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Photo by Eric Engman

A tour of duty in Iraq led to a trip to the nation’s capital for Sgt. Gregory Williams of Fort Wainwright after he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in December.

Last month, the sergeant, one of only eight men to receive the Army’s second-highest honor since 2001, spent 15 minutes with President Bush.

“It was very exciting,” Williams said. “It didn’t hit me until I got in there that this is the president. He’s a very nice, family-oriented man. Very energetic, too.”

During the meeting, Bush mostly asked Williams and his wife, Stevie, how they were enjoying life in the Army, and the president even held their 5-month-old son.

Williams, currently with the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in October 2006 while patrolling a Baghdad neighborhood.

The Stryker vehicle carrying Williams was struck by a bomb in an insurgent ambush, knocking him unconscious. The Stryker was full of explosives, and there was a possibility it could blow up.

When he regained consciousness a few moments later, he grabbed a first-aid kit to treat the other members of his platoon. But seeing that none were seriously injured, he began to fire at the insurgents with his M4. The M4 did little to dissuade the offensive, however, and actually attracted more enemies.

Realizing that his best weapon was the .50-caliber machine gun atop the Stryker, Williams went back to the vehicle, where he discovered one of his commanders was injured. He dragged his comrade to safety, and then made his way to the .50 caliber. The heavy fire forced the attackers to take cover and eventually flee, allowing the members of his platoon to get out of harm’s way.

But even after going through all that, Williams said he was too intimidated by Bush to ask any questions.

“I didn’t ask too much,” he said. “I was just more in awe that I was meeting the president.”

Williams, 24, of Sacramento, Calif., was invited to Washington by Sen. Lisa Murkowski. He and his family also toured the Capitol, the Pentagon and several museums, though he said his favorite part of the trip, aside from meeting the president, was going to Mount Vernon, the one-time home of George Washington.

“That was really exciting to go there,” he said.

Williams and the rest of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright are training for the unit’s next deployment to Iraq, which is scheduled for the fall. He’s looking forward to his second tour of duty.

“I like being over there,” he said. “It’s what I joined the military to do.”