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thedrifter
02-11-06, 07:26 AM
February 10, 2006
Recon unit commander receives Silver Star
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — As a reconnaissance platoon commander in Iraq’s Anbar province, he ran to aid his wounded men, then led three separate assaults against an enemy that had opened up on his unit with machine gun fire.

When the firefight was over, seven foreign fighters lay dead, two others were captured and scores were wounded.

The Marine Corps calls Capt. Brian von Kraus’ actions that day, July 25, 2004, “heroic,” and on Feb. 8, awarded the platoon commander with Alpha Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, the Silver Star medal, the nation’s third-highest award for combat bravery.

“Engaging the enemy, he heroically led three separate assaults on different enemy strong points, personally destroying insurgents with rifle fire and grenades,” his award citation reads. “Under a fusillade of enemy fire, First Lieutenant von Kraus rallied his Marines and led them in close-quarters combat. His exemplary leadership and tenacious fighting spirit inspired all who observed his personal valor and turned the tide of battle in the face of a resolute and fanatical enemy.”

Von Kraus, accompanied by his parents, received the medal from Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, 1st Marine Division commander, as hundreds of members of Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, watched.

The 27-year-old von Kraus, who was a first lieutenant during the 2004 firefight in Iraq, is preparing to deploy soon with Alpha Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. The recon unit is attached to BLT 1/4, which will join the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Von Kraus credits his men for the high honor. “They did what they had to do,” he said. “Everything came together on that day. Everything went well.”

The ambush occurred during Operation Trojan Horse, a mostly classified mission. Several of his men also received combat medals, including two Bronze Stars, for their actions that day and during other missions on their seven-month deployment, he said.

Von Kraus learned of his award just days earlier, as he spent time with his visiting parents before the deployment. His parents, who emigrated from Romania before he was born in Massachusetts, had known little of what their son did while in Iraq.

“I think about where I was on July 25,” said his mother, Roxana von Kraus, referring to what her son was enduring a half a world away in Iraq. When she heard about the award and how his superiors regard him, she wasn’t surprised. “He’s very good with his people. This is extraordinary,” she said.

“He doesn’t like to brag,” Rudiger von Kraus said of his son. “Putting himself above others is against his nature, and I think that is why he’s so respected by his people.”

The family name, he noted, dates back to 1702 and means “a recognition of bravery,” he said, noting historical ties to the battles against the Turks. “In a way, then,” he added, “you follow in the footsteps of your generations.”

Ellie