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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Dec. 1, 2008 – Though decades separate the Vietnam War and the war on terrorism, a common denominator in the two conflicts has been the bravery and sacrifice of the American servicemember. Army Chief Warrant Officer Jonathan Harris receives a handshake from Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser after being presented the Silver Star at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Spc. George Welcome  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Chief Warrant Officer Jonathan Harris received the Silver Star Medal here Nov. 28 while his father, former Army Staff Sgt. Gary...

If you're going to ask Brian Stann about how tough it is to be a mixed martial artist in one of the world's top fighting promotions, World Extreme Cagefighting, you should first consider asking him how difficult times were when he was trudging through the 100-plus-degree heat of embattled Iraq for months -- twice. ..... Stann, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, Iraqi War veteran and Silver Star recipient is now on a new mission, but one, he claims, doesn't veer too far off his previous path. Now the WEC light heavyweight champion, Stann sets out on his...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 14, 2008 – A soldier from 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team was awarded a Silver Star Medal in a ceremony here July 12. Army Capt. William G. Cromie receives the Silver Star Medal from Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, Combined Joint Task Force 101 commander, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, July 12, 2008. Cromie was recognized for his valor and leadership abilities in a combat operation on Nov. 16, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Christina Sinders, Combined Joint Task Force 101  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, Combined Joint Task...

BUCHAREST, Romania, April 3, 2008 – Deep within the cavernous marble walls of the Palace of the Parliament here today sat two Texans, casually talking about – what else – Texas. Army Spc. Monica Brown, far right, stands with 25 other soldiers representing all 26 nations of the NATO alliance during an April 3, 2008, ceremony during the NATO Summit Conference in Bucharest, Romania, honoring those who have served in NATO operations around the world. Brown received the Silver Star for heroism in combat in Afghanistan. NATO photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The first was President Bush,...

The worst moment in Gary Stokes' life was not the day a couple of Marines in dress uniform showed up at his door to tell him his son had been killed in Iraq. That was bad, no doubt. He had spent two years wondering whether he would receive those unwelcome visitors. The worst moment came later, after the tears and the grief. The worst moment came slowly. It was the horrible realization that Sean was gone forever. He would never see his son again. Never again go fishing or camping, or watch him get married and have children of his...

The nation's third-highest medal for valor. Texas girl (Lake Jackson, near Houston). A nineteen year old kid (I'm allowed to say this at my age and I am not objectifying her). Under gunfire and mortar fire, she helped move wounded comrades to safety, at times shielding them with her own body. Brown, of Lake Jackson, Texas, is scheduled to receive the Silver Star later this month. She was part of a four-vehicle convoy patrolling near Jani Kheil in the eastern province of Paktia on April 25, 2007, when a bomb struck one of the Humvees. "We stopped the convoy. I...

CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan — A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor. Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said. After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the...

Marine Cpl. Sean Stokes was almost pathologically reluctant to accept praise, even though his courage on the battlefield saved fellow Marines' lives and was chronicled in a book. He might have been embarrassed, then, by a ceremony at Camp Pendleton Wednesday awarding him the third-highest award for combat valor. But Stokes wasn't there to receive his Silver Star, awarded for his actions during the battle of Fallujah in 2004. The Northern California native was killed last summer during his third tour of duty in Iraq, two weeks after learning he would receive the medal. Stokes, who died at age 23,...

The deep buried bomb hit the Stryker so hard it blew off the back ramp and sent Staff Sgt. Jon Hilliard flying out of his hatch, shot like a cork from a bottle. “You’d think that something like that would’ve hurt,” the 26-year-old infantryman recalled Wednesday. “But actually it was almost serene. “I remember feeling weightless, and then there was a bright yellow light at the bottom of my feet and I was flying through the air,” he said. “The next thing I know I’m looking up at the sky and ... it’s on fire.” Hilliard recounted the March 24...

A Richmond-area police officer has been awarded a Silver Star for valorous actions in Iraq while deployed with his Army National Guard unit. Chief Warrant Officer 3 James B. Herring left his armored Humvee twice to protect his fellow soldiers during a withering ambush near Baqouba, Iraq, in December 2006, according to an Army citation of the award. Herring, 46, is a warrant officer with Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. He received his award in a ceremony Saturday in North Carolina. Herring is also a lieutenant in the Chesterfield County Police, where he...

For six hours, Army Capt. John Tate methodically led his forces through a small section of Ramadi, Iraq, flushing out insurgents and establishing security that Tate says remains in the Malaab district 10 months later. This military accomplishment earned Tate, a native of Park Rapids, Minn., one of the nation's highest military honors -- the Silver Star. For Tate, 36, his service in uniform and the Silver Star awarded to him Tuesday in Iraq is not only a high point in his 13 years in the military but comes as a tribute by him to his grandfather, Robert. H. Tate....

CAMP PENDLETON -- As a sniper, Sgt. Chad Cassady, a quiet Texan with a master's degree in political science, helped protect his fellow Marines during the battle in Fallouja, Iraq, in late 2004. But when insurgent mortars fell behind and in front of the Marines -- a tactic called "bracketing" -- Cassady and other Marines were forced to run across a rubble-strewn street. When another mortar landed in their midst, two Marines were knocked to the ground and Cassady was thrown into the courtyard of a home. The explosion collapsed his right lung, lacerated his liver and kidneys, and peppered...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2007 – When Army Staff Sgt. Jason Fetty put himself between a suicide bomber and the bomber’s intended targets at the grand opening of a new medical facility in Khost, Afghanistan, he wasn’t thinking of the strategic, or even tactical, importance of his actions. Army Staff Sgt. Jason Fetty (center) is the first Army reservist to earn the Silver Star for actions in Afghanistan. With him are Army Command Sgt. Maj. Leon Caffie (left), senior enlisted advisor for the Army Reserve, and Navy Cmdr. John F.G. Wade, commander of Joint Provincial Reconstruction Team Khost, Afghanistan, when...

Minnesota National Guard soldier who led a fierce firefight south of Baghdad to defend a convoy of 20 trucks and their civilian drivers was awarded Saturday with a Silver Star, the nation's fourth-highest military decoration. "He's a hero, no question about it," Gov. Tim Pawlenty said of Staff Sgt. Chad Malmberg before a crowd of about 1,000 National Guard soldiers and their families in a ceremony at St. Paul RiverCentre. Malmberg, a St. Paul native, is the first Minnesota National Guard member since World War II to receive the medal, which is awarded for gallantry in combat. During the firefight,...

Staff Sgt. Chad Malmberg will become the first Minnesota National Guard member to be awarded the Silver Star medal since World War II during a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 22. The Silver Star is the fourth highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States Armed Forces and is designated solely for valor in the face of the enemy. Staff Sgt. Malmberg demonstrated ‘gallantry in action’ while deployed to Iraq with the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division. Malmberg is credited with taking immediate action when his convoy was...

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon (left), commander, 25th Infantry Division and Multi-National Division - North, pins the Silver Star on Capt. Brennan Goltry, platoon leader, 2nd Platoon, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, during a ceremony July 31, 2007, at Patrol Base Olson in Samarra, Iraq. Goltry also received two Purple Hearts and the Combat Infantryman Badge. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden Army Paratrooper Awarded Silver Star in Iraq Platoon leader honored for his heroism and courage under fire. By Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden 3rd Brigade Combat Team82nd...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2007 – While Army nurse Linnie Leckrone was patching up wounded soldiers in France on the front lines of World War I, she most likely wasn’t thinking that her actions one day would merit the military’s third-highest award for valor in the face of the enemy. Army Maj. Gen. Gale S. Pollock, acting Army surgeon general and chief of the Army Nurse Corps, presents the Silver Star to Mary Jane Bolles Reed, who accepts it on behalf of her deceased mother, World War I Army nurse Linnie Leckrone, July 31, 2007. Photo by Fred W. Baker...

America is caught up in a debate of whether we should bring our troops home or if we should make one last attempt to bring peace and stability to Iraq. Yet, we don’t pay attention to the details of the war. Last weekend, an American hero received one of the Army’s highest honors – a Silver Star. His award was largely unnoticed, overshadowed by Paris Hilton’s incarceration. Late last year, Major James Gant and his men were returning home to Baghdad after weeks of fighting insurgents. Gant and his advisory team were riding in up-armored HMMWVs. These were not the...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.— Captain Brian G. Cillessen, Company Commander, Company C, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, sits with his family after being awarded a Silver Star Medal here April 20, for actions in Afghanistan. The Silver Star Medal is the fourth highest military decoration awarded to service members. An Aztec, N.M., native, he was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom when a volley of rocket propelled grenades and machine gun fire disabled the lead vehicle in his convoy. Cillessen quickly directed the immediate action of the Afghan soldiers around him in what...

Camp Pendleton veteran killed in a 2004 raid on an insurgent stronghold in Iraq is honored with the nation's third-highest medal for combat bravery. CAMP PENDLETON — In the middle of 2001, Marine Sgt. Jeffrey Lynn Kirk was assigned a job as a marksmanship instructor. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, he requested a transfer to the infantry and was part of the 2003 assault on Baghdad. When he was severely wounded in the leg during a fierce battle in Fallouja on Nov. 10, 2004, he demanded to get back to his squad as soon as his injuries were healed....