thedrifter
03-07-06, 02:07 PM
March 13, 2006
Squad leader’s heroics earn Navy Cross
Then-sergeant killed 14 enemy fighters in Afghanistan fight
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
A pair of Apache helicopters had spotted 20 armed enemy fighters moving toward the ridgeline of hills north of Khabargho, Afghanistan, and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit’s ground combat element was dispatched to pursue them.
Sgt. Anthony Viggiani, a squad leader with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, was at the front of the company, waiting for the “go” order that would kick-start a series of events that culminated Feb. 24, when he received the Navy Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor.
On June 3, 2004, when the order came, Viggiani led his squad toward the ridgeline on foot and spread his fire teams out on each side of him to ensure they’d have interlocking fields of fire, but it was the enemy fighters who fired first from their concealed positions in hillside caves.
Viggiani said his second fire team was the first targeted by the attack, but it returned fire and managed to silence the position. An uncertain calm fell over the hillside, and Viggiani told his first sergeant that he would move to check on his first fire team’s position. The lull was brief.
“I had finally got to my [fire team],” he said, “but not even a minute later, the first sergeant was on the radio, telling me ‘Get down here, I need a [fragmentation grenade], I need a [fragmentation grenade] now!’”
Viggiani rushed back toward the first sergeant to discover two of his Marines had been hit by machine-gun fire from a hidden position.
“I had got to first sergeant, and I was asking him, ‘Where are they, where are they?’ He told me my second fire team was pinned down pretty hard, then pointed in the general direction of where the machine-gun firing was coming from,” Viggiani said.
“Moving across exposed ground under observation and fire from an adjacent enemy position,” Viggiani bolted in the direction his first sergeant had pointed, according to his award citation.
As he moved along the fire-swept hillside, Viggiani spotted an opening in the rock face.
“It wasn’t big. If you took off all of your gear, maybe you could slip into it,” Viggiani said. “I looked, and I saw some fabric. I shot three rounds in the hole and something moved. Then, I shot four more rounds and threw a grenade in the hole and pinned myself against a rock.”
Viggiani would later discover that the hole in the rock face was actually the opening to a cave where three enemy fighters were keeping his Marines pinned down with automatic weapons fire.
“I never knew the cave was right there; I didn’t know anything,” he said. “I just knew I had to keep a promise I made to my boys. I had promised to bring them all back home.”
After killing the three hidden fighters, Viggiani came under fire from an adjacent machine-gun position.
He took cover, but an enemy bullet ricocheted off a rock and struck him in the leg. He ignored the wound and leapt back into the fray, killing a total of 14 enemy fighters, according to his citation.
After the battle, Viggiani’s company commander called for a medical evacuation. Two of his Marines were evacuated, but Viggiani refused.
Viggiani was meritoriously promoted to staff sergeant not long after the battle.
Nearly 20 months later, when the Corps’ newest Marines marched across the parade deck upon their graduation from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., there was a staff sergeant among the onlookers in the place of honor reserved for the reviewing officer. Viggiani is a drill instructor at the depot’s India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion.
The graduation ceremony was paused halfway through so the Navy Cross could be presented to him in full view of the crowd.
After the ceremony, Viggiani told reporters he was honored to have received the same decoration that was the highest attained by legendary Lt. Gen. Lewis “Chesty” Puller, a leader whose exploits are taught to every recruit who passes through boot camp.
“I feel kind of at a loss for words,” Viggiani said.
Ellie
Squad leader’s heroics earn Navy Cross
Then-sergeant killed 14 enemy fighters in Afghanistan fight
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
A pair of Apache helicopters had spotted 20 armed enemy fighters moving toward the ridgeline of hills north of Khabargho, Afghanistan, and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit’s ground combat element was dispatched to pursue them.
Sgt. Anthony Viggiani, a squad leader with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, was at the front of the company, waiting for the “go” order that would kick-start a series of events that culminated Feb. 24, when he received the Navy Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor.
On June 3, 2004, when the order came, Viggiani led his squad toward the ridgeline on foot and spread his fire teams out on each side of him to ensure they’d have interlocking fields of fire, but it was the enemy fighters who fired first from their concealed positions in hillside caves.
Viggiani said his second fire team was the first targeted by the attack, but it returned fire and managed to silence the position. An uncertain calm fell over the hillside, and Viggiani told his first sergeant that he would move to check on his first fire team’s position. The lull was brief.
“I had finally got to my [fire team],” he said, “but not even a minute later, the first sergeant was on the radio, telling me ‘Get down here, I need a [fragmentation grenade], I need a [fragmentation grenade] now!’”
Viggiani rushed back toward the first sergeant to discover two of his Marines had been hit by machine-gun fire from a hidden position.
“I had got to first sergeant, and I was asking him, ‘Where are they, where are they?’ He told me my second fire team was pinned down pretty hard, then pointed in the general direction of where the machine-gun firing was coming from,” Viggiani said.
“Moving across exposed ground under observation and fire from an adjacent enemy position,” Viggiani bolted in the direction his first sergeant had pointed, according to his award citation.
As he moved along the fire-swept hillside, Viggiani spotted an opening in the rock face.
“It wasn’t big. If you took off all of your gear, maybe you could slip into it,” Viggiani said. “I looked, and I saw some fabric. I shot three rounds in the hole and something moved. Then, I shot four more rounds and threw a grenade in the hole and pinned myself against a rock.”
Viggiani would later discover that the hole in the rock face was actually the opening to a cave where three enemy fighters were keeping his Marines pinned down with automatic weapons fire.
“I never knew the cave was right there; I didn’t know anything,” he said. “I just knew I had to keep a promise I made to my boys. I had promised to bring them all back home.”
After killing the three hidden fighters, Viggiani came under fire from an adjacent machine-gun position.
He took cover, but an enemy bullet ricocheted off a rock and struck him in the leg. He ignored the wound and leapt back into the fray, killing a total of 14 enemy fighters, according to his citation.
After the battle, Viggiani’s company commander called for a medical evacuation. Two of his Marines were evacuated, but Viggiani refused.
Viggiani was meritoriously promoted to staff sergeant not long after the battle.
Nearly 20 months later, when the Corps’ newest Marines marched across the parade deck upon their graduation from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., there was a staff sergeant among the onlookers in the place of honor reserved for the reviewing officer. Viggiani is a drill instructor at the depot’s India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion.
The graduation ceremony was paused halfway through so the Navy Cross could be presented to him in full view of the crowd.
After the ceremony, Viggiani told reporters he was honored to have received the same decoration that was the highest attained by legendary Lt. Gen. Lewis “Chesty” Puller, a leader whose exploits are taught to every recruit who passes through boot camp.
“I feel kind of at a loss for words,” Viggiani said.
Ellie