Former Fort Hood soldier receives Distinguished Service Cross

Retired Army Sgt. Daniel Cowart was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest award for valor, behind the Medal of Honor, during a ceremony on Cooper Field in front of the 1st Cavalry Division headquarters, during a ceremony on Wednesday attended by hundreds of people.
Cowart was on a combat patrol along a main supply route near Samarra, Iraq, with Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, when his platoon stopped to conduct a traffic checkpoint on May 13, 2007. A vehicle approached the checkpoint and its occupants refused to exit, so Cowart and three soldiers dismounted their vehicle and took up positions to engage them, according to Army documents. An occupant exited the vehicle and began firing a rifle at two soldiers nearby. Cowart engaged the other occupant of the vehicle in hand-to-hand combat but was unaware that the occupant was an insurgent wearing a suicide vest. Cowart tackled the man which caused them both to be hurled away from the vehicle, but the insurgent was able to detonate the suicide vest, causing traumatic injuries to Cowart to include the loss of his leg, and killing the platoon leader, Lt. Andrew Bacevich Jr.