The Marine Corps will award Sgt. Ryan T. Sotelo the Silver Star at a special ceremony at Camp Pendleton on Friday.
The Marine Corps Times reports Sgt. Sotelo's heroic actions as an infantry squad leader with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines in Afghanistan earned him the Silver Star.
According to the U-T San Diego, Sgt. Sotelo lead his men safety through combat after platoon commander 1st Lt. William Donnelly was shot and killed.
Sgt. Sotelo responded to the U-T piece about his impending award in the comments section at the article's end. He humbly wrote:
We as marines do not perform our duties with thoughts of recognition or medals, we do it not for god, country or corps, but for love for each other. the man to the left and right of you who you share every waking hour in training and combat is why we do what we do everyday. To bring him home to his family. Thank you to everyone but the real heroes our/my marines who did what they were trained to do without hesitation, without their actions we would have lost many more men.
