A Casper-born soldier will be awarded the Silver Star today for rescuing wounded soldiers while under fire in Afghanistan this spring.

Since 2001, only 53 soldiers in the Special Operations Command have earned the award - the third highest military honor. Army Staff Sgt. Matthew O. Williams, 27, will be honored in a ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C., along with 18 other soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne).

A Star-Tribune search found that Williams is likely the third Wyoming native to earn the Silver Star in this war.

"We're obviously very proud, and mostly we're glad he just got home safe," Matt's father Mike Williams told the Star-Tribune by phone Thursday. Mike and his wife, Janet, were driving from their home in Texas to the ceremony at Fort Bragg.

After members of his operation were pinned down by insurgent fire April 6, Williams helped organize a counter assault, leading soldiers across a fast-moving, waist-deep river and up a steep mountain to get to their wounded teammates, according to a release from the U.S. Special Operations Command.

"After his Team Sergeant was wounded by sniper fire, with disregard for his own safety, Sgt. Williams courageously maneuvered through a gauntlet of heavy machine gun fire to render aid," according to the release.

Williams climbed back up the mountain several times to rescue more soldiers while more than 200 insurgents continued to fire.

Williams was born in Casper, but his family moved away shortly after he was born. The soldier was raised in Boerne, Texas. He returned to Texas from Afghanistan over the summer. Mike Williams said he's unsure if Matt will have to go back to war, but he said he knows his son wants to return.