(NewsNation) — Keni Thomas has been gracing the country music stage for decades, but he’s also an American hero who was recently inducted into the United States Army Ranger Hall of Fame.
A former Army staff sergeant, Thomas was recognized at Fort Benning, Ga., on June 25, for his bravery during the Somalian conflict in 1993.
“It is not lost on me what an honor it is,” Thomas said on NewsNation’s “Morning in America.” “It might be my name on the plaque, but it belongs to those guys who shaped me, molded me, befriended me, came in and saved me.”
Thomas served in the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, which inspired a movie years later titled “Black Hawk Down.”
“We were going after two bad guys, and the mission was a success. We got the bad guys. The trucks came, picked up all the prisoners,” Thomas explained. “The trucks are driving away, and there’s then that’s when, just like that. Everything changed. That’s when the first helicopter got shot down.”
He said they were outnumbered 10 to 1, yet his entire platoon made it back home safely.
“When you stand shoulder to shoulder with your mates and you’ve told each other, ‘I’ll be there no matter what,’ each other is enough. I think that’s the lasting lesson for me,” Thomas said.
Other lessons he learned from his service and now imparts to others: lead the way, set the example, take care of people and step up when it’s hard.
Thomas said, “I don’t think that award was given to me because of my badassery while in uniform. I think it has everything to do with trying to keep the ranger way of setting an example for others to follow alive out here in the in the real world.”
NewsNation’s Ashley Soriano contributed to this report.