thedrifter
06-07-07, 05:59 AM
Pendleton Marine awarded posthumous Navy Cross
By: Associated Press
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A Marine who died after leading his comrades in two assaults on insurgent strongholds in Fallujah, Iraq, has been honored with a Navy Cross.
Cpl. Jason S. Clairday, of Salem, Ark., was the 18th Marine to receive the prestigious decoration out of more than 140,000 who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001. The Navy Cross is second only to the Medal of Honor for recognition of bravery in combat.
Clairday, who was 21 when he died, was wounded in a December 2004 assault on a house where Marines were cornered. He nonetheless insisted on leading a second assault with grenades and M-16 fire, saving several Marines but receiving wounds which ultimately proved fatal.
"He was told to evacuate; he was supposed to evacuate," said Col. Larry Nicholson, commander of the 5th Marine Regiment. "He did not. He rallied his Marines and said, 'We're going in strong.' "
Clairday, who was honored in a ceremony Monday at Camp Pendleton near San Diego, was set to leave the Corps in 2005 and hoped to attend college to become a counselor for troubled children.
A high school baseball player and choir singer, he married his high school sweetheart only weeks before he deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in September 2004.
Sarah Clairday, 22, said she is proud of the Navy Cross but cannot help thinking that if her husband had been a little less brave, he might be alive Wednesday.
"We were supposed to be a family," she said, tears filling her eyes. "It's like he chose his military family over us in the heat of the moment, but I guess you have to do what you have to do."
Ellie
By: Associated Press
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A Marine who died after leading his comrades in two assaults on insurgent strongholds in Fallujah, Iraq, has been honored with a Navy Cross.
Cpl. Jason S. Clairday, of Salem, Ark., was the 18th Marine to receive the prestigious decoration out of more than 140,000 who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001. The Navy Cross is second only to the Medal of Honor for recognition of bravery in combat.
Clairday, who was 21 when he died, was wounded in a December 2004 assault on a house where Marines were cornered. He nonetheless insisted on leading a second assault with grenades and M-16 fire, saving several Marines but receiving wounds which ultimately proved fatal.
"He was told to evacuate; he was supposed to evacuate," said Col. Larry Nicholson, commander of the 5th Marine Regiment. "He did not. He rallied his Marines and said, 'We're going in strong.' "
Clairday, who was honored in a ceremony Monday at Camp Pendleton near San Diego, was set to leave the Corps in 2005 and hoped to attend college to become a counselor for troubled children.
A high school baseball player and choir singer, he married his high school sweetheart only weeks before he deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in September 2004.
Sarah Clairday, 22, said she is proud of the Navy Cross but cannot help thinking that if her husband had been a little less brave, he might be alive Wednesday.
"We were supposed to be a family," she said, tears filling her eyes. "It's like he chose his military family over us in the heat of the moment, but I guess you have to do what you have to do."
Ellie