More than two years after his act of bravery at home, a soldier with 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) received the Soldier's Medal during a Tuesday ceremony that also honored his battle buddies for their actions abroad.
Sgt. Gregory La Fleur, a parachute rigger with the unit, received his award Tuesday at the group's compound at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for his role in subduing a gunman in a base housing community. His honor, the Army's highest for non-combat heroism, was one of 20 decorations awarded on the day: Six soldiers received Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices for valor, 12 received Army Commendation Medals with "V" devices, and one of the Bronze Star recipients also received a Purple Heart.
Names and details surrounding the other awards were not provided by a unit spokesman, citing operational security concerns. The details surrounding La Fleur's honor were easier to come by, although a key participant that night didn't get an award at Tuesday's event.
Master Sgt. Nick Bateman
Photo Credit: Air Force
Air Force Master Sgt. Nick Bateman paid little attention to what he thought was a random case of late-night fireworks near his Eglin residence Jan. 24, 2013, but headed outside to investigate after hearing screams. He had to jump at least one fence to reach the source of the noise, which turned out to be two women "arguing and wrestling over a gun" with a man, Bateman said.
The man already had fired several rounds, Bateman and La Fleur remembered — some dangerously close to the many neighborhood residents who'd stepped outside to find the source of the noise.
Bateman attempted to reason with the individual — identified only as a "fellow military member" in the airman's award documents — before the man fired another shot and the women broke away, Bateman said.
The gunman ran into the woods with the airman in pursuit. Meanwhile, Bateman's wife had run to La Fleur's house, hoping to flag down some assistance for her husband.
La Fleur, busy researching aircraft in preparation for a training trip to Texas, raced out in less-than-ideal law enforcement gear — Army T-shirt, camo cutoff shorts and orange Crocs, he recalled — and arrived in time to see Bateman confront the gunman.
"He ran into the woods," La Fleur said of the man. "He fired again, the shot literally went right over my head. It whizzed over the leafs and trees. Pieces of tree fell on me."
Citations and memories differ over what happened next: The soldier and airman may have teamed up to tackle the man, or the man may have tripped, or some combination. Regardless, Bateman said, "Next thing you know, we're all on the ground."
After the ensuing melee, La Fleur ended up with the gun and Bateman ended up subduing the gunman. All that remained were a few explanations to the military police: La Fleur had the gun in his possession when MPs arrived and remembered saying "No, it wasn't me!" fairly emphatically when asked to freeze.
Bateman received the Air Force Commendation Medal, his second, in October 2013 for his role in the incident.
About a year later, La Fleur found out he'd been awarded the Soldier's Medal; the ceremony would have to wait, as he was attending parachute school at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.
While La Fleur, of North Pekin, Illinois, said he was honored and humbled by his award, he bristled at Bateman's perceived slight.
"He got an Air Force pat on the back," said La Fleur, who has deployed four times to Afghanistan. "It really upset me. I think he deserves way more than what he got. He was first on scene."
The Airman's Medal is awarded under similar conditions to the Soldier's Medal. Bateman said it was "talked about at one point" but offered no details.
Bateman said, " "It really didn't matter to me, because I didn't do it for a medal."
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
