Post by bazooka on Oct 24, 2019 16:06:08 GMT
When his platoon came under Taliban attack, Corporal Matthew T. Woodall aggressively led his squad to repel them. A Marine fell wounded right in front of him. Woodall lay over him firing his weapon until a corpsman arrived. When the squad sent to reinforce him was pinned down, Woodall attacked through the enemy positions. He crawled for over an hour through mud and 100 degree heat, through a 2 foot high cornfield, ambushing a massing enemy force and scattering them. For his heroic leadership over the 7 hour battle, Cpl Woodall was awarded the Silver Star.
"...serving as Squad Leader with 3d Platoon, Company B, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, Regimental Combat Team 8, on 10 and 11 July 2011, in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Corporal Woodall led his squad on a security mission in the insurgent stronghold of Kotozay Village when a platoon-sized enemy force initiated a firefight from several fortified positions. Corporal Woodall rushed his squad forward when enemy fire wounded the Marine directly in front of him. Exposed and under a hail of enemy fire, he laid down suppressive fires and shielded the wounded Marine with his body until a Corpsman arrived. After ensuring his wounded Marine was properly cared for, he led an assault on the nearest enemy compound and repelled repeated enemy assaults from his flank with light anti-armor weapons and small arms fire. When the enemy engaged and pinned down the squad sent to reinforce Cpl Woodall, he again led his men in a counterattack through multiple compounds. After receiving several reports of an enemy force massing to attack, Cpl Woodall led his men as they crawled through a cornfield for more than an hour to ambush the enemy force. Taking the enemy by surprise, the withering fire from Cpl Woodall's squad drove the enemy from the village after more than seven hours of combat. Cpl Woodall's daring actions soundly defeated the enemy attack while ultimately killing four insurgents and wounding many others.