It took sixteen years, but Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe - a Seminole County res ident from birth - was finally awarded the Medal of Honor, and now he’s getting the hometown recognition he rightfully de serves.
Born in 1970, SFC Cashe was a “rambunc tious, outdoors-y kind of kid” who was “willing to try anything,” according to fam ily. He attended Oviedo High School along with his older siblings and, upon his gradu ation, immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1989.
Between 1989 and 1998, SFC Cashe moved between postings in Korea, Fort Lewis Wash., Fort Hood Texas, and Ger many. He served in the Gulf War and gradu ated from the Army’s Drill Sergeant School in 1998, after which he was assigned to what is now Fort Moore in Georgia.
He was eventually promoted to squad leader and then platoon sergeant, and amidst his other assignments, SFC Cashe served two tours in Iraq: first in 2003, then during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005.
Cashe’s sister, Kasinal Cashe White, re called the last conversation she had with her brother before his second deployment. “I told him, ‘don’t go be a hero, okay? Just come home,’” she said. “But he said, ‘I go where my boys go.’”
It was this same loyalty to his brothers-in arms that inspired the heroic actions that would eventually grant him a Medal of Honor - and, sadly, lead to his death.
On Oct. 17, 2005, SFC Cashe and his unit were sent out on a routine clearance patrol, tasked with making sure the roads were clear for a convoy to pass through the next day. It was meant to be a rou tine task, but tragedy struck as Cashe’s vehicle hit a roadside IED.
The explosion damaged the vehicle’s fuel tank, dousing the soldiers inside with fuel while further damage prevented their escape. Cashe was able to escape, and despite his uniform being soaked with fuel, went back into the vehicle to free six men and retrieve the body of a translator that had been killed in the initial explosion.
As a result of his rescue mission, SFC Cashe suf fered second-and-third degree burns to over 72 per cent of his body. He was evacuated to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, where he remained long enough for his family to say their goodbyes before he passed away on Nov 8, 2005.
After his death, SFC Cashe was originally nomi nated for a Silver Star by his battalion commander, Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, who was at the forefront of the push to upgrade the award to a Medal of Honor after he learned the severity of his actions. The cam paign to award Cashe with a Medal of Honor was a long one, spanning sixteen years and involving a number of important people, including retired Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw, former Special Forces officer Michael Waltz, and former U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy.
Finally, on December 16, 2021, Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, with President Biden presenting his widow with the award.
“He would have been so embarrassed,” his sister said, when asked how Cashe would have responded to the award. “He wasn’t a ticker-tape parade kind of person, you know? He was good at his job, and he enjoyed it.”
After his death, SFC Cashe returned home one last time to be buried in Restlawn Cemetery, off West 25th Street, beside his parents. He is survived by several siblings, his wife, and three children.
Twenty years after his death, William Watts, an Eagle Scout candidate with Boy Scouts Troop #0854, will be building a memorial at the Seminole County Courthouse to honor both SFC Cashe and Staff Ser geant Robert J. Miller, another local veteran. The me morial will be unveiled on Mar 29, 2025.
