{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://labrador.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=920", "Silver Star Presented to Idaho Soldier", "2014-08-13", "2014", "2014-08", "Republican", "House", "ID", "Ra\u00fal Labrador", "L000573", "labrador.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\tFOR MORE INFORMATION:\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\tFriday | August 13, 2014\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\tDan Popkey: 208-800-1565\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t208-888-3188\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tSILVER STAR PRESENTED TO IDAHO SOLDIER\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tCongressman Labrador\u00a0joins veterans in honoring Atwell\u2019sgallantry during 1967 fight in Vietnam\r\n\r\n\tPOST FALLS \u2013 Congressman Ra\u00fal Labrador, R-Idaho, presented the Silver Star -- \u00a0the military\u2019s third-highest decoration for valor -- to Sgt. Michael Atwell at a ceremony Wednesday at the American Legion Hall in Post Falls.\r\n\r\n\tLabrador\u2019s office assisted Atwell, 65, of Osburn, in obtaining the award. Two of Atwell\u2019s colleagues, Col. Ron Leonard and Maj. Larry Moore, came to Labrador for help last year.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cIt is at last time to recognize this soldier\u2019s extraordinary courage and valor,\u201d said Leonard, who traveled to the ceremony from Fairfax Station, Va.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cThis day has been long coming,\u201d said Moore, of Knoxville, Tenn. \u201cMike Atwell is a brave soldier.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tMoore and Leonard described Atwell as quiet and effective. Accepting the award, Atwell was brief: \u201cI\u2019m not going to say a lot. We had a lot of good people. This Silver Star is for all of them \u2013 couldn\u2019t have done it without them.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n\tLabrador notedthat he was born two weeks afterthe battle for which Atwell was honored. \u201cBecause of men like you and all of you who are here, I was born into a free nation,\u201d Labrador said.\r\n\r\n\tLeonard and Moore began collecting records about the Battle of Dak To in \u00a02011, submitting an application for the award to the Army in 2012.\u00a0Early in 2013, they brought the matter to Labrador, whose veterans\u2019 affairs specialist Tori Shockey took the case. Shockey helped revise the application and on June 26, 2014, Secretary of the Army John McHugh approved the award.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cGod bless her,\u201d Leonard said of Shockey.\r\n\r\n\tDuring the Nov. 20 to Nov. 23, 1967, battle Atwell was 18 years old. Operating from an exposed forward position, he delivered \u201ccontinuous devastating fire on the enemy,\u201d according to the Army citation. \u201cAtwell endured wave after wave of enemy counterattacks\u201d for three days, \u201cwhich ultimately allowed friendly forces to secure Hill 875.\u201d\r\n\r\n\t\u201cPrivate First Class Atwell\u2019s gallantry in action is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 503d Airborne Infantry Brigade and the United States Army,\u201d says the citation. Atwell\u2019s Company B was outnumberedby a ratio of 7-to-1.\r\n\r\n\tAfter a 6-year Army Career, Atwell worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His postings included Mountain Home Air Force Base and the Eastern Environmental Office in Kellogg. He was twice deployed to Iraq and twice to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Atwell retired from the Corps in 2011.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://labrador.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=920"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8950168266892433, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}