Thomas Payne (soldier)

"It was pretty special being from a small town, where we kind of drew inspiration from our veteran community. Those old-timers kind of built us up as young men, and gave us a solid foundation to grow on."

"In combat you are constantly studying the enemy, and the enemy is constantly studying you, but conducting a hostage rescue mission behind enemy lines at night is something we prepare to do every single day at Special Operations Command. We start planning hostage rescue missions from the simple conviction that failure is not an option. When the Kurdish government reached out for assistance in a hostage rescue mission, we all considered it a no fail mission. We were not going to fail our partners. We knew it was highly probable that those hostages would be executed if we didnt action that target. And we considered it our duty to bring those people home."

"Every man on the mission that night was engaged in their own unique problem set. My teammates were also looking for some way to liberate those hostages. I just happened to be the man at the right place with the bolt cutters. So I had to find a way to capitalize on the opportunity that I was given."

"On September 11, 2020, aptly on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that launched the United States global war against terrorists, then-Sergeant Major Thomas Patrick Payne traveled to the White House to receive the Medal of Honor from President Donald J. Trump, the nations highest award for valor bestowed for hos part in one of the largest hostage rescues in history. Over nearly a score of combat deployments, Sergeant Major Payne had fought on virtually every front in the United States global war against terrorists and extremists. He insists that his actions at the prison compound on October 22, 2015, were just what all of his teammates expected of each other."

"I was a senior in high school. I was in class and we turned on the TV after the first plane hit. [...] That was the defining moment. Once the towers fell on 9/11, that’s when I decided I was going to join the military and I was going to serve with the 75th Ranger Regiment."

"It was an honor for me to participate that night, because you live for hostage rescues. When you look back on that night, it embodies the selfless service of my teammates. Especially Sergeant Joshua Wheeler. They put the lives of the hostages above their own. When you think about Army values like duty, personal courage, and selfless service, thats what stands out to me about that mission."