The courage of soldiers takes years to build up, but only moments to put into action. Three Ft. Carson soldiers were honored Thursday for putting their courage into action when they encountered enemy fire in Iraq.

The soldiers with the 10th Special Forces Group, based at Fort Carson, were awarded some of the Army's top awards for heroism Thursday at Fort Carson's Special Events Center.

Sergeant First Class Jarion Halisengibbs, Captain Matthew Chaney and Sergeant First Class Michael Lindsay were hit with gunfire in 2007 when their team raided the headquarters of an Al Qaeda cell leader known for smuggling weapons.

Halisengibbs received the Distinguished Service Cross and Chaney and Lindsay received the Silver Star for their heroism in the raid.

"As I came up to help SGT Lindsay another terrorist came out and shot me with a pistol... stopped right behind my hip," said SFC Halisengibbs.

The night of the raid, the soldiers were leading a group of Iraqi National Police.

The group was forced to land in a spot that wasn't planned, and they were immediately set upon by enemy forces.

"The original burst of gunfire sent a round through my hip," Chaney said.

11 insurgents didn't survive the firefight. The three soldiers did. They were rushed out, roughed up, but they accomplished their mission.

"All of us came home alive. I look at it as a monumental success," Lindsay said.

All three soldiers are assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, Airborne. Lindsay served as detachment communications sergeant and is a native of Cora Peak, North Carolina. Halisengibbs served as the detachment weapons sergeant and is a native of Fremont, Ohio. Chaney served as detachment commander and is a native of Peoria, Illinois.