A Marine Raider who laid down a barrage of gunfire Audie Murphy-style after his unit was ambushed in Iraq has received a Bronze Star with “V” device.
Staff Sgt. Patrick Maloney‘s “bold actions further contributed to the immediate withdrawal of enemy forces,” according to his award citation.
On Oct. 30, Maloney received his Bronze Star with “V” device from Maj. Gen. Carl Mundy III, commander of Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command.
Maloney, a dog handler, and other Marines from the 2nd Raider Battalion were on a reconnaissance mission with Kurdish fighters on Aug. 27, 2016.
Suddenly three of Maloney’s team members were pinned down by enemy machine gun fire, the citation says. Bullets struck the vehicle they were using as cover.
Showing his bias for action, Maloney attacked. He charged across open ground, grabbed ammunition and reached a Peshmerga heavy machine gun in the back of a truck.
“Remaining deliberately exposed to withering fire, he laid deadly suppressive fire on the enemy fighting positions,” his citation says.
Twice during the firefight, the machine gun stopped working. With enemy rounds landing within feet of him, Maloney got the machine gun back in action, allowing his teammates to reach cover.
“By his extraordinary courage, zealous initiative, and total dedication to duty, Staff Sergeant Maloney reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service,” his citation says.
Maloney is currently assigned to the Wounded Warrior Regiment, said MARSOC spokesman Maj. Nicholas Mannweiler. He was wounded on Dec. 30 during his fifth combat tour to Iraq, according to an online fundraiser organized by his family at the time. A family acquaintance told Marine Corps Times in January that Maloney had suffered a head injury.
RELATED
