22nd MEU to award Silver Star, Bronze Stars - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

22nd MEU to award Silver Star, Bronze Stars

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — A former sergeant who deployed with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit on Monday will receive the Silver Star medal for combat heroism while he was deployed in Afghanistan, the unit announced Friday.

Lt. Gen. John Paxton Jr., who commands II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C., will present Joseph M. Perez with the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest combat award for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy,” the 22nd MEU said in a news release. Perez had served as a squad leader with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, during the battalion’s 2009-2010 deployment to Afghanistan

Paxton will also award Bronze Star medals, each with the combat “V” distinguishing device for bravery in combat, to three Marines assigned to Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines: Lance Cpl. Lance J. Carney, a fire team leader with Fox Company; Capt. Brandon J. Gorman, Echo Company commander; and Sgt. Maj. William Heyob, 2/2’s battalion sergeant major.

The Marines are being recognized for actions in combat during 2/2’s deployment to Afghanistan, where the battalion operated as part of Regimental Combat Team 7, 1st Marine Division (Forward) from October 2009 to May 2010. The “Warlords” battalion is assigned as the ground combat element with the 22nd MEU, which is preparing for an upcoming overseas deployment.

The Marines are the latest members of the battalion being recognized by the 22nd MEU for their actions on the battlefield during their seven-month combat deployment.

During a Feb. 25 ceremony at Camp Lejeune, 1st Sgt. Christopher J. Adams, also assigned to BLT 2/2, received the Bronze Star with combat “V” for his actions and leadership during several engagements against fighters in Afghanistan.

Adams, who serves as Fox Company’s first sergeant, is credited with responding to a call for help from one of the squads in a battle Nov. 16, 2009, as fighters closed in on the squad. “His decisive leadership broke the enemy’s will to fight,” his award citation reads. In another intense firefight three days later, the first sergeant “led a squad to violently close 300 meters through enemy positions,” actions that ended the fight.