In the Highest Tradition

[Riven37]

PFC Perez Took Iraqi Soldiers’
Best Shot and Returned Fire



Private First Class Joseph B. Perez of Huston was awarded the Navy Cross during a ceremony, May 6, at Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force Training Command, Twenty-nine Palms, Calif., for extraordinary heroism while serving as a rifleman with Company I (India Company) 3rd Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, First Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force on April 4, 2003.

First Platoon came under intense enemy fire moving up Route 6 during the advance into Baghdad, Iraq. Perez, the point man for the lead squad, and, therefore, the most exposed member of the platoon, was the main objective of the fire.

He responded with a continuous stream of fire from his M16A4 rifle and directed his squad’s accurate counter fire on the enemy. Perez then led a charge through more enemy fire and into a trench where he threw a grenade, killing its occupants.

Again coming under heavy fire, Perez fired an AT-4 rocket into a machine-gun bunker, destroying it and killing four of the enemy gun crew.

In an effort to link up with 3rd Plt on his left flank, Perez continued to pick off enemy combatants with precision rifle fire. As he worked his way to the left, he took tow gunshot wounds to his torso and shoulder. Nonetheless, PFC Perez ordered his squad to take cover and directed accurate fire on the enemy.

Cal Luis R. Agostini
CPAO, MCB, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

[Riven37]

Total deaths to date are 1745 Battle of Iraq
Wounded 12855 to date Battle of Iraq

Afghanistan 208 to date.

[Riven37]

Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the second highest medal that can be awarded by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. It was established by Act of Congress (Public Law 253, 65th Congress) and approved on February 4, 1919. The Navy Cross is equivalent to the Distinguished Service Cross (Army) and the Air Force Cross (Air Force).


Effective Dates
The Navy Cross has been in effect since April 6, 1917.


Criteria
The Navy Cross may be awarded to any person who, while serving with the Navy or Marine Corps, distinguishes himself in action by extraordinary heroism not justifying an award of the Medal of Honor. The action must take place under one of three circumstances: while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or, while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict in which the United States is not a belligerent party. To earn a Navy Cross the act to be commended must be performed in the presence of great danger or at great personal risk and must be performed in such a manner as to render the individual highly conspicuous among others of equal grade, rate, experience, or position of responsibility. An accumulation of minor acts of heroism does not justify an award of the Navy Cross.

[Riven37]

Sgt Martinez Took Over From
Wounded Leader; Led Assault




Sergeant Marcos A. Martinez of Las Cruces, N.M., was awarded the Navy Cross during a ceremony, May 3, at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif., for extraordinary heroism while serving as first fire team leader for 2d Squad, 1st Platoon, Company G (Gulf), 2d Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, April 12, 2003.

A corporal at the time, Martinez and his unit were sent to reinforce 1st Plt, which was under attack. Under fire, Cpl Martinez and his fellow Marines deployed for a squad assault.

When his squad leader was wounded, Martinez assumed command. While other Marines tended to the wounded squad leader, Cpl Martinez single-handedly assaulted a building housing enemy soldiers and killed four with a grenade and his rifle. “ All of the training is what helped me out.” said Martinez. “I relied on my training.”

Sgt Marcos A. Martinez was presented the Navy Cross by Secretary of the Navy Gordon England at MCB, Camp Pendleton, Calif.


Cpl Luis R. Agostini
CPAO, MCB, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

[Chancellor Qu'noH]

Thank you for posting these. I for one appreciate it and hope they continue.

[Riven37]

Widow Accepts Silver Star


Mrs. Lori Bohr, wife of Gunnery Sergeant Jeffery E. Bohr Jr., who was killed in action in Iraq, April 10, 2003, accepted the Sliver Star on behalf of her husband during a ceremony, May 3, at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Bohr, an Ossian, Iowa, native, was posthumously awarded the military’s third-highest medal for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while serving as the Company A gunnery sergeant, 1st Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment.

With his company assigned to seize a presidential palace in Baghdad and concerned that logistical resupply might be slow in reaching his fellow leathernecks once they reached the objective, Bohr volunteered to move in his two “soft-skinned” vehicles with the company’s main armored convoy.

While moving through narrow streets toward the objective, the convoy came under intense small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Throughout this movement, Bohr delivered accurate, effective fires on the enemy while encouraging his Marines and supplying critical information to his company commander.

When the lead vehicles of the convoy were subjected to enemy fire, “Gunny” Bohr continued to boldly engage the enemy while calmly maneuvering other Marines to safety. Word came down that there was a wounded Marine in a forward vehicle. GySgt Bohr immediately coordinated medical treatment and evacuation.

Moving to the position of the injured Marine, Bohr continued to lay down a high volume of suppressive fire, while simultaneously guiding the medical evacuation vehicle, until he was mortally wounded by enemy fire. “I’ve supported everything he and the Marine corps does,” said Lori Bohr. “This means a lot.”


Cpl Luis R. Agostini
CPAO, MCB, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

[Riven37]

The Silver Star is a United States military award which is presented to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States Armed Forces, is cited for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force. The decoration is also awarded for those who are serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The required gallantry, while of a lesser degree than that required for award of the Distinguished Service Cross, must nevertheless have been performed with marked distinction. Soldiers who received a citation for gallantry in action during World War I may apply to have the citation converted to the Silver Star Medal.

The Silver Star is the successor decoration to the Citation Star which was established by an act of the U.S. Congress on July 9, 1918. On July 19, 1932, the Secretary of War approved the Silver Star Medal to replace the Citation Star. The original Citation Star is incorporated into the center of the Silver Star Medal, and the ribbon for the Silver Star Medal is based closely on the Certificate of Merit Medal.

Authorization for the Silver Star was placed into law by an Act of Congress for the U.S. Navy on August 7, 1942 and an Act of Congress for the U.S. Army on December 15, 1942. The primary reason for congressional authorization was the desire to award the medal to civilians as well as the Army. The current statutory authorization for the Silver Star Medal is Title 10 of the United States Code (Section 3746).

The Silver Star is a gold star, 1½ inches (38 mm) in circumscribing diameter with a laurel wreath encircling rays from the center and a 3/16 inch (5 mm) diameter silver star superimposed in the center. The pendant is suspended from a rectangular shaped metal loop with rounded corners. The reverse has the inscription "FOR GALLANTRY IN ACTION." The ribbon is 1 3/8 inches (35 mm) wide and consists of the following stripes: 3/32 inch (2 mm) ultramarine blue 67118; 3/64 inch (1 mm) white 67101; 7/32 inch (6 mm) ultramarine blue; 7/32 inch (6 mm) white; 7/32 (6 mm) inch Old Glory red 67156 (center stripe); 7/32 inch (6 mm) white; 7/32 inch (6 mm) ultramarine blue; 3/64 inch (1 mm) white; and 3/32 inch (2 mm) ultramarine blue.

Additional decorations of the Silver Star are denoted in the U.S. Army and Air Force by oak leaf clusters, while the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps issue award stars.

[Riven37]

Corporal Armand E. McCormick, a native of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, was awarded the Sliver Star during a ceremony, May 5, at Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force Training Command, Twenty-nine Palms, Calif., for conspicuous gallantry and interpidity while serving as a rifleman for Combined Antiarmor Platoon, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, fifth Marine Regiment on March 25, 2003.

Under heavy fire, McCormick, a lance corporal at the time, exhibited exceptional bravery when the lead elements of his battalion were ambushed with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG's) and squad autmatic weapons fire. He drove his lightly armored vehicle directly at an enemy machine-gun postion and purposely crashed it into an occupied trench line.

With the initial breach of the enemy defense gained for his unit, LCpl McCormick sprang from the vehicle and began assaulting the berm and ambush line with two Marines.

Taking direct fire and outnumbered, he paressed forward, firing his pistol. Moving through the trench, he repeatedly came under enemy fire, each time calmly taking well-aimed shots.

As the group ran low on ammunition, he collected enemy rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and continued to press the attack forward several hunred meters. As a follow-on company began to make its enterance into the berm, he returned to his vehicle and backed it out of the trench. LCpl McCormick's boldly aggressive actions greatly reduced the enemy's ability to inflict casualties on the rest of his battalion.

"It's an honor of course; it is just another day in the Marine Corps." Said McCormick.

"I'm ready to go it again and help out with the situation." he said about redeploying to iraq. Consequently, Cpl McCormick redeployed to iraq, May 7.
"To me I did what I was supposed to do; I did what was expected."