Navy honors native of Hawaii Kai
For six months, Navy Lt. Sean Kido led a 12-man ordnance disposal unit in Iraq that contributed to the capture of 315 known or suspected insurgents and the seizure and destruction of 198,000 rounds of enemy small arms and 2,600 pounds of ordnance.
For his effort, the Hawaii Kai native was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" device last week by Rear Adm. Rick Wren, USS Kitty Hawk strike group commander.
Kido heads the strike group's explosive ordnance disposal unit and received the medal for leading the Special Operations Task Force-West in Iraq between April 6 and Oct. 1, 2007.
He is credited with leading his 12-man detachment in 109 direct-action missions, 16 counter improvised explosive device operations and 33 reconnaissance missions, according to a Navy news release.
The Navy also said Kido was recognized when he "calmly" took charge when his convoy was hit by two buried homemade bombs that killed two coalition personnel.
He checked the area for other dangers, the Navy release said, while coordinating air cover over the area and the evacuation of the killed and injured personnel.
"His quick thinking and bravery ensured the rest of the force returned safely," according to the Bronze Star citation.
"I'm proud to have this award and be in the company of the very deserving recipients who have and do wear this award," said Kido in the news release. "We were just trying to do what we could to complete the mission, make the area safer and get everyone back home safely."
"It's a bittersweet honor," said Kido. "Looking back to my time in Iraq and knowing that we did a lot of good stuff; we took the right guys off the street, cut off their resources in obtaining materials for (improvised explosive devices) and made the area safer for everyone.
"We really helped turn the tide, especially in western Iraq," he said.
The Kitty Hawk is on its last deployment and is here for the 21st biennial Rim of the Pacific naval war games, which include more than 20,400 military personnel from the United States, Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, South Korea, United Kingdom and Singapore. The naval exercise will conclude on July 31.