. Kraig Lemme, an infantryman with Company A., 1^st Battalion, 5^th Cavalry Regiment, during an award ceremony at Black Jack Field Sept. 15. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Robert Yde, 2^nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs)

Spc. Kraig Lemme, an infantryman with Company A., 1^st Battalion, 5^th Cavalry Regiment, salutes his brigade commander, Col. Bryan Roberts of the 1^st Cavalry Division’s 2^nd Brigade Combat Team, after receiving a Soldiers Medal Sept. 15 during a ceremony at Fort Hood. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Robert Yde, 2^nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs)