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A teenage soldier who saved his injured commander in Afghanistan is believed to be the youngest person since the Second World War to earn the Military Cross for bravery.
However Private Alex Kennedy, 19, said yesterday he felt that there were better heroes than him.
“I was the one lucky enough to get the MC,” he told The Times. “I have won it for the whole company and the regiment, not just for me.”
Private Kennedy, of 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, was in Central America on an adventure training exercise this year when he learnt that he would receive one of the military’s highest awards for his action under fire in Helmand province in June 2009.
“I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know what to say. It still hasn’t fully sunk in,” he said. “It means a lot. It is something that every soldier who joins the Army wants. It was one of my wishes.”
The infantryman, who was only 18 at the time, was taking part in an operation to clear hostile terrain in Garmsir before the arrival of thousands of US Marines. Suddenly Taleban insurgents opened fire from 100-150 metres away, shooting his platoon commander three times below the hips.
“Your natural reaction is to hit the ground, so I did,” said Private Kennedy, from Bromsgrove, West Midlands, who had passed through his Army training only eight months earlier.
“I couldn’t tell who had been hit, then I saw that my platoon commander had his hand up. I ran back to him and managed to administer first aid.”
With gunfire cracking all around, the soldier seized his commander’s radio and relayed what had happened to other members of the platoon. He directed them to shoot on the Taleban position to suppress the fire so that the injured officer could be rescued.
In the thick of the fight, tending to his wounded commander, a bullet ricocheted off Private Kennedy’s rifle and passed over his head. He was knocked on to his back, but did not panic or lose concentration.
“You just keep on going if someone is injured,” he said. “It is what we are trained for. My platoon commander had been shot, someone needed to help and it happened to be me that day.”
With the assistance of a second soldier his commander was dragged to safety. Meanwhile Private Kennedy directed more firepower on to the Taleban to enable the rest of the platoon to pull back without further injury.
Back at his base in Northern Ireland, Private Kennedy said that the six-month tour to Afghanistan had made him grow up. “It has changed me. It has made me take a look at life a bit and not be a brat to my parents,” he said.
His mother, Lesley, 46, said that she was delighted and very proud of her son. “We were so worried he was in the thick of it — on the front line over there,” she said.
“It is mixed emotions because we are very proud, but cannot forget the people who are lost and you think of their parents. You must remember the ones who don’t come back.”
Private Kennedy’s brother, James, 23, who works as a plumber, said that his sibling had hardly mentioned his award. “He is not the type of person to brag about anything — he’s quite a private man and doesn’t see his actions in Afghanistan as any more heroic than what most soldiers do,” he said.
Private Kennedy had always wanted to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, who fought in the First World War, and join the Army.
He said that he planned to carry on with his Army career and is due to return to Afghanistan, a prospect that he accepts but does not relish.
“No one wants this sort of conflict. I will be going out there. It’s a job. You have got to do it,” he said.
Private Kennedy is among more than 140 servicemen and women who received awards for gallantry and leadership in Afghanistan and Iraq last year. The Queen will present the honours at Buckingham Palace in the summer.
However Private Alex Kennedy, 19, said yesterday he felt that there were better heroes than him.
“I was the one lucky enough to get the MC,” he told The Times. “I have won it for the whole company and the regiment, not just for me.”
Private Kennedy, of 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, was in Central America on an adventure training exercise this year when he learnt that he would receive one of the military’s highest awards for his action under fire in Helmand province in June 2009.
“I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know what to say. It still hasn’t fully sunk in,” he said. “It means a lot. It is something that every soldier who joins the Army wants. It was one of my wishes.”
The infantryman, who was only 18 at the time, was taking part in an operation to clear hostile terrain in Garmsir before the arrival of thousands of US Marines. Suddenly Taleban insurgents opened fire from 100-150 metres away, shooting his platoon commander three times below the hips.
“Your natural reaction is to hit the ground, so I did,” said Private Kennedy, from Bromsgrove, West Midlands, who had passed through his Army training only eight months earlier.
“I couldn’t tell who had been hit, then I saw that my platoon commander had his hand up. I ran back to him and managed to administer first aid.”
With gunfire cracking all around, the soldier seized his commander’s radio and relayed what had happened to other members of the platoon. He directed them to shoot on the Taleban position to suppress the fire so that the injured officer could be rescued.
In the thick of the fight, tending to his wounded commander, a bullet ricocheted off Private Kennedy’s rifle and passed over his head. He was knocked on to his back, but did not panic or lose concentration.
“You just keep on going if someone is injured,” he said. “It is what we are trained for. My platoon commander had been shot, someone needed to help and it happened to be me that day.”
With the assistance of a second soldier his commander was dragged to safety. Meanwhile Private Kennedy directed more firepower on to the Taleban to enable the rest of the platoon to pull back without further injury.
Back at his base in Northern Ireland, Private Kennedy said that the six-month tour to Afghanistan had made him grow up. “It has changed me. It has made me take a look at life a bit and not be a brat to my parents,” he said.
His mother, Lesley, 46, said that she was delighted and very proud of her son. “We were so worried he was in the thick of it — on the front line over there,” she said.
“It is mixed emotions because we are very proud, but cannot forget the people who are lost and you think of their parents. You must remember the ones who don’t come back.”
Private Kennedy’s brother, James, 23, who works as a plumber, said that his sibling had hardly mentioned his award. “He is not the type of person to brag about anything — he’s quite a private man and doesn’t see his actions in Afghanistan as any more heroic than what most soldiers do,” he said.
Private Kennedy had always wanted to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, who fought in the First World War, and join the Army.
He said that he planned to carry on with his Army career and is due to return to Afghanistan, a prospect that he accepts but does not relish.
“No one wants this sort of conflict. I will be going out there. It’s a job. You have got to do it,” he said.
Private Kennedy is among more than 140 servicemen and women who received awards for gallantry and leadership in Afghanistan and Iraq last year. The Queen will present the honours at Buckingham Palace in the summer.
