ILLESHEIM, Germany — Five U.S. soldiers were honored Tuesday for their efforts in helping a southeastern German town clean up after a devastating flood in 2013.

U.S. Army Europe Chief of Staff German Brig. Gen. Markus Laubenthal presented the German Medal for Flood Relief 2013 to Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jason Plonka, Chief Warrant Officers 2 Joel Davidson and Michael James, as well as 1st Lts. Joshua Ahrens and Edward Leo. A sixth soldier, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael Montalto, also received the medal but was not on hand for the ceremony.

The 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment (Attack Reconnaissance) soldiers spent two days in early June of 2013 assisting residents of the Bavarian town of Deggendorf clean up after the nearby Danube River overflowed. A broken dike led to the area being covered by more than 6 feet of water in places. Nearly 120,000 residents were affected by the flooding and nearby German army reservists immediately got involved in the relief efforts.

Seeing the devastation on the news, and then hearing about it from German troops involved in the clean-up process, led the 159th soldiers to volunteer their time to the relief efforts, they said.

“We jumped in together and said let’s see what we could do to help these people out,” Plonka said. “We’re partners and neighbors, and they were in need.”

Plonka and James said they working throughout the day on June 8, doing whatever they could. They said they spent most of their time wading through kerosene-laden floodwaters, helping residents tear out ruined walls, appliances and flooring. The next day, they gathered as many U.S. troops as they could — roughly a dozen — and went back for another full day of work.

“We did the best we could. I never thought at the time that anybody would do anything like this for us,” James said of the award. “We just went down there because we wanted to go down there. It was never for any reward.”

While there, the Americans worked alongside their German military counterparts. Some, like German Sgt. Maj. Klaus Meyer, had assisted with flood relief efforts in the past. He said the 2013 flood was among the worst he had ever seen.

“The disaster was much, much bigger than the times before,” he said. “You saw all the destroyed houses … they lost everything.”

Laubenthal added that the volunteers — both German and American — did their countries proud. Without their efforts, he said, Deggendorf would have been much worse off.

“It was a ‘close ranks’ movement between the German population and all the helpers from all countries involved,” he said. “I think it brought us closer together and this will last a long time. This will be remembered.”

darnell.michael@stripes.com

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