Sgt. Joseph Martin Awarded Silver
Star 
Sgt. Martin and other soldiers from his unit - the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment - were decorated for their heroism and gallant actions in Iraq on October 29, 2004. On that day, during a battle with the enemy for Combat Outpost Tampa near Mosul, a convoy of six Strykers (a 19-ton wheeled armored vehicle) rolled into a field of hastily set roadside bombs.
While under enemy fire, Sgt. Martin and Staff Sgt. Wesley Holt cleared the route of five unexploded bombs. With no time to call in ordnance experts, Martin and Holt rigged up some explosives and went, under the cover of the Strykers, from bomb to bomb to prepare them for demolition. The bombs were about 50 yards apart, and the men needed 30 seconds to rig each one. Martin and Holt were successful, and the route was cleared.
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