Patrick Lee Lybert
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army

On 21 June 2006, then-Staff Sergeant Patrick Lee Lybert was serving as a Recon Team Leader with Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment (Recon), 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

On that date, near Gowardesh, Afghanistan, K Team (a forward observer element) and members of Company C, 3-71 Cavalry, executed a 2-day climb to an assigned watch/hide position on a ridge approximately 4 to 5 miles from the Pakistan border. K Team took up a position along Hill 1610, a small ridge that ran north to south. At approximately 1415 hours K Team, just recently supplied by helicopter, set up in 3 small groups along the ridge top and SSG Lybert was in the southern most group of soldiers on that ridge. The soldiers had just finished packing away their supplies and started laying out their security plan by pushing further out up the trail when they came under a combined arms attack initiated by rocket propelled grenades, simultaneously accompanied by intense machine-gun and small arms fire. The direction of the attack came from a north to south direction running the full length of the 50 meter deep defensive perimeter set up by K Team. The attack was so violent that one K Team soldier was immediately wounded by shrapnel from a rocket propelled grenade and simultaneously shot by small arms fire. The enemy launched its attack with violence and surprise, but by stalling the attack and causing the enemy to take cover at a greater distance, SSG Lybert aided in providing enough time for his team to recover from the initial shock of the attack, gain momentum, and be able to call in indirect fire to inflict casualties on the enemy. SSG Lybert engaged targets close enough and returned fire long enough, that others could recover from the ferocity of the enemy's attack, return fire, treat the wounded and call in indirect fire from 120 mm mortars, 105 mm Howitzers and air support from A-10 fighter aircraft, C-130 Specter Gunships and B-1 Bombers, before he was mortally wounded. SSG Lybert's professionalism and ability to accomplish the mission set him apart from his peers and his courageous actions that day earned him, at the cost of his life, the U.S. Army's third highest award for valor, the Silver Star Medal.

Medals, Awards and Badges

Silver Star Medal
Purple Heart
Army Commendation Medal
Army Achievement Medal
Army Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Army NCO Professional Development Ribbon
Army Service Ribbon
Army Overseas Service Ribbon
NATO ISAF Medal
Combat Action Badge

Silver Star Medal Citation

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Staff Sergeant Patrick Lee Lybert, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action on 21 June 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FDREEDOM. Staff Sergeant Lybert distinguished himself against an armed enemy, while serving as a Recon Team Leader with Troop C, 3d Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment (Recon), 3d Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, near Gowardesh, Afghanistan. His professionalism and ability to accomplish the mission set him apart from his peers. Staff Sergeant Lybert's actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 3d Squadron, 71st Cavalry, Combined Task Force Spartan, Combined Joint Task Force-76, and the United States Army.

Burial

Staff Sergeant Patrick Lee Lybert is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Sheldon, Rusk County, WI.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14684500/patrick-lee-lybert