thedrifter
07-05-06, 08:05 AM
Ceremonial pitch and medals
Local Marines honored at Indians game
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Tasha Flournoy
Plain Dealer Reporter
Minutes before Tuesday's Indians-Yankees game, a quietness spread across Jacobs Field as a group of Marines marched toward home plate.
Fans rose to their feet and applauded three reservists from a Brook Park battalion who helped save their comrades' lives during a fatal ambush in Iraq.
Cpl. Todd Corbin of Sandusky received the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism - an award surpassed only by the Medal of Honor.
Sgt. Jeff Schuller of Monroeville, Ohio, accepted the Silver Star for gallantry in action - which ranks just below the cross.
The Marines also surprised Master Sgt. Ralph Perrine, an operations battalion chief from Brunswick, with the Bronze Star, awarded for courageous action in combat for his actions during ambush attacks in Haditha and Haqliniyah.
Schuller and Corbin were in a caravan attacked May 7, 2005, in the city of Haditha. The battalion lost three men, but witnesses said the toll would have been much worse without the bravery of Corbin and Schuller.
Under intense fire, the pair helped protect wounded comrades, hauled them into the vehicles and drove them back to the base for treatment.
Both Marines said they were humbled by the honor after they each threw out a ceremonial pitch before the game.
"This is movie stuff to me," said Schuller, 26. "To be in the same caliber as World War II vets and Korean War vets. Those guys set the stage for the life we live now."
Schuller said he and three others from the unit would go back to serve in Iraq. For now, Schuller is a junior at Cleveland State University majoring in criminology and Middle Eastern studies.
Corbin, 32, is a sheriff's deputy in Huron County. He and his wife, Tonya, are expecting their first child in August.
Before the recognition at Jacobs Field, the Marines, from the 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment, were honored at their headquarters in Brook Park. The Indians donated about 300 game tickets to the battalion so Marines and their families could attend Tuesday's game.
While serving in Iraq for seven months last year, the Marine unit lost 48 men - or nearly 2 percent of all U.S. military deaths there to date. Twenty-one of those deaths occurred in three days in August, drawing worldwide sympathy for the Marine unit.
The battalion came home in October, and Perrine, 39, who helped coordinate Tuesday's ceremony without knowing of his own honor, wants to share it with everyone.
"It's a little surreal. I'm like the other Marines. I'd like to give a piece [of the medal] to the entire unit."
Plain Dealer reporter Grant Segall contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
tflournoy@plaind.com, 216-999-4961
Ellie
Local Marines honored at Indians game
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Tasha Flournoy
Plain Dealer Reporter
Minutes before Tuesday's Indians-Yankees game, a quietness spread across Jacobs Field as a group of Marines marched toward home plate.
Fans rose to their feet and applauded three reservists from a Brook Park battalion who helped save their comrades' lives during a fatal ambush in Iraq.
Cpl. Todd Corbin of Sandusky received the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism - an award surpassed only by the Medal of Honor.
Sgt. Jeff Schuller of Monroeville, Ohio, accepted the Silver Star for gallantry in action - which ranks just below the cross.
The Marines also surprised Master Sgt. Ralph Perrine, an operations battalion chief from Brunswick, with the Bronze Star, awarded for courageous action in combat for his actions during ambush attacks in Haditha and Haqliniyah.
Schuller and Corbin were in a caravan attacked May 7, 2005, in the city of Haditha. The battalion lost three men, but witnesses said the toll would have been much worse without the bravery of Corbin and Schuller.
Under intense fire, the pair helped protect wounded comrades, hauled them into the vehicles and drove them back to the base for treatment.
Both Marines said they were humbled by the honor after they each threw out a ceremonial pitch before the game.
"This is movie stuff to me," said Schuller, 26. "To be in the same caliber as World War II vets and Korean War vets. Those guys set the stage for the life we live now."
Schuller said he and three others from the unit would go back to serve in Iraq. For now, Schuller is a junior at Cleveland State University majoring in criminology and Middle Eastern studies.
Corbin, 32, is a sheriff's deputy in Huron County. He and his wife, Tonya, are expecting their first child in August.
Before the recognition at Jacobs Field, the Marines, from the 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment, were honored at their headquarters in Brook Park. The Indians donated about 300 game tickets to the battalion so Marines and their families could attend Tuesday's game.
While serving in Iraq for seven months last year, the Marine unit lost 48 men - or nearly 2 percent of all U.S. military deaths there to date. Twenty-one of those deaths occurred in three days in August, drawing worldwide sympathy for the Marine unit.
The battalion came home in October, and Perrine, 39, who helped coordinate Tuesday's ceremony without knowing of his own honor, wants to share it with everyone.
"It's a little surreal. I'm like the other Marines. I'd like to give a piece [of the medal] to the entire unit."
Plain Dealer reporter Grant Segall contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
tflournoy@plaind.com, 216-999-4961
Ellie