Sergeant Patrick Tower, 9 Platoon, Charlie Company, First Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Star of Military Valour

Following an enemy strike against an outlying friendly position that resulted in numerous casualties, Sergeant Tower assembled the platoon medic and a third soldier and led them across 150 metres of open terrain, under heavy enemy fire, to render assistance. On learning that the acting platoon commander had perished, Sergeant Tower assumed command and led the successful extraction of the force under continuous small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Sergeant Tower's courage and selfless devotion to duty contributed directly to the survival of the remaining platoon members.

O peration Archer was Sergeant Tower's fifth deployment overseas. To him, it was the most meaningful. "It was very rewarding. There's a huge sense of accomplishment from what we did over those seven months. Compared to the rest of the deployments, there was so much more that I felt we accomplished. "That was mission-wise, and on the other side of it, just the camaraderie, the bonds that we built throughout our company, and throughout the platoons and the sections. After living together for that amount of time in those austere conditions, and then fighting, all the things that happened, just brought us together, so close - like our own little family."

S gt Tower is determined to return to Afghanistan in 2008. "I volunteered to go back, because I want to experience that all over again." He is glad to spread the knowledge and experience he has gained. "With our engagements with the enemy, we came out on top, we did remarkably. It validates all of our training that we do. Our training works. The soldiers and the leadership that we have in our army are second to none across the board - we proved that. This whole operation gives us such a focus - and that's combat operations in Afghanistan."

T hough he had prior experience on tour, Afghanistan was something new. "Of my previous deployments, Croatia was probably my most intense. I was with 2 PPCLI during the Medak Pocket operation ... but it's nothing compared to what we saw on this deployment."

H e remembers his first contact in Afghanistan. It was dark, and he was in the back of a LAV (Light Armoured Vehicle). "We were ambushed in Panjwayi, on Highway 1, by quite a number of Taliban. They engaged us with small arms, machine-guns, and RPGs (rocket propelled grenades). There was a lot of fire coming at us. The LAV just behind us was compromised by an RPG and resulted in five casualties that evening." Among the casualties was the platoon commander, and the platoon second-in command, his close friend Sgt Vaughn Ingram. Sgt Tower found himself in command of the platoon later that night, due to casualties. It would not be the last time he would be compelled to take command. As for their first ambush, Sgt Tower's platoon recovered quickly. "Yeah we were facing a lot of fire, but the initiative changed from them to us, within a few rounds of that LAV cannon fire."

S gt Tower's first engagement was more detached than later ones would be. "I was in the back of the LAV, with my section. The only people who could really engage were the crew with the turret, with the main armament, and the two air sentries, and that was it. But just from where we were ... just the noise, and the tracers you could see out of the air sentry hatch ..." Charlie Company moved around a lot during the tour. They went where they were needed, and that resulted in a lot of combat. Of all the fights, it was the deliberate attack on the infamous 'White Schoolhouse' on August 3 that caused 9 Platoon the most casualties. "We'd been there a lot of times ... I think everyone had been there to this White School. It was our task that morning to seize it."

S gt Tower describes a long, hot day. "We made contact with enemy, just after four in the morning. We saw one of their positions, just as we were coming across the wadi. We engaged them and destroyed that position, it was about a dozen guys." The attack carried on. Sgt Tower was in the lead LAV. A few hundred metres shy of the objective, the third LAV struck an IED (Improvised Explosive Device.) "That's when Corporal Reid was killed, and the platoon commander, Warrant Officer Peterson, was wounded. We stopped and secured the area to deal with the casualties. Sgt Ingram took over as the platoon commander, and I took over as the platoon 2I/C (second in command)." Reorganized, the advance continued. The engineer vehicle struck another IED, and three more soldiers were wounded. "The decision was made to go in on the objective dismounted."

S oldiers from Reconnaissance Platoon were attached to 9 Platoon, and moved towards the buildings. "Captain Hamilton and Sgt Ingram led the majority of the platoon up onto the objective." As platoon 2I/C, it was Sgt Tower's job to remain near the rear. Among his duties was evacuation of casualties. "We had a lot of heat casualties by this time, because by now it's afternoon, with the heat and the running around and all the kit they're carrying."

S gt Tower was helping a heat casualty to the rear. "By now, we were under quite a bit of fire," he recalls. The casualty taken care of, Sgt Tower was returning forward, using a stream bed for cover. His platoon-mates had just reached their objective. "There was an RPG, a direct hit on the building they were in. That's when Sgt Ingram was killed, and Private Dellaire, and Corporal Keller. There was a number of wounded, including Capt Hamilton."

S gt Tower is very matter-of-fact in describing what he did next. "When I heard there was wounded, I took Cpl Lewis, the medic, and Master Corporal Cole, and we moved up onto the objective. When I saw that Sgt Ingram was killed, I took over as the platoon commander. Then the LAVs came up, and we exfiltrated from the outbuilding." Those are the words of Sgt Tower.

P rompted, Sgt Tower adds, "It was pretty intense. There was a lot of fire ... a lot of fire. There was a lot of enemy there." Regardless, he feels it is what "any sergeant in the PPCLI would have done." "I didn't know there were people killed, and I didn't know who was wounded. I just knew that there was wounded up there, and that the medic would have to get up there. That's the only thing I was thinking ... was that they needed the medic up there."

B y the end of August 3, Sgt Tower commanded a casualty-reduced platoon of three three-man sections, and three LAVs with crews. "By this time, they were a very experienced platoon. We were entering our seventh month in Afghanistan. They had been in combat before. They had seen wounded before." Sgt Tower ensured the platoon did not fall apart. "I just stressed what we'd been telling them all along ... yes, their buddies had been wounded, yes their buddies had been killed, but for them, the mission carries on, and the fight carries on. Especially when we were still there ... we were still fighting. The enemy was still out there. "You've got to keep your focus on that. There's no time to feel pity for yourselves or for them, it's time to carry on with the mission."

N ow Sgt Tower and his platoon are home. The mission is over, but the war is not. "It's hard to see it on the news. The war is not over because it's going to take a while to win it. I can only speak for myself. When we came back, 1 RCR went right into Op Medusa, and that was on the TV all the time. They had a number of casualties, and KIA, and that company was the company that relieved us. "I knew these guys, and they are fighting in the exact same locations that you were fighting. They took four KIA a month to the day after we were at the White School and took four KIA. "There's part of you ... there's a whole bunch of you that wants to be there and do your part. That's one of the major reasons I'm going back. We're an army at war, and the place for a soldier to be is where the war is." Sgt Tower continues to train himself, and train others. He stresses individual skills: marksmanship, weapons handling, knowing the jobs of others. He is getting a new platoon ready to return to the fight. "One thing we've always emphasized, you should always train your subordinates to take over your job. It's good that we do that, because those occasions happen. I had corporals, like Cpl Rachynski, who's got four years in the army, fighting as a section commander ... in combat!"

A nd what of the medal? "It's a bit overwhelming at times, all the attention. The way I look at it, I was just doing my job, and doing what had to be done. I just did what any leader would have done in that circumstance. At the same time, it is a great honour. I'm so proud of my platoon, and how they performed that day. I think that each of them owns a bit of that medal. It's them that led to our success that day ... they need to be recognized as well."

S gt Tower remembers one poignant moment on Remembrance Day. "When you're there talking to veterans now, they treat you differently when they find out. It's one combat veteran to the other, and the way they talk to you is different. I had this one old vet come up to me, and he recognized me from TV." The veteran had been wounded in the Korean War, and someone had come forward through fire for him. "He just said how a sergeant did something quite similar for him when he was in the war, and how he never forgot it. That was really touching, that really got me, when he said that. "For so many years, we've been in the shadow of all these great warriors. But now our troops are coming and making their own shadow ...they are their own warriors now."

[ Click HERE for further information on Sergeant Patrick Tower's Military Family ]