Ex-sailor Gets Silver Star for Iraq Actions

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Ex-sailor Gets Silver Star for Iraq Actions

The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jan 24, 2009 7:12:27 EST

FARMINGTON, N.M. — A former Navy medic was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest military decoration, for treating four badly wounded Marines amid machine-gun fire and grenade explosions in Iraq.

Jesse Hickey of Farmington received the medal during a ceremony Jan. 7 at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Hickey, 26, was walking behind a tank with a squad of Marines on Nov. 16, 2005, in New Ubaydi, Iraq, to check homes for insurgents during Operation Steel Curtain.

Insurgents began shooting from a grove of palm trees and some homes, Hickey said. The squad ran for shelter at another home and found several wounded Marines lying outside.

Hickey began treating an injured Marine when an insurgent tossed a grenade next to the men. Hickey said the Marine picked up the grenade and it blew off his hand as he threw it.

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http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/01/ap_nm_silverstar_012309w/%2e