The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 46, November 14, 2004, Article 13

SILVER STAR MEDAL AWARDED TO IRAQ SOLDIER

  On November 11, 2004 the Des Moines Register published
  an article about a native son who received the Silver
  Star medal for valor under fire in Iraq.

  "With bullets and rocket-propelled grenades zinging
  around him, Patrick Jordan, 24, helped rescue 20 soldiers
  pinned down in a Baghdad alley last spring and then, by
  thinking fast, saved six soldiers after their Humvee
  broke down under heavy fire.

  Six years earlier, both Valley High School and North
  High School had kicked Jordan out of school for having
  "no personal drive," he said. He got his diploma from
  Walnut Creek alternative high school in 1998 and joined
  the Army 17 days later "to try to do something with my
  life."  Last month, the Army awarded Jordan the Silver
  Star, the nation's third-highest wartime award.

  "It's rare," said an Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Kevin Arata,
  adding that only 160 soldiers received the medal between
  Sept. 11, 2001, and this summer. "It's something that
  says a lot about an individual."

  During the four-hour journey, Jordan stuck his head out
  the tank hatch, firing more than 400 rounds, hitting
  20 to 30 rebels. He doesn't remember feeling fear, even
  when his tank was hit six times by rocket-propelled
  grenades.  "You get mad and you get frustrated and you
  turn around and make sure the guy next to you is OK. I
  was more worried about making a mistake and putting my
  tank in the wrong position."

  "I might've got the Silver Star, but we're all heroes,"
  said Jordan, who has since been promoted to staff
  sergeant.

  "Everyone who served. They're all heroes. No matter
  what war they fought in or if it was peacetime. They
  took time out of their lives to serve. Not everybody
  does that."

Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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