thedrifter
03-06-07, 05:53 AM
Monday, March 5, 2007
Marines honor one of their own
The 1st Division has earned 56 Silver Star medals since Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
By VALERIA GODINES
The Orange County Register
CAMP PENDLETON – Sgt. Jeffrey L. Kirk died on Dec. 12, 2004, while trying to remove a dead Marine's body from the second floor of a house under assault in Iraq.
But that's not why he got a Silver Star on Monday.
It's for what the 24-year-old did when he saved his Marines' lives a month earlier on Nov. 10.
It was cold and raining.
The Louisiana Marine was the point man leading the way for about a dozen Marines when they were clearing a house in Fallujah. Suddenly a grenade was thrown behind him. He organized the Marines across a courtyard.
Small-arms fire forced him and other Marines to withdraw to a covered position while they returned fire with grenades. Kirk led another attack. Although he was injured by a gunshot to the buttocks, he threw a grenade into a room. They withdrew once more, throwing more grenades. He remained the point man and led the Marines on a third assault on the enemy position and destroyed the insurgent post.
On Monday, in a somber ceremony under a clear blue sky, the Silver Star, the third-highest medal awarded for gallantry in action against enemy forces, was presented to his wife, Carly. A black-and-white photo of Kirk sketching stood next to a helmet memorial displaying his dog tags.
"He was a truly great Marine, and he deserves to be remembered," she said, her voice cracking. After he was injured in November 2004, he bugged doctors and nurses to release him. He and Carly stayed in touch by instant messaging.
"I can't tell you how badly he wanted to get back to his boys," she said.
Cpl. Reynaldo Leal, 23, who was with Kirk the day he died, said he set an example.
"He was a great Marine. When a Marine comes around like that, that just proves to you what kind of man he was. He has had a lasting effect."
He was assigned 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force. There have been 56 Silver Star medals awarded to 1st Marine Division Marines since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. There are 23,000 Marines in the 1st Marine Division.
Jeff's decision to enlist when he was in high school frightened his mother, Lisa Kirk, a registered nurse.
"I definitely was not for it," she said. "I didn't trust the recruiters, you know, saying see the world, get the GI Bill. I bought him every book to make sure his eyes were wide open going in. I wanted him to really read what happens in the military. I told him, 'Look, you could be killed.' "
His response reflected his deep-thinking ways, his mother says.
"It could happen, but you know what?" he told his mother. "How many people can actually say they did actually what they wanted to with their lives before they died? How many go to their grave an old retired man and say, 'That was not my dream. What did I do?' I will go to my grave ... if this kills me, I will know I did exactly what I wanted to do."
His mother described him as a Renaissance man.
"I know it's very, very cliche for people to talk about their kids, of course, and especially a dead child, but he was about perfect. ... He would hold my hand in public like it was nothing, with no embarrassment at all," she said.
A self-taught artist who was in the gifted program in high school, Kirk was fond of drawing archangels. He also loved to write poems.
"It was like he knew. He wrote a poem for me and had it framed for my last birthday present," Lisa Kirk said.
The things my mother taught me.
The important things are always the hardest to do.
Love is not just about making someone happy; it's about what's best for them, even if it hurts.
Patience is not a virtue that comes easily.
Joy is found wherever you choose to look for it.
Being a loving and courageous parent is infinitely better than a rich parent.
Never regret a mistake you learn from.
We are the sum of our decisions, sacrifices, principles and accomplishments - make them good ones.
Contact the writer: 949-454-7353 or vgodines@ocregister.com
Ellie
Marines honor one of their own
The 1st Division has earned 56 Silver Star medals since Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
By VALERIA GODINES
The Orange County Register
CAMP PENDLETON – Sgt. Jeffrey L. Kirk died on Dec. 12, 2004, while trying to remove a dead Marine's body from the second floor of a house under assault in Iraq.
But that's not why he got a Silver Star on Monday.
It's for what the 24-year-old did when he saved his Marines' lives a month earlier on Nov. 10.
It was cold and raining.
The Louisiana Marine was the point man leading the way for about a dozen Marines when they were clearing a house in Fallujah. Suddenly a grenade was thrown behind him. He organized the Marines across a courtyard.
Small-arms fire forced him and other Marines to withdraw to a covered position while they returned fire with grenades. Kirk led another attack. Although he was injured by a gunshot to the buttocks, he threw a grenade into a room. They withdrew once more, throwing more grenades. He remained the point man and led the Marines on a third assault on the enemy position and destroyed the insurgent post.
On Monday, in a somber ceremony under a clear blue sky, the Silver Star, the third-highest medal awarded for gallantry in action against enemy forces, was presented to his wife, Carly. A black-and-white photo of Kirk sketching stood next to a helmet memorial displaying his dog tags.
"He was a truly great Marine, and he deserves to be remembered," she said, her voice cracking. After he was injured in November 2004, he bugged doctors and nurses to release him. He and Carly stayed in touch by instant messaging.
"I can't tell you how badly he wanted to get back to his boys," she said.
Cpl. Reynaldo Leal, 23, who was with Kirk the day he died, said he set an example.
"He was a great Marine. When a Marine comes around like that, that just proves to you what kind of man he was. He has had a lasting effect."
He was assigned 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force. There have been 56 Silver Star medals awarded to 1st Marine Division Marines since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. There are 23,000 Marines in the 1st Marine Division.
Jeff's decision to enlist when he was in high school frightened his mother, Lisa Kirk, a registered nurse.
"I definitely was not for it," she said. "I didn't trust the recruiters, you know, saying see the world, get the GI Bill. I bought him every book to make sure his eyes were wide open going in. I wanted him to really read what happens in the military. I told him, 'Look, you could be killed.' "
His response reflected his deep-thinking ways, his mother says.
"It could happen, but you know what?" he told his mother. "How many people can actually say they did actually what they wanted to with their lives before they died? How many go to their grave an old retired man and say, 'That was not my dream. What did I do?' I will go to my grave ... if this kills me, I will know I did exactly what I wanted to do."
His mother described him as a Renaissance man.
"I know it's very, very cliche for people to talk about their kids, of course, and especially a dead child, but he was about perfect. ... He would hold my hand in public like it was nothing, with no embarrassment at all," she said.
A self-taught artist who was in the gifted program in high school, Kirk was fond of drawing archangels. He also loved to write poems.
"It was like he knew. He wrote a poem for me and had it framed for my last birthday present," Lisa Kirk said.
The things my mother taught me.
The important things are always the hardest to do.
Love is not just about making someone happy; it's about what's best for them, even if it hurts.
Patience is not a virtue that comes easily.
Joy is found wherever you choose to look for it.
Being a loving and courageous parent is infinitely better than a rich parent.
Never regret a mistake you learn from.
We are the sum of our decisions, sacrifices, principles and accomplishments - make them good ones.
Contact the writer: 949-454-7353 or vgodines@ocregister.com
Ellie