Local Hero Honored with Silver Star

Tech. Sgt. Tavis Delaney, will receive the Silver Star at a May 6, 2012 ceremony at Joint Base Lewis-McChord Tacoma, Washington. He serves with the 116th Air Support Observation Squadron and is the third state Guard member to receive the Silver Star in the post-9/11 era. "TSgt Delaney is deserving of this high honor," said Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, the adjutant general and commander of the Washington National Guard. 

 AP photo

Currently holding a Bronze Star Delaney doesn't believe himself to be a hero, underplaying his role in the four tours he has completed, three in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. While some may wonder, misguidedly so, at his many tours, he holds true to four rules: patriotism, honor, courage and sacrifice. 

Delaney's actions are credited with saving the lives of more than 60 coalition forces on May 25, 2011 during a 7 hour fire fight in the Hindu Kush mountains near the village of  DoAb  in Nuristan Province , Afghanistan, with a team of 40 US and 20 Afghan soldiers against an estimated 400 to 500 insurgents hiding in the cavernous mountain range “it was like a battleship in the mountain…the hill was crawling with insurgents.”

Copperopolis, Where a Hero calls Home

There may not have been a ticker tape parade down Main Street upon his return, but Tech Sgt Tavis DeLaney, returning from Afghanistan, was "blown away" by the incredible support and love he felt from the community saying, “this community has touched my heart.”

"I didn't know anyone here, I really kept to myself, never had time to make friends, so when I came home and found myself the recipient of a great coming home party at Griff's, a welcome home sign on my garage door and applause at my church followed by hugs, I knew I had found my home."

Not believing himself to be a hero, Tavis underplays his role in the four tours he has completed, three in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. He currently holds a Bronze Star and has recently been nominated for a Silver Star. While some may wonder, misguidedly so, at his many tours, he holds true to four rules: patriotism, honor, courage and sacrifice.

Tavis's most recent nomination for the Silver Star stemmed from a 7 hour fire fight in the Hindu Kush mountains near the village of  DoAb  in Nuristan Province , Afghanistan, with a team of 40 US and 20 Afghan soldiers against an estimated 400 to 500 insurgents hiding in the cavernous mountain range “it was like a battleship in the mountain…the hill was crawling with insurgents.”