17APR2004: As the Battle of Husaybah raged, Capt Richard Gannon got the call that his Lima Company was needed to reinforce a sniper outpost coming under intense enemy fire. Without hesitation, Gannon led his men into the mean streets filled with enemy fighters. Shortly, his team came under fire from multiple directions as the enemy poured down effective small arms and RPG fire. Capt Gannon organized an attack on an estimated enemy squad sized element and as his team was moving forward, the assault section leader was wounded. The wounded Marine was pulled from the deadly streets to a compound courtyard in order to be treated. Capt Gannon, moving forward to his wounded Marine, entered a courtyard and found himself face to face with nine enemy fighters. In a brief and vicious fight that included grenades and rifle fire, Capt Gannon was hit and mortally wounded. For his brave act of pushing through the deadly fire to retrieve his wounded Marine, Capt Richard Gannon would be awarded, posthumously, the Silver Star.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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