Andrew Bennett

Born and raised in Southern California, Bennett was deeply impacted by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. He joined the U.S. Army in 2008 after moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for construction work. He went through Ranger training at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Between 2009 and 2012, SSG Andrew Bennett did four tours of duty in Afghanistan.

On Aug. 6, 2011, Bennett was on a mission in the Tangi Valley when they heard over the radio that a Chinook had been downed in a nearby village. His platoon booked it the 7 1/2 kilometers to the wreckage of Extortion 17 that had carried 30 Americans, eight Afghans and one American military working dog. All were killed when the aircraft was struck by an insurgent’s rocket-propelled grenade. It was the single greatest loss of American life in the war in Afghanistan.

As SSG Bennett was pulling bodies from the crash, an explosion knocked him unconscious and lodged shrapnel in his back, resulting in him being awarded the Purple Heart.