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The
President of the United States
Takes Pleasure in Presenting
The Navy Cross
To
Aubrey
L. McDade, Jr.
Sergeant, United States Marine Corps
For
Services as Set Forth in the Following
Citation:
For extraordinary
heroism while serving as Machine Gun Squad Leader attached to 1st
Platoon, Company B, First Battalion, Eighth Marines, Regimental Combat
Team &, FIRST Marine Division, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
on 11 November 2004. Shortly after departing a platoon firm base and
proceeding south toward Phase Line Grace, 1st Platoon entered an alley
and encountered an immediate heavy volume of small arms and machine gun
fire. In the opening seconds of the engagement, three Marines were
seriously wounded as the well positioned and expecting enemy pinned
others down. On contact, Sergeant McDade rushed from the rear of the
platoon column toward the kill zone and immediately deployed a machine
gun team into the alley to provide suppressive fire on the enemy. After
several attempts to reach casualties in the alley were met with heavy,
well-aimed machine gun fire, he showed total disregard for his own
safety by moving across the alley and successfully extracting the first
of three wounded Marines from the kill zone. Aware of the fact that
there were still two wounded Marines in the alley, Sergeant McDade
dashed through the heart of the kill zone two more times, each time
braving intense enemy fire to successfully retrieve a Marine. After
extracting the last casualty from the kill zone, he assisted in the
treatment and medical evacuation to these Marines. His quick thinking
and aggressive actions were crucial in saving the lives of two of the
three casualties. Sergeant McDade’s undaunted courage, fighting spirit
and total devotion to duty reflected great credit upon him and were in
keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the
United States Naval Service.
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