On March 5, 2007, three months before his death during a dismounted patrol, SSG Timothy Bruce Cole Jr.'s element came under heavy enemy machine-gun fire from the north and west. After one of his section members, PFC Finck, was hit while returning fire and trying to find cover, Cole moved without regard for his own life to an uncovered position and provided suppressive fire so the platoon medic could reach and treat Finck, who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the lower body. After establishing support by fire to suppress the enemy, Cole moved back to help treat Finck, then led his element more than 200 meters through thick vegetation to get him to the QRF and facilitate the medevac. Cole also held back an enemy attack that outnumbered his section until the QRF arrived, and his valorous actions and leadership under fire saved the life of a fellow paratrooper and reflected credit on himself, Task Force Headhunter, the 82nd Airborne Division, and the United States Army.