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04/15/2026

Thomas Patrick Payne (born April 2, 1984) is a United States Army Delta Force sergeant major
and infantry instructor, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during a hostage
rescue mission in an area of northern Iraq controlled by the lslamic State. Payne is the first living
Delta Force Medal of Honor recipient, and the first to receive the Medal of Honor for actions
during Operation Inherent Resolve.October 22, 2015, during a hostage rescue at an Islamic State
prison compound in the north of the town of Hawija, Kirkuk Province, Iraq, in support of Combined
Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve. The joint operation, conducted with the Kurdish
CTG (Counter-Terrorism Group), resulted in the rescue of 70 Iraqi prisoners with one American
casualty, Delta Force Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler. Payne received the Medal of Honor from
President Donald Trump during a ceremony at the White House. He is the first living Delta Force
member to receive the Medal of Honor, the third Delta Force recipient after Master Sergeant Gary
Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart who died in the
1993 Battle of Mogadishu, and the first Medal of Honor recipient for Operation Inherent Resolve.
The task force prioritized the hostage rescue mission to prevent the ex*****on of 70 prisoners
after learning that new graves had been dug at the complex. The mission, which included Kurdish
soldiers, commenced in the predawn darkness with the landing of the team in CH-47 Chinook
helicopters. The Kurdish troops unsuccessfully tried to blast open the prison wall with explosives
which caused the enemy to open fire almost immediately.The Americans entered the complex by
climbing over the wall and Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler was killed by ISIS gunfire.Payne and
the team suppressed resistance at one prison building, cut the locks on cell doors, and freed 37
hostages.
An intense firefight was underway in a second building, which had started to burn. Payne and
other US soldiers responded to radio calls for assistance and aided Kurdish soldiers who were
pinned down at the second building. Amid gunfire, Payne and another soldier climbed a ladder to
the roof of the building but could not gain entry. From the roof, they engaged enemy forces on the
ground with gunfire and grenades before returning to the ground to seek another entry point after
an ISIS fighter detonated a su***de vest to try to collapse the building. Payne and a Kurdish
commando entered the burning building and faced intense gunfire from enemy combatants in a
back room. Payne cut one door lock but retreated due to the heavy smoke and gunfire. A Kurdish
commando tried to cut the second lock but failed. Payne entered the area again and cut the last
lock, freeing 30 additional prisoners. As the building was collapsing, the order was given to
evacuate. Payne stayed to direct everyone out, being the last person to exit after re-entering twice
to ensure that no one was left behind.
Payne and the team then formed a protective barrier as the hostages ran to the extraction
helicopters.

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