thedrifter
12-10-08, 08:13 AM
Marine Posthumously Awarded Silver Star Medal
First Lt. Also Received Bronze Star Medal
POSTED: 10:44 am PST December 9, 2008
SAN DIEGO -- A Camp Pendleton Marine was posthumously awarded a Silver Star medal for pulling two other wounded Marines to safety during an ambush before being killed by an enemy sniper in Iraq, base officials announced Tuesday.
First Lt. Travis Manion's father, Marine Col. Tom Manion, and his wife, Janet Manion, accepted the medal on their son's behalf Friday in a ceremony held in Doylestown, Pa.
Manion, who also received the Bronze Star medal for acts of heroism in Iraq, was killed in April while training Iraqi soldiers in Fallujah.
"In every possible way Travis Manion exerted his positive influence to his fellow Marines and the Iraqis he served with," Lt. Gen. John Allen, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, said during the ceremony.
On April 27, Manion's patrol group was searching a suspected insurgent's home when the group came under attack. On two separate occasions during the ambush, Manion rescued wounded Marines from the "kill zone" before being fatally wounded by an enemy sniper, according to the Marine Corps.
"Travis willingly made himself the sole target. He was the only thing standing between the determined will of the enemy and his men," said Maj. Joel Poudrier, who served with Manion in Fallujah.
Manion was assigned to Camp Pendleton's 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division.
Ellie
First Lt. Also Received Bronze Star Medal
POSTED: 10:44 am PST December 9, 2008
SAN DIEGO -- A Camp Pendleton Marine was posthumously awarded a Silver Star medal for pulling two other wounded Marines to safety during an ambush before being killed by an enemy sniper in Iraq, base officials announced Tuesday.
First Lt. Travis Manion's father, Marine Col. Tom Manion, and his wife, Janet Manion, accepted the medal on their son's behalf Friday in a ceremony held in Doylestown, Pa.
Manion, who also received the Bronze Star medal for acts of heroism in Iraq, was killed in April while training Iraqi soldiers in Fallujah.
"In every possible way Travis Manion exerted his positive influence to his fellow Marines and the Iraqis he served with," Lt. Gen. John Allen, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, said during the ceremony.
On April 27, Manion's patrol group was searching a suspected insurgent's home when the group came under attack. On two separate occasions during the ambush, Manion rescued wounded Marines from the "kill zone" before being fatally wounded by an enemy sniper, according to the Marine Corps.
"Travis willingly made himself the sole target. He was the only thing standing between the determined will of the enemy and his men," said Maj. Joel Poudrier, who served with Manion in Fallujah.
Manion was assigned to Camp Pendleton's 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division.
Ellie