Won’t find this in the MSM anywhere…
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Just more than 200 Silver Stars have been awarded for Operation Iraqi Freedom since it began in 2003, and three of them now belong to Soldiers from one Fort Campbell platoon.
The 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, returned in November from the streets of Ramadi, Iraq, with stories of heroism. When a barrage of small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades pierced the night silence on March 13, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Wilzcek, Spc. Jose Alvarez and Spc. Gregory Pushkin discovered how they would react in an intense, deadly situation.
“I immediately freaked out,” said Alvarez, who was able to regain his composure upon seeing his comrade, Staff Sgt. Marco Silva, incapacitated in the middle of the street.
Alvarez left cover and ran into the kill zone. He covered his buddy’s body with his own and returned fire on the enemy. “I snatched him up and started dragging him away,” Alvarez said.
While Alvarez dragged Silva to the safety of cover, two pieces of shrapnel plunged into his leg. “I was pretty laid out,” he said.
Nevertheless, Alvarez quickly returned to the fight after receiving battlefield aid.
Pushkin and Wilzcek also darted into the line of fire, risking their own lives, to retrieve wounded comrades.
Tags: Military
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