 Good morning distinguished guests, soldiers, and area, and thank you all for joining us today. On behalf of Specialist Ledger, we extend a special welcome to the soldiers of Battle Company, Second Platoon, and Second Squad. Specialist Ledger would also like to give a warm welcome to his mentors, Sergeant First Class Stanley and Staff Sergeant Augusto. Please rise for the playing of the national anthem and remain standing for the invocation by Chaplain Fassett. I invite you to join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, I glorify and honor you. I thank you for this day and for this opportunity to recognize the courage of Specialist Ledger. His actions exemplify the best of the human spirit, choosing to endanger one's self for the good of another. May you bless Specialist Ledger for his bravery, and may you shower your grace and peace upon him and his family. In your name I pray. Amen. Thank you, Chaplain Fassett. Please take your seats. Today we gather to recognize Specialist Ryan Ledger. Specialist Ledger joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard in August 2018 as a generator mechanic. He attended basic combat training at Fort Jackson and advanced individual training at Fort Lee. He participated in domestic operations COVID-1, 2, Operation Capital Response 1 and 2. Today, Specialist Ledger serves as a team leader in Second Squad, Second Joker Platoon, Battle Company, 1st Battalion, 182nd Infantry Regiment, stationed at Prince Sultan Air Base in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His previous awards include the Army Achievement Medal with three Oak Leaf clusters. Specialist Ledger is pending an 11 Bravo Infantry Conversion Course upon redeployment. Specialist Ledger and his wife Courtney live in Whitenessville, Massachusetts with their two children, 8-year-old daughter, Sevilla, and 7-year-old son, Leith Ryan. The Soldiers Medal was established by Congress on July 2, 1926. The Soldiers Medal is awarded to any person in the armed forces of the United States or a foreign friendly nation who, while serving in any capacity with the United States Army, distinguish themselves by heroism, not involving conflict with an armed enemy. The extraordinary act must have resulted in an accomplishment so exceptional and outstanding as to set the recipient apart from their comrades or from others in similar circumstances. Their heroism must involve a clearly recognizable personal hazard or personal danger and the voluntary risk of life under conditions not involving conflict with an armed enemy. The award is not presented solely on the basis of saving a life, assisting an emergency personnel or acting as a good Samaritan. Specialist Ledger, post. Attention all orders. For heroism, on 7 November 2021, upon witnessing a severe vehicle accident, Specialist Ledger voluntarily risked his personal safety, saving the life of a driver who was semi-conscious inside a burning vehicle. Upon getting the driver to safety, he risked his life a second time by approaching the vehicle that was fully engulfed to ensure no other occupants remained inside. Specialist Ledger demonstrated great bravery and devotion to duty by protecting an individual in need without regard for his safety. His actions are in keeping with the finest traditions and reflect great credit upon himself, the Massachusetts Army National Guard, and the United States Army. Thank you. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, First Battalion 182nd Infantry Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Thomas R. Clark. Colonel Rankin, Chief McWayne, Sgt. Major Puglio, members of the 378th Staff, and most importantly Task Force America Bravo Company. It is an absolute tremendous honor for me to be here today for such an important presentation and such a prestigious award. As Captain Demakas described the award with the Soldiers Medal, it is for heroism, it is for valor, it is the highest award for valor that a soldier can get in peacetime. As I reflect on the actions of Specialist Ledger, we all here, anyone from Massachusetts will tell you Route 128 in the greater Boston area. I just read an article that it was the fourth most congested highway in the world. I drive that road often and I see car accidents all the time and most people just keep on driving. They don't stop, they don't take a second look, they worry about themselves, where they're going, they're going to be late to their appointment and they just drive on. But our soldier here, he's not built that way. He demonstrated the Army value of selfless service and that's what we're recognizing here today. He's the best of us. He's added to the legacy of the 1st Battalion, 2 infantry. Sgt. Major Olson and I, we make that a theme across the entire battalion that would, if we can just add to the legacy during this deployment, if we can do just one thing that we can add to the anals of the history of this great battalion, that's what we want our soldiers to strive for. And to stand here today during a deployment in Saudi Arabia in front of our colleagues from the air wing and in front of your fellow soldiers, I think it's a memory that I'll never forget and I hope you never forget it. But you were a guardian angel that day and I know your family's really proud of you. The Adjutant General, General Gary Keith, and General Mark Cainlin, the commander of the Army National Guard, had plans to be here today but because of sickness and the death in a family couldn't be here. So I'm coming out of the bullpen as like the third play speaker. But I got to tell you, I am so honored and I developed a great relationship with you. We've discussed with Sergeant Major Olson your goals and your future and let me tell you, it is bright and I really hope that you continue to live the Army values and that you could drive on and continue to do great things for your country. But again, members of Task Force America, it's a tremendous honor for all of us and when this is over, I encourage you to come up and make sure you get a picture with a soldier that I know we're all proud of for an award that none of us ever thought we'd be in the presence of. So it's an honor to be here with you today and to be part of this great ceremony. Thank you. Thank you, Colonel Clark. The Massachusetts Army National Guard Land Component Command Sergeant Major Peter Pulio. Good morning guests, Marical. I'm Command Sergeant Major Peter Pulio. I know a lot of you have worked with a lot of you over the years. You know, it's my honor to be here today. I was supposed to be here with Major General Keefe and Brigadier General Kaylin who I work for. But you guys are stuck with me. So I've talked to them over the last couple of days and they're extremely proud of our soldier as we all are in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As Colonel Clark said, he's the best of us. He inspires us, you know, by who he is and his actions. And something that you probably don't know and speaking to him, you inspire him as well. So he came from the 110 Bay Nets Company and, you know, by all means, he was happy there and probably would have stayed there, but he came on this, you know, came on this trip opportunity to serve his country and he's impressed with this unit. You motivate him and he wants to be here, so he's going to stay here with Marical. You know, we're going to hear from him in a minute. So I just want to, you know, thank you for, you know, the opportunity to come out here and address all of you and just reiterate that, you know, you inspire all of us and I hope that, you know, given the circumstances that we could rise to the occasion and do what needs to be done. So thanks. Thank you, Sergeant Major Puglio. And now remarks from our award recipient, Specialist Fledger. I won't take up too much of your guys' time, but I just want to take this time to thank everybody here from the 182nd, from 1st, 2nd, 3rd platoon, all you guys. I got a chance to know each and every one of you guys and honestly I can say this fullheartedly, like you guys are pretty much part of my family now. I haven't felt this close to a company and this group of soldiers in a very long time and I appreciate each and every one of you. I've learned something from almost everybody here, whether it's a team lead position, learning from Sergeant First Class Stanley, Staff Sergeant Augusto, Lieutenant Lynch, guys from 2nd squad that I've been a part of since the beginning. You guys are pretty much my family now and if you guys ever needed anything at any time, I don't care if it's two, three o'clock in the morning when we get home. If you guys need something, you call me and I'll be there. You guys mean the absolute world to me and I am truly honored to be receiving this award. 41 million people in the military have served this country and only 18,500 people have received this award. So this is beyond an honor to be a part of those group of men and women that have received this award because those guys did exactly what we are supposed to be doing when we raise our right hand and we decide that we want to serve this country. We're here to make sure that people are safe at home. We're here to make sure that we're safe with each other and that's what I firmly believe everybody here signed up to do. So I don't want to take up too much more of your time but thank you all so much and we're almost there. So let's just ride this thing out and let's go home guys. Thank you. Thank you Specialist Ledger. At this time please rise for the playing of the Army Song. This concludes our ceremony. Now for attending, Lieutenant Colonel Clark and Specialist Ledger invite you to join us afterwards for refreshments and photos. We uphold our ancient honors.