Sergeant First Class Thomas J. Grasso, part of two Special Forces teams outnumbered 60 to 1, held off 2,000 Taliban fighters in Kunduz, Afghanistan for 130 hours straight. Yesterday, I sat before Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, The Joint Staff 🇺🇸, and Armed Services GOP, read his proposed citation... into the record, and made the case that his Silver Star should be upgraded to a Medal of Honor. I know every word of that citation to be true, because I was one of the teammates he rescued from a near and complex ambush, which is only one of 14 distinct and selfless acts of valor performed by SFC Grasso during that mission.show more

The BEST use of a congressman’s allotted time that I have ever seen! Thank you for using it to recognize the heroism of a fellow Green Beret and to request the MOH upgrade that the citation you read and your firsthand account most certainly warrant. Thank you to SFC Grasso and yourself for all that you both have given sacrificed in service to our country🎖️🫡🇺🇸…

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Good stuff, many combat veterans need upgrades to awards with valor like this. Thank you sir!

Fantastic. Many GWOT warriors were neglected for consideration for the MoH (and valor awards in general). I ran some numbers comparing Vietnam and GWOT MoH's and concluded that GWOT MoH's were awarded at one-seventh the rate of those awarded in Vietnam. (This is based on the number of Purple Hearts awarded in each conflict. Purple Hearts correlate to combat action, which, in turn, correlates to valor on the battlefield. My "one-seventh" number should likely be even lower because modern body armor reduced the number of Purple Hearts awarded in GWOT).

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans If anyone is asking that’s 5.5 days without sleep and fighting!! Wow!!

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans I appreciate your use of time to uplift this soldier. I hate the way congressional witnesses show such contempt in answering Congress persons. Simple respectful response should be the norm & disrespect should have consequences.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Silver Star? Are you serious? 60:1? MEDAL OF HONOR.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans And we still send 40 million dollars a week to the Taliban!!! 😡

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans WOW, incredible bravery and pure force of will of SFC Grasso. To be brought up at senate hearing. This too is so appropriate for the rest of the Senate to realize that we have such people in our armed forces.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Former Charlie Rat that showed up after my SWCS time after this deployment. So many others in 1/3 SFG like Grasso need reviews for upgrades

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Now that just brought tears to my eyes. God bless him and God bless you. Thank you both for you dedicated service.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans WOW!! How in the heck do you even teach this bravery?! I'm constantly in awe at what the great men/women do in the Military!! WE OWE THEM EVERYTHING!!♥️♥️

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans This is another example of Biden/Obama military not caring about our servicemen and he is due FULL recognition

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans What on God’s green earth is he made of? If those accounts happend as narrated then, that’s a warrior god. Warriors dey oooo

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Look at the empty seats at this committee meeting. They really dont care, do they?

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Absolutely amazing the dedication and selflessness of these men. Thank you for your service.

How about me, Congressman Harrington? Did you forget already? On the way to the chow hall, tray already mentally loaded with overcooked eggs and tactical coffee, I noticed Pat Harrington standing in the breezeway like a man who had never met a crosswind in his life. At that exact moment, a government-issue pallet jack—abandoned, overburdened, and apparently filled with nothing but loose cans of institutional peaches—broke free and began rolling downhill with the quiet determination of federal paperwork. Everyone else froze. I did not. With the reflexes of someone who’d once caught a falling stapler mid-briefing, I intercepted the runaway mass using only a tray, a boot, and a deeply held belief that lunch should not be delayed by physics. The impact echoed across the compound. The peaches did not survive. The congressman did. Witnesses later described the scene with the kind of reverence usually reserved for weather events. I reportedly pivoted, redistributed the load, and guided the pallet jack into a sandbag like I was docking a ship, all while maintaining grip on my tray and not spilling a drop of coffee—a detail that became the centerpiece of several wildly inaccurate retellings. The medic said I was fine; the chow hall said I was late; and somewhere, someone wrote a memo suggesting the incident be categorized as “preventative logistics heroism.” I never asked for recognition. But if a certain very shiny medal had somehow appeared next to my name for saving Pat Harrington from the tyranny of runaway fruit, I would have accepted it with humility… and extra biscuits.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans DoD was very stingy with the top awards during GWOT. I'd love to see this rectified.

@AxemuchBastione @SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans God bless all of you for your courage and sacrifice for my freedom. Heros all of you 🙏🇺🇲

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Tom is the real deal

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Did you let him know that yall are funding the same fighters they were fighting?

@Lonestar357 @SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans 🫡🇺🇸🇺🇸

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Really? Weird how others remember it very differently!!!???? Honorable military service does not automatically mean honor, integrity & HONESTY as a person, GB grifters are a dime a dozen. We the people would love to hear from the honorable GBs who recall this differently.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Sounds like true American Hero. Americans need to hear these stories of our brave soldiers each day and celebrate their achievements, not with a day, but an entire month. God bless America and its war fighters.

@bcrider77 @SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Woah. Stunning heroism. 🫡🫡🫡

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Well done, Congressman! Thank you for your service.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Damn.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans shame that our military has lied to us so many times with made up stories of heroism and valor, typically to cover a fuck up, that it’s impossible to believe them…Sorry to the actual heroes they’ve dishonored with their lies, but that’s just what happens you lie about shit

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans @BlackPegasus 🥲🫡👏👏👏👏 Thank you so much💪💪💪🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 ’ve NEVER heard SSgt. Barry Sadler - The Ballad Of The Green Berets! WTF just HAPPENED

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans More of this and less of whatever all that other shit is we’re doing.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans I know they don't do it for the recognition, but this country needs to be reminded that men of honor still exist. Tell their stories and yes, give them medals.

@HASCRepublicans @SecWar @thejointstaff SFC Grosso is a true American hero. Fact. You should have spent yesterday’s time asking questions about the budget, that was the order of the day. SecWAR sat before you, not the other way around. He follows the laws you make, you’re not a supplicant.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans @ScribblerSix a Lion of Kandahar ODA alumni

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans We exist, live, love, laugh and raise our children in liberty because men like Thomas Grasso stand ready to take the fight to 7th century savages that would rape & murder every living thing that refuses to bow if given the chance.

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans Heroism like this should be fast tracked. Why does it take so long for these heroes to be recognized?

@SecWar @thejointstaff @HASCRepublicans This was the best 5 minutes of the entire hearing. Tears of patriotism fell from my eyes as you delivered this story. Thank you sir for your service, and honoring the service of SFC Grasso.