Pentagon recommends Alwyn Cashe, who died after saving fellow soldiers in Iraq, for Medal of Honor

The Pentagon will award the Medal of Honor to Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, who died from while pulling his fellow soldiers from a burning vehicle in Iraq.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed the decision in a letter Monday to Congress.

Final approval is now left to President Trump.

"My favorable determination in no way presumes what the president’s decision might be," Esper wrote in the letter.  

Cashe, of Oviedo, Florida, was 35 when he died on November 5, 2005. Typically, there is a five-year time frame applied to awarding the Medal of Honor from the date of the heroic actions of the service member. Since Cashe's action happened almost 15 year ago, Congress will have to waive the time limit.

“Once legislation is enacted authorizing the president of the United States to award, if he so chooses, the Medal of Honor to [Cashe], I will provide my endorsement to the president," wrote Esper. 

Cashe's name was recommended earlier this year as a possible replacement for one of the names of Confederate soldiers and generals on military bases. If awarded the Medal of Honor, Cashe would be the first African-American recipient for heroic actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

On October 17, 2005, in Samarra, Iraq, an armored Bradley Fighting Vehicle carrying Cashe and members of his infantry was blown up by a roadside bomb.

Cashe suffered a minor injury and was drenched in fuel following the explosion. Realizing his vehicle's fuel tank had exploded, engulfing the tank in flames, he began making trips to extract his fellow soldiers from the burning wreckage.

“Without regard for his personal safety, Sergeant First Class Cashe rushed to the back of the vehicle, reaching into the hot flames and started pulling out his soldiers. The flames gripped his fuel soaked uniform. Flames quickly spread all over his body," reads Cashe's Silver Star citation.

Cashe suffered burns across 72% of his body and died several weeks later at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.