Fort Carson soldier to receive Silver Star

Fort Carson officials say a sergeant who intercepted one suicide bomber in Afghanistan will receive the Silver Star, the Army’s third-highest medal for combat valor.

Sgt. Andrew Mahoney with the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team will receive the award Monday. Mahoney tells The Gazette the award is bittersweet.

On Aug. 8, the brigade’s commander, Col. James Mingus, and others were walking to an Afghan provincial building. Soldiers say Capt. Florent Groberg and Mahoney threw a suicide bomber to the ground after he moved toward Mingus, who survived.

Maj. Christopher Thomas says a second suicide bomber struck from a different direction, killing command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Griffin of Laramie, Wyo.; Maj. Thomas Kennedy; and Air Force Maj. Walter Gray. USAID foreign service officer Ragaei Abdelfattah also was killed.