thedrifter
10-25-05, 02:39 PM
October 31, 2005
Corporal earns Silver Star for heroism in Iraq battle
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
A corporal stationed in the remote San Mateo area of Camp Pendleton, Calif., was awarded the Silver Star for the heroism he displayed during a clash with insurgents in Iraq, according to an Oct. 13 Marine Corps news story.
Abraham McCarver was a lance corporal and a rifleman when his platoon from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, crammed into Amphibious Assault Vehicles and entered Fallujah, Iraq, on a patrol on April 13, 2004.
It didn’t take long for the company’s AAVs to attract attention in the city. “Every time we passed an alleyway, [our vehicle] got shot at,” 1st Lt. Christopher Ayres, McCarver’s platoon commander, said in the news story.
Rocket-propelled grenades struck McCarver’s vehicle, and high-caliber rounds penetrated its armor. The vehicle quickly burst into flames.
McCarver said that all he could see from inside the amtrac was smoke. As his unit scrambled out of the vehicle, McCarver “expertly provided cover fire” for Marines who ran toward the safety of a nearby house, according to his award citation.
As enemy fire began to intensify at the house, McCarver learned that his platoon commander was seriously wounded and still inside the burning AAV.
“Disregarding his own safety, Lance Corporal McCarver ran through a hail of enemy gunfire” toward the vehicle, the citation reads.
When he reached the AAV, McCarver discovered two dead Marines and Ayres, who later said he had been immobilized when an “armor-piercing round blew the soft tissue off the back of my thigh.”
McCarver pulled Ayers out of the vehicle and took him to the house defended by the rest of his platoon.
Over the next hour, McCarver assisted a corpsman in providing first aid and constantly moved to various locations under fire to collect ammunition and continue the fight.
“When the quick-reaction force arrived, he secured additional ammunition and provided cover for his Marines to recover the disabled Amphibious Assault Vehicle,” the citation states.
McCarver’s citation, signed by former Navy Secretary Gordon England, specifically emphasizes the “bold leadership” of a lance corporal, the “wise judgment” of a 22-year old, and the “total dedication to duty” of a Marine rifleman.
“There are just some things that need to be done. This was one of those things that needed to be done,” McCarver, a Memphis, Tenn., native, said in the news story.
While pinning the Silver Star to McCarver’s chest, his battalion commander, Lt. Col. Eric M. Smith, extolled his virtues by saying, “A Silver Star is what legends are made of — the same stuff Chesty Puller and John Basilone were made of.”
Ellie
Corporal earns Silver Star for heroism in Iraq battle
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
A corporal stationed in the remote San Mateo area of Camp Pendleton, Calif., was awarded the Silver Star for the heroism he displayed during a clash with insurgents in Iraq, according to an Oct. 13 Marine Corps news story.
Abraham McCarver was a lance corporal and a rifleman when his platoon from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, crammed into Amphibious Assault Vehicles and entered Fallujah, Iraq, on a patrol on April 13, 2004.
It didn’t take long for the company’s AAVs to attract attention in the city. “Every time we passed an alleyway, [our vehicle] got shot at,” 1st Lt. Christopher Ayres, McCarver’s platoon commander, said in the news story.
Rocket-propelled grenades struck McCarver’s vehicle, and high-caliber rounds penetrated its armor. The vehicle quickly burst into flames.
McCarver said that all he could see from inside the amtrac was smoke. As his unit scrambled out of the vehicle, McCarver “expertly provided cover fire” for Marines who ran toward the safety of a nearby house, according to his award citation.
As enemy fire began to intensify at the house, McCarver learned that his platoon commander was seriously wounded and still inside the burning AAV.
“Disregarding his own safety, Lance Corporal McCarver ran through a hail of enemy gunfire” toward the vehicle, the citation reads.
When he reached the AAV, McCarver discovered two dead Marines and Ayres, who later said he had been immobilized when an “armor-piercing round blew the soft tissue off the back of my thigh.”
McCarver pulled Ayers out of the vehicle and took him to the house defended by the rest of his platoon.
Over the next hour, McCarver assisted a corpsman in providing first aid and constantly moved to various locations under fire to collect ammunition and continue the fight.
“When the quick-reaction force arrived, he secured additional ammunition and provided cover for his Marines to recover the disabled Amphibious Assault Vehicle,” the citation states.
McCarver’s citation, signed by former Navy Secretary Gordon England, specifically emphasizes the “bold leadership” of a lance corporal, the “wise judgment” of a 22-year old, and the “total dedication to duty” of a Marine rifleman.
“There are just some things that need to be done. This was one of those things that needed to be done,” McCarver, a Memphis, Tenn., native, said in the news story.
While pinning the Silver Star to McCarver’s chest, his battalion commander, Lt. Col. Eric M. Smith, extolled his virtues by saying, “A Silver Star is what legends are made of — the same stuff Chesty Puller and John Basilone were made of.”
Ellie