thedrifter
03-02-07, 07:51 AM
Posthumous Silver Star for 3/5 sergeant
Inside Fallujah house, squad leader led counterattacks
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 2, 2007 6:38:28 EST
OCEANSIDE, Calif. — It was a hellish, close-quarters, room-by-room battle two years ago when Sgt. Jeffrey L. Kirk led his men through an intense battle in the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah during the early stages of Operation al-Fajr.
Three times that day, Nov. 10, 2004, Kirk went on the attack to lead Marines with Kilo Company in a prolonged fight with insurgents as grenades exploded and small-arms and machine gun fire crisscrossed the air in a struggle to wrest control of the building. At one point, despite getting wounded, he took out an enemy machine gunner and killed other insurgents, and one more building was freed from the insurgents’ hold.
For his actions and “unlimited courage” that November day in Fallujah, the Marine Corps is honoring Kirk with a Silver Star medal, the nation’s third-highest award for bravery in combat, officials announced March 1.
Kirk, who was 24 and married for two years, died a month after that battle in Fallujah, one of three men with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, who perished during combat operations Dec. 12, 2004. His widow, Carly Kirk, and family members are expected to receive the award on his behalf during a March 5 ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Friends said Kirk’s actions on that ill-fated day helped save the lives of others.
“This is a huge thing,” Nancy Malone, a family friend who grew up and went to high school with Kirk in their native Baton Rouge, La., said Thursday of the posthumous combat award. “He was so dedicated. This was his joy in life.”
Kirk, who has served with 2nd Fleet Anti-terrorist Security Team Company before joining 3/5, was passionate about art and life, Malone said. A local recruiter eventually influenced him enough to enlist in the Corps after high school, she said.
He is buried at Port Hudson National Cemetery in Louisiana.
Inside Fallujah house, squad leader led counterattacks
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 2, 2007 6:38:28 EST
OCEANSIDE, Calif. — It was a hellish, close-quarters, room-by-room battle two years ago when Sgt. Jeffrey L. Kirk led his men through an intense battle in the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah during the early stages of Operation al-Fajr.
Three times that day, Nov. 10, 2004, Kirk went on the attack to lead Marines with Kilo Company in a prolonged fight with insurgents as grenades exploded and small-arms and machine gun fire crisscrossed the air in a struggle to wrest control of the building. At one point, despite getting wounded, he took out an enemy machine gunner and killed other insurgents, and one more building was freed from the insurgents’ hold.
For his actions and “unlimited courage” that November day in Fallujah, the Marine Corps is honoring Kirk with a Silver Star medal, the nation’s third-highest award for bravery in combat, officials announced March 1.
Kirk, who was 24 and married for two years, died a month after that battle in Fallujah, one of three men with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, who perished during combat operations Dec. 12, 2004. His widow, Carly Kirk, and family members are expected to receive the award on his behalf during a March 5 ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Friends said Kirk’s actions on that ill-fated day helped save the lives of others.
“This is a huge thing,” Nancy Malone, a family friend who grew up and went to high school with Kirk in their native Baton Rouge, La., said Thursday of the posthumous combat award. “He was so dedicated. This was his joy in life.”
Kirk, who has served with 2nd Fleet Anti-terrorist Security Team Company before joining 3/5, was passionate about art and life, Malone said. A local recruiter eventually influenced him enough to enlist in the Corps after high school, she said.
He is buried at Port Hudson National Cemetery in Louisiana.