thedrifter
04-28-06, 08:51 AM
Local awarded Silver Star
By VENESSA SANTOS-GARZA, Corpus Christi Caller-Times
April 28, 2006
CORPUS CHRISTI - Jan. 1, 2005: The Fourth Platoon, First Marine Division is pounding the ground along the banks of the Euphrates River in Iraq when enemy fire erupts.
A roadside bomb wounds three.
A few more feet to the left or right, and Navy Corpsman Juan M. Rubio, a San Angelo man, would have been dead. His wrist and elbow bleeding, he comes to the aid of his Marines - his brothers.
Rubio crawls over - with enemy bullets screaming all around him - stabilizes the injured and brings the three to safety.
On Thursday, Rubio, 32, who is stationed in Corpus Christi, stood in a crisp, white uniform with a freshly pinned Silver Star gleaming on his chest. His shoulders squared and eyes straight ahead, he stood starkly while hundreds of people outside Naval Hospital Corpus Christi clapped and cheered.
Only his bottom lip betrayed him a bit - quivering for a brief second before a grin set in. The medal was awarded for gallantry in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
It's the third-highest award for valor given to members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
One Marine died that day.
''He took a big chunk of artillery,'' Rubio said of Lance Cpl. Brian Parrello. ''He absorbed 90 percent of the explosion for me. I owe my life to him.''
Naval officers at Thursday's ceremony said Rubio, too, will forever be an example of courage and dedication.
Rubio was 25 when he enlisted in the Navy. Like many, he hoped to avail himself of the opportunities and education the military could provide.
The young father of two remembered - as he stood in front of his peers Thursday with his hands braced on each side of a lectern - the ceremonies he had attended as a young sailor. He always thought it would be an honor to stand in front of so many people.
It wasn't until he stood in middle of the shattered remains of the Pentagon, until he sifted through ashes of ground zero and saw firsthand the pain of his fellow Americans that he understood what true honor was.
Rubio treated Pentagon victims of the Sept. 11 attacks while stationed at the naval hospital in Bethesda, Md., and later served aboard the U.S.S. Comfort hospital ship when it was sent to New York in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks.
Later, Rubio had the opportunity to choose his assignment. Not only did he volunteer to go to Iraq, he asked to be paired with the 'ground-pounders' - the Marines on the front lines.
His friends thought he was crazy. No one wants to go to war.
Rubio said knew those Marines - his Marines - would need an experienced corpsman on the front lines with them.
His father, Juan Rubio, was proud of his son and confident he would do his job well. Still, there were many days spent watching CNN, followed by sleepless nights. The elder Rubio can only describe moments without his son as intense.
Juan M. Rubio told the crowd shortly after he received the medal that the true heroes of war are the children, such as his sons, Matthew, 8, and Joshua, 10, who are asked too young to sacrifice their mothers and fathers.
That kind of sacrifice, he said, is the ultimate display of honor, courage and bravery.
His sons, who traveled from Abilene with their mother, Mendy Fry, to watch as their father was honored, raced to give Rubio a group hug as the ceremony closed.
Their daddy, Matthew said, deserved all the medals.
The war, the Silver Star, the recognition - none of it has changed Rubio. ''It's the oath I took,'' he said.
Ellie
By VENESSA SANTOS-GARZA, Corpus Christi Caller-Times
April 28, 2006
CORPUS CHRISTI - Jan. 1, 2005: The Fourth Platoon, First Marine Division is pounding the ground along the banks of the Euphrates River in Iraq when enemy fire erupts.
A roadside bomb wounds three.
A few more feet to the left or right, and Navy Corpsman Juan M. Rubio, a San Angelo man, would have been dead. His wrist and elbow bleeding, he comes to the aid of his Marines - his brothers.
Rubio crawls over - with enemy bullets screaming all around him - stabilizes the injured and brings the three to safety.
On Thursday, Rubio, 32, who is stationed in Corpus Christi, stood in a crisp, white uniform with a freshly pinned Silver Star gleaming on his chest. His shoulders squared and eyes straight ahead, he stood starkly while hundreds of people outside Naval Hospital Corpus Christi clapped and cheered.
Only his bottom lip betrayed him a bit - quivering for a brief second before a grin set in. The medal was awarded for gallantry in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
It's the third-highest award for valor given to members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
One Marine died that day.
''He took a big chunk of artillery,'' Rubio said of Lance Cpl. Brian Parrello. ''He absorbed 90 percent of the explosion for me. I owe my life to him.''
Naval officers at Thursday's ceremony said Rubio, too, will forever be an example of courage and dedication.
Rubio was 25 when he enlisted in the Navy. Like many, he hoped to avail himself of the opportunities and education the military could provide.
The young father of two remembered - as he stood in front of his peers Thursday with his hands braced on each side of a lectern - the ceremonies he had attended as a young sailor. He always thought it would be an honor to stand in front of so many people.
It wasn't until he stood in middle of the shattered remains of the Pentagon, until he sifted through ashes of ground zero and saw firsthand the pain of his fellow Americans that he understood what true honor was.
Rubio treated Pentagon victims of the Sept. 11 attacks while stationed at the naval hospital in Bethesda, Md., and later served aboard the U.S.S. Comfort hospital ship when it was sent to New York in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks.
Later, Rubio had the opportunity to choose his assignment. Not only did he volunteer to go to Iraq, he asked to be paired with the 'ground-pounders' - the Marines on the front lines.
His friends thought he was crazy. No one wants to go to war.
Rubio said knew those Marines - his Marines - would need an experienced corpsman on the front lines with them.
His father, Juan Rubio, was proud of his son and confident he would do his job well. Still, there were many days spent watching CNN, followed by sleepless nights. The elder Rubio can only describe moments without his son as intense.
Juan M. Rubio told the crowd shortly after he received the medal that the true heroes of war are the children, such as his sons, Matthew, 8, and Joshua, 10, who are asked too young to sacrifice their mothers and fathers.
That kind of sacrifice, he said, is the ultimate display of honor, courage and bravery.
His sons, who traveled from Abilene with their mother, Mendy Fry, to watch as their father was honored, raced to give Rubio a group hug as the ceremony closed.
Their daddy, Matthew said, deserved all the medals.
The war, the Silver Star, the recognition - none of it has changed Rubio. ''It's the oath I took,'' he said.
Ellie