MARCH 19, 2025 – The Pentagon’s auditorium brimmed with emotion today as military leaders, veterans and families gathered to honor retired Army Sgt. Maj. Eric Geressy as he was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross — the Army’s second highest award for valor.
The ceremony recognized Geressy’s extraordinary heroism during a brutal ambush at Combat Outpost Blackfoot in Baghdad, Sept. 4, 2007, a day that tested his leadership and cemented his legacy.
Once a young lieutenant under Geressy’s mentorship, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth presided over the event, joined by Geressy’s former commanders, retired Army colonels Michael Steele and Myron Reineke. Their presence spoke to the deep bonds forged in combat and a career defined by selfless service.
“Eric Geressy has exceeded our expectations of leadership … he’s a fanatical leader, the kind we all want to follow,” Steele said.
Ever humble, Geressy redirected the spotlight.
“Awards like this — Medals of Honor, Service Crosses, Silver Stars — they’re presented to individuals, but they’re earned by teams,” he said, his voice steady as he honored the soldiers who stood with him.
For Geressy, it was always about the soldiers he served with — a focus that shaped his 36-year career, from the streets of Staten Island, New York, to the battlefields of Iraq and now the halls of the Pentagon.
Call to Serve
Geressy, the son of a police mechanic, began his journey in the South Beach neighborhood of Staten Island, where he grew up in a family rich with military heritage. His grandfather, a former soldier, made three combat jumps during World War II while serving in the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. His uncles served in the 20th Special Forces Group, and on the USS Intrepid, and a great-uncle was killed during Operation Ginny while he served with the Office of Strategic Services; his name is etched on the memorial wall at CIA headquarters.
“All this stuff, as a kid, I was really captured with it,” Geressy said. “I knew at a very young age that’s what I wanted to do — enlist and serve, be a paratrooper or something like that.”
That resolve crystallized on Sept. 11, 2001, a decade into his Army career. Recovering in Hawaii from a shattered leg sustained in a jump with the 82nd Airborne Division, Geressy received a call from a colleague that changed everything.
“[My friend] screamed, ‘Hey, you watching this?'” he recalled. “The second plane had hit the World Trade Center.”
For a native New Yorker, the attack hit close to home — his aunt narrowly escaped the towers, his parents were en route to the towers and barely avoided the first plane strike. Hundreds of his neighbors perished.
“Right away, you knew we’re going to war,” Geressy said.
Refusing to remain on the sidelines as the global war on terrorism commenced, he secured a transfer to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, driven by a personal mission.
“My home was attacked,” Geressy said. “I wanted to do my part.”
That moment set the tone for a career rooted in duty and sacrifice.
Leading Through Chaos
Geressy’s first combat deployment in 2003 with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, thrust him into Iraq’s opening chaos. His platoon secured AH-64 Apache helicopter refueling sites, seized a Saddam Hussein headquarters in Hillah, and entered Baghdad amid jubilation and hidden threats.
At Medical City – a makeshift Army garrison established after the invasion – he faced the war’s raw intensity.
“It was like a horror movie,” Geressy said.
When nightly enemy fire from across the Tigris River targeted Saddam’s auditorium, he acted.
“Every night, we were getting fired on,” Geressy recalled. “I was like, ‘We’ve got to do something, or soldiers are going to end up wounded or killed.'”
Geressy moved to establish a deliberate defense to spoil the nightly ambushes, and on April 26, 2003, the soldiers of Bravo Company struck back. Leading two squads to the roof, Geressy directed a counterattack while under fire, sprinting through a hail of bullets to rally Army Cpl. Christopher Galindo.
“I’m running, thinking if I put my hand up, I’d get hit,” he said. “I screamed, ‘Start firing the gun.'”
The ensuing bursts killed 15 enemy fighters, earning Geressy an Army Commendation Medal with Valor for his fearless courage. Even then, his focus was to protect his soldiers from harm. This early heroism foreshadowed the leader he would become, setting the stage for more significant trials ahead.
Mentorship in Combat
Geressy’s second tour with the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team deepened his resolve. It was during that 2005-2006 deployment that he met Army National Guard 2nd Lt. Pete Hegseth, a Princeton University graduate who traded Wall Street for Iraq.
“I was rough on him,” Geressy admitted. “He missed the training, so I wanted him to know everything I knew — yesterday.”
Hegseth’s humility won him over. Under Geressy’s guidance, Hegseth thrived and forged a bond that would later anchor their Pentagon partnership and Hegseth’s approach to leadership.
Hegseth reflected on his relationship with his old first sergeant at the ceremony.
“He was both my toughest critic and my best mentor … he pounded that into my skull, metaphorically and physically,” Hegseth said.
He recalled Geressy’s nickname for him — “national garbage” — a playful jab at his National Guard roots that Geressy made him “earn his way out of.”
“His expectations were incredibly high,” Hegseth said, “because he’d seen combat and wanted us ready for that crucible.”
Day of Uncommon Valor
Geressy’s third tour in 2007 brought him to Eagle Company, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, where his commitment faced its ultimate test.
Arriving in Germany, he rejected an instructor role.
“I saw these young kids — somebody had to take care of them,” Geressy said.
Assigned to Combat Outpost Blackfoot — a former seminary in Baghdad’s East Rashid district dubbed “the Castle” — he found an outpost ill-prepared for defense. Drawing on prior tours, he fortified it — sandbagging windows, stacking bunkers with bulletproof glass, positioning extra .50-caliber machine guns and Mk 19 grenade launchers and cloaking the roof with camouflage netting.
“We worked day and night,” Geressy said. “The enemy must’ve been thinking, ‘What are they doing?'”
On Sept. 4, 2007, 120 to 150 al-Qaida fighters launched a complex assault on the COP from three directions, unleashing rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and sniper fire.
“The enemy initiated the attack by firing two rocket-propelled grenades and mortars from approximately 100 meters away, followed by a heavy volume of fire from AK-47 rifles, machine guns, and sniper fire,” the Distinguished Service Cross citation reads.
With the company commander absent, 1st Sgt. Geressy took charge. When Army Spc. Ryan Holly was shot, and Geressy exposed himself to direct enemy fire to carry Holly to safety, the citation notes.
For over six hours, Geressy orchestrated the defense.
“Between radioing, directing fire, checking weapons, I’m running ammo,” he said.
In the award citation, Geressy is praised for his “calmness under fire” as he moved “from guard tower to guard tower, inspiring soldiers,” directing Apache helicopters with smoke grenades, and authorizing AGM-114 Hellfire missile strikes that “crippled the enemy.”
As a result, “Eagle Company killed 18 al-Qaida fighters with no additional wounded soldiers,” the citation reads, crediting Geressy’s “personal courage, uncommon valor, and selfless service.”
“If we didn’t do what we did, we’d have lost 15, 20 guys,” Geressy said. “They thought we wouldn’t be ready, but they were wrong.”
Tribute at the Pentagon
“Eric arrived in Vilseck, [Germany], unexpectedly in the middle of a winter’s night during a snowstorm,” said Reineke, who served as his commander in 2007. “Because how else would Eric arrive?”
He lauded Geressy’s impact: “Your courageous actions decisively defeated a numerically superior enemy without the loss of a single American soldier’s life.”
Steele’s speech was thick with emotion.
“We’re here because Eric Garcia [Geressy] inspires us,” he said.
He called Geressy “a fanatical soldier and a fanatical leader,” adding, “I’ve had the privilege to serve with some of the bravest and toughest men on earth … one of those at the top of that list is Eric Geressy.” Steele’s words underscored Geressy’s focus on his men. “This nation owes you an extraordinary debt … I am honored to be your friend,” he said.
Hegseth, who was visibly moved, expanded on their shared history.
“I knew him as 1st Sgt. Eric Geressy, the man who changed my life,” he said. “He understood what would happen once chaos rained down … [and] that’s precisely what he did on that day in 2007.”
Hegseth tied Geressy’s mentorship to his current role: “One of the first people I called when I was chosen for this position was Eric … He’s right down the hall from me, and that’s exactly the kind of voice we need.”
Humble Hero’s Response
“What do you say with a room like this full of all your people you respect the most?” Geressy asked. “This medal has been awarded to me, [but] it belongs to all of you.”
Calling on Eagle Company, the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, and veterans to stand, he honored their shared sacrifice, a gesture that moved some in the room to tears.
“It’s always for the troops,” he said, a mantra from a man who lived for his soldiers.
Legacy of Service
Now a civilian senior advisor to Hegseth, Geressy shapes Pentagon policy with combat-honed wisdom.
“My goal is to make sure the troops are ready, [with the] best leadership, best equipment, [and a] clear mission,” he said. “We’ll hit [the enemy] hard, hit fast and get [our troops] home.”
By Army Maj. Wes Shinego, DOD News