Leadership Under Fire: The Story of SFC Thomas Grasso

Thank you for joining us this Saturday morning for a special edition in observance of Memorial Day. 

Three weeks ago, U.S. Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC-10) used his allotted time during a congressional hearing to detail a battle in Afghanistan in 2015.

Harrigan’s account is chilling. A small Special Forces element encountered a 2,000-strong Taliban force during a mission to seize the city of Kunduz, a provincial capital. They fought for five days, often surrounded and under withering gun and rocket fire.

Harrigan called out one soldier in particular who distinguished himself with complete disregard for his own life: Sergeant First Class Thomas J. Grasso.

Harrigan of all people would know. 

After all, it was SFC Grasso who saved his life.

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As dawn broke over the fertile plain surrounding Kunduz, Afghanistan – just north of the Hindu Kush mountains – in early fall of 2015, SFC Grasso and a contingent of a few dozen Green Berets prepared for battle.

The fall of Kunduz was a crisis that put the entire Afghanistan War at risk. Saving this collapsing city from an estimated enemy force in the thousands fell to a handful of U.S. Special Forces operators—and among them, SFC Grasso distinguished himself beyond all measure. 

SFC Grasso didn’t know it then, but he and his group would shortly begin five days of sustained combat against an onslaught of Taliban soldiers. The Taliban outnumbered them 60 to 1.

During their infiltration into the city, SFC Grasso manned a machine gun while in an ATV. A friendly element was stuck in the kill zone of an enemy ambush near the Kunduz city center. SFC Grasso and another Green Beret positioned their vehicle – unarmored – between advancing enemy machine gun fire and their fellow trapped soldiers. According to reports, Grasso delivered “withering fire” to protect their withdrawal to a safer location. 

That was one of his many acts of unfathomable heroism in the days to come. What follows relies heavily on first-hand accounts from Rep. Pat Harrigan, additional eyewitness accounts from Special Forces personnel on the ground, and excerpts from his original valor award, a Silver Star.

 “On September 30, fighting through relentless ambushes on their subsequent movement into the city, SFC Grasso repeatedly dismounted his vehicle while exposed to intense enemy fire to engage insurgents and shield the convoy,” Rep. Harrigan recounted.

“During one encounter while under withering enemy fire, [he] disregarded his own safety, maneuvered into the kill zone of a complex near-ambush, saving the lives of five trapped special forces teammates, one Romanian partner, and their interpreter.”

Rep. Harrigan was one of the five that SFC Grasso saved. But the battle – and SFC Grasso’s heroism – didn’t stop there.

Rep. Harrigan continued, “SFC Grasso again came under heavy machine gun fire when he dismounted to direct the element to the city compound to enable the remaining element to safely enter the compound. He effectively returned fire and suppressed the enemy positions.”

After finally reaching their objective, SFC Grasso “left his vehicle to occupy a tower from which he used both precision sniper fire and hand grenades to protect the lives of his men and Afghan partners. . .during wave after wave of relentless and sustained enemy assaults,” according to a news report.

The tower SFC Grasso occupied was a critical tactical stronghold.

He stood his ground for four days thereafter. Taliban soldiers directed heavy machine-gun fire at him. They launched rocket-propelled grenades as close as 50 feet away. One hit his position directly and inflicted a traumatic brain injury.

“Bleeding and disoriented,” as Rep. Harrigan described it, still SFC Grasso repelled them.

“He checked on his teammates before returning to his exposed post. From there he single-handedly neutralized continuous waves of attackers attempting to detonate vehicle-borne IEDs, forcing the enemy to request a temporary ceasefire. During a subsequent rocket-propelled grenade attack near his position, he eliminated a follow-on explosive-filled rickshaw, preventing a perimeter breach. 

“As the fight wore on, the enemy began throwing hand grenades into the compound from an adjacent building. SFC Grasso ran through the blast to hurl grenades back, then established a clear line of sight from an exposed staircase to enable his command to call in a danger-close F-16 strafing run, [with] bullets hitting 15 meters from his position. 

“When partner forces were decisively engaged, without sufficient ammunition outside the perimeter, he maneuvered without regard for his own safety under devastating fire to resupply their position and employed accurate sniper fire, destroying another advance. On October 4 [five days after the battle began], he unhesitatingly stepped into the enemy’s line of sight to destroy the fighter preparing to fire a rocket propelled grenade at two trapped teammates.”

By the end of the battle, not a single friendly had been killed in action, in large part because of the “heroism and selflessness” of SFC Thomas J. Grasso. He earned the Silver Star for his valor, but Rep. Harrigan and the Veterans Legal Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law are advocating to upgrade it to a Medal of Honor.

“I know these things to be true,” Rep. Harrigan said, “because I was there. And I’m here today only because I was one of those five that he rescued” earlier in the battle.

***

As Memorial Day approaches, the story of SFC Grasso carries an even deeper meaning. The holiday is not simply about a long weekend; it is about honoring Americans who answered the call to serve and made extraordinary sacrifices for their country and their communities. 

Tragically, SFC Grasso unexpectedly passed away two weeks ago from natural causes, leaving behind his wife and three children in Wake Forest, NC. He will receive full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery later this year.

Although he will not be here to witness it personally, Congressman Pat Harrigan is leading efforts, joined by his colleague in the House, Congressman Brad Knott (R-NC-13), to upgrade his military recognition to the Medal of Honor, ensuring that his courage, sacrifice, and legacy are permanently and properly honored for both his family and our nation.

A GoFundMe page established for the Grasso family has already raised more than $52,000 toward its $60,000 goal. For Nexus readers, many of whom care deeply about leadership, service, and strengthening North Carolina communities, this is an opportunity to move beyond words of gratitude and provide direct support to a family carrying an unimaginable burden. If you feel compelled to honor an American hero this Memorial Day, we encourage you to consider contributing to the Grasso family’s GoFundMe campaign.

If you are reading this, please visit the GoFundMe site here in support of an American hero. And if you know someone else who may wish to share in honoring his memory, we encourage you to pass this along. Every share extends the circle of support for SFC Grasso’s family.