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thedrifter
05-15-05, 06:03 AM
Marines receive medals, accolades at air show
Unit approved for 28 Purple Hearts as a result of service in Iraq
May 15, 2005

By John Andrew Prime

jprime@gannett.com

Proud and trim, battle-tested Leathernecks of Bossier City-based Bravo Co., 1/23rd Marines, marched front and center to receive medals and cheers from appreciative loved ones, friends and total strangers Saturday during the at the Barksdale Air Force Base Open House and Air Show.

The biggest cheers came for Cpl. Jacob Schick, who lost his right foot and suffered numerous serious wounds to his left foot, left arm and left hand when a bomb exploded near his Humvee in Iraq in September. Schick marched unassisted to receive his Purple Heart, stood in the heat as other honors were presented to his buddies, then walked away from it though pain was etched on his face.

"He's one of the toughest kids that I know," Maj. Mark Roy, Schick's company commander, said later. "There isn't much Schick can't handle. He can take any challenges that come his way."

Schick, the company member most seriously wounded during its seven months in Iraq, is one of three soldiers who publicly were honored at the start of Saturday's air show and open house, which closes out with a second full day today.

In all, 28 Purple Heart medals have been approved for the 165-man company for a casualty rate of nearly 20 percent. But Capt. Matthew Phillips, one of the wounded soldiers, said to applause, "not a single Marine fell," the statistic they are most proud of.

Schick had an opportunity to accept his Purple Heart last fall at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center in Maryland and from no less than the Marine Corps commandant.

"But he told the commandant 'no,'" Phillips told the appreciative air show crowd. "He said he was going to receive the award from his commanding officer, in front of his company."

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Schick were Cpl. Paul R. Avery and Lance Cpl. William B. Bordelon. Bordelon was presented with a Purple Heart.

Avery was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with combat valor device. He earned this for several actions between Nov. 7 and Nov. 24 in Fallujah. One noted in his citation is a nighttime assault on a village where he placed explosives under fire to blast two separate breaches in a walled compound and, in two other separate instances, destroyed large mortars, including one across the Euphrates River from his position.

After the ceremony, Phillips told Avery his is an award to wear proudly.

"That is not an award they give to corporals, especially with the combat 'V,'" Phillips said. "I've never seen it presented to anyone under the rank of sergeant. And for 'numerous times' actions."

Medals presented are those approved so far. Still to come, pending approvals and paperwork, are two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars with valor devices, at least three more Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals with valor devices, 27 Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals and more than 40 other citations and awards.

A number of awards were given to civilians who greatly assisted the unit during its deployment. Most were surprised to be recognized for actions they considered to be what is right and expected of them.

These were Houstonian Tim Phillips, brother of Capt. Matthew Phillips, who spent much time and effort videotaping important moments in the life of the unit during its deployments and transits; Shreveport Dr. Peter Boggs, who bought more than 5,000 batteries for the unit to use with its equipment, noted by Matthew Phillips as being "critical to our success; and Shreveport businessman Tom Adair, once a Marine, who has led several Mardi Gras krewe drives to assist the local Marine unit and deployed members of Shreveport's 1/156th Armor Battalion, still in Iraq.

Also honored were Paul Jarratt and David Tisdale, fathers of two unit members, who assisted with shipping goods to the soldiers and acquiring yard signs for community support.

Finally, Jason Rent, general manager of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, was honored for support the team has given the unit and its families. Phillips noted that the company had a "machine gun-toting Mudbug as our mascot. And we were the only company to have a 6-foot-tall mudbug dancing at their farewell party."

Though the half-hour event was a celebration, much blood and effort went into reaching this day, as was evident while watching Schick as he became the center of a whirling mass of well-wishers, media representatives and fellow Marines when the final "Company, dismissed!" was barked out.

Schick, who has a professional scowl that in unguarded moments melts into a radiant smile, looked down as women he knew and didn't know hugged him as cameras snapped. He once fidgeted with his Purple Heart Medal as he unpinned it to show to an admirer then pinned it back on his uniform tunic.

"It's nice to be home, but I shouldn't be getting any awards," he said. "My whole platoon earned them.

"It's been a long haul, but every one of them --" and here he looked all around, at the blended sea of Marines and air show crowd "-- has been by me."

But a veteran of another generation thinks the awards were fairly won and should be worn with pride. "These guys went over there and did what needed to be done to keep us free," said Joe Crain of Monroe, who joined the Navy at age 15. He wears a Legion of Merit he earned driving sitting-duck Higgins boats full of soldiers to and from the beaches at Normandy 61 years ago.

The local Marines, who hail from throughout Louisiana and Texas and include a smattering of members from as far as California and Massachusetts, returned from Iraq by way of TwentyNine Palms, Calif., in late March. But this was their public homecoming.

Barksdale's Hoban Hall was where they met up with their families when they returned in March. The flight line welcomed them again Saturday.

Col. Mike Moeller, 2nd Bomb Wing commander, said the Air Force greeted its Marine siblings with open arms. "My brother was a Marine, and my father-in-law was a Korean (War) Marine," he said welcoming the veterans.

"The Marine Corps is near and dear to my heart. Thank you for what you do, and thank you for being here today."

Ellie