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thedrifter
01-20-06, 05:43 PM
Posthumous Honor for Mission of Mercy
By Tony Perry, Times Staff Writer

CAMP PENDLETON -- Last spring, Marine Capt. John Maloney led his Marines on a mission of mercy through the dangerous streets of Ramadi in Iraq to bring medical supplies to a struggling hospital.

Maloney's Marines and a squad of Army soldiers guided a slow-moving convoy through streets infested with insurgent snipers and hidden bombs to deliver more than $500,000 worth of badly needed supplies — bandages, bedsheets, heart monitors, antibiotics, incubators and more — to the Ramadi Maternity and Children's Hospital.

Maloney told a military reporter that he hoped the mission would "show the Iraqi people that the Marines mean well."

Just days later Maloney, 36, of Chicopee, Mass., and Lance Cpl. Erik Heldt, 26, of Hermann, Mo., were killed when their Humvee hit an improvised explosive device. Three other Marines in the vehicle were badly burned.

Today, Maloney's widow, Michelle, received the Bronze Star with V for Valor, awarded to her husband posthumously for his leadership during 109 days of frequent fighting with heavily armed insurgents.

Lt. Col. Rick Smith, the battalion commander, pinned the brightly colored medal on the couple's son, Nathaniel, 6, while their daughter, McKenna, 2, looked on.

"He's had a hard time understanding why all the other daddies came home and his didn't," said the boy's grandmother, Linda Keil of Simi Valley. "But he's proud of his daddy and he knows he gave his life for something he believed in."

Maloney enlisted in the Marine Corps when he was 18 and served in the Persian Gulf War and Somalia. He attended Colorado University, became an officer, and was commanding officer of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division when he was killed.

When the bomb exploded beneath the vehicle that morning in June, Maloney and Heldt became the 23rd and 24th members of the "one-five" to die in Iraq.

They were returning from a patrol when their convoy was attacked. Maloney ordered his Humvee, the lead vehicle in the convoy, to take a blocking position to keep the insurgents from reaching the main part of the force.

By slowing the insurgents, Maloney allowed his Marines to position themselves for what turned out to be a two-hour firefight before the insurgents were routed.

"Because of what he did over there, I brought 150 Marines home," said Charlie Company 1st Sgt. Michael Brookman. "He'll be with me the rest of my life."

Three more Marines were killed before the battalion returned from its third tour in Iraq in October. Thirty-eight Marines in the 195-man Charlie Company have received Purple Hearts.

After the ceremony that was held beneath tall shade trees with green hills in the background, Marines from Charlie Company offered their condolences to Michelle Maloney and other family members.

Michelle Maloney chose not to speak to reporters, but when her husband was buried at Arlington National Cemetery last year, she issued a statement about him:

"He was fun and silly and had such dreams for his children and our lives together. They were his life and he will always be ours."

The award ceremony on the sprawling base was held at a memorial garden dedicated to Marines from the 5th Regiment who have died in combat.

Stone markers note battles where Marines from the regiment have died, including Belleau Wood from World War I, Guadalcanal in World War II, the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, Hue City in Vietnam, Kuwait, and now, Iraq.

"Ramadi is a tough place," Brookman said, "and it's even tougher to be a company commander there."

Ellie