HOUSTON – The family of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty, who was killed in action in 2016 in Jordan, accepted a posthumous Silver Star medal for him.
The award was presented in Houston at North Lakeside Pavilion in the Clay Family Eastern Glades Memorial Park on Wednesday, which is Moriarty’s birthday.
“He was an incredibly kind person,” said his sister Becky Moriarty Davis. “He was very unassuming. It was so unexplainable how personable he was and how much people loved him.”
The Silver Star Award, which is authorized by the president, recognizes Moriarty for “gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States while serving as the Senior Weapons Sergeant for Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha 5135 in support of an interagency tasking on 4 November 2016, in Jordan. Staff Sergeant Moriarty engaged an enemy combatant, sacrificing his own life and enable his teammate to neutralize the enemy. Staff Sergeant Moriarty’s selflessness, personal courage, and tactical expertise were directly responsible for the survival of another Green Beret. His courage under fire reflects great credit upon himself, the 5th Special Forces Group, and the United States Army.”
A native Houstonian, Moriarty attended Annunciation Orthodox School and Strake Jesuit College Preparatory. In 2011, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with an economics degree and enlisted in the Army. In 2013, he graduated as a Special Forces weapons sergeant and was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
You can watch a replay of the ceremony below: