Posted on 01/25/2005 4:55:02 PM PST by concentric circles
Military officials on Sunday decorated a Marine reserve sergeant who braved a hail of bullets during a street battle in Baghdad and helped four Marines and a civilian to safety.
Sgt. Scott C. Montoya, 35, a reservist and scout-sniper with 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, received the Marine Corps' second-highest award for valor, the Navy Cross, from Lt. Gen. Dennis McCarthy, who commands Marine Forces Reserve, during a short ceremony in the courtyard at the Marine Corps Reserve Center, Encino, California. The Orange County sheriff's deputy received the award in front of 200 friends, family members and several officials, including his boss, Sheriff Michael Corona.
Montoya said his act of bravery was motivated by duty to his fellow Marines.
"When you have your band of brothers, the Marine Corps instills in you that that's something ... great, being part of that band of brotherhood," he said.
Five times during an intense firefight, Montoya, 35, a member of the battalion’s scout-sniper platoon, stepped into what his award citation noted was a “hailstorm of bullets” to pull the wounded to safety April 8, 2003, during the battle for the Iraqi capital.
“Noticing a disabled civilian vehicle on the road in the line of fire and with complete disregard for his own life, he rushed forward amidst a hail of gunfire and dragged a wounded Iraqi civilian to safety.
Observing a wounded Marine struggling to get off the same street, he risked his life to lead the Marine to safety,” the citation reads. “Returning to the front, he spotted a wounded Marine lying in the street. Ignoring a hailstorm of bullets, Sergeant Montoya rushed into the street for a third time to carry the injured Marine to safety.
“Sergeant Montoya returned a fourth time to evacuate an unconscious Marine. Returning to the front again, he dashed into the contested street and assisted a Marine to safety who had been dazed by an explosion.”
Montoya, a full-time sheriff’s deputy with the Orange County, Calif., Sheriff’s Department, is credited with “extraordinary heroism” that day. He said he was humbled by the attention and the inspiration his award now represents to other Marines.
The Navy Cross isn’t just for him, he said, but also “to inspire the Marines who come after me … so they can lead by example.” “I’m just praying for the Marines overseas to come back safely,” he said.
"Deputy Montoya is a very kind and gentle man, and someone who is not boastful (about) himself," said Corona, noting that Montoya didn't tell him about winning the Navy Cross. "We had to pick up the information from his colonel, because Scott wasn't sharing it with us."
Montoya's mother, Charlene Thais, 55, saying her son was always a "good kid, and he's loyal," is grateful he came back alive from Iraq.
"This war, I think, we should totally support. It doesn't matter why we're over there; our kids are over there," she added.
Montoya could have left the Marines and avoided deployment to Iraq because his term of service was up, but he signed up again in February 2003 to join his unit in combat.
The Upland resident said he is unsure if he will go back to Iraq.
Baghdad
It seemed like a normal enough day. Iraqis bought vegetables at a market on the outskirts of Baghdad. Mothers bought meat at the store, while fathers replaced tires at an auto-repair shop.
But Sgt. Scott Montoya felt a creepy stillness in the air. The kind you feel when someone has been in your house. A reminder that he was in the middle of war. Gunshots echoed through the marketplace, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose. Montoya halted in his tracks just long enough to see if they were aimed at him.
They were.
Montoya, who had been in battle for three days, longed for a hot shower, a homemade sandwich and, most of all, a drink of water without having to look over his shoulder.
But that wasn't going to happen this day. He heard over the walkie- talkie that the radio operator on his team had been killed. Rapid gunfire exploded around him. Montoya ducked behind a wall, dropped to the floor and raised his rifle for the hundredth time that week.
An Iraqi vehicle crashed through the marketplace, hitting a telephone pole. Montoya sprang into action, racing to shoot the driver in the head. He feared he had bombs.
After he shot the driver, he noticed oneof his Marines was down. Metal shards had struck his leg. The Marine, who didn't even know where he'd been hit, sat up in shock.
Montoya ran toward him. And, although he didn't know it at the time, the Orange County Sheriff's deputy was running toward his destiny.
Karate and law
Growing up without a father, Montoya, the middle son of five siblings, tried hard to be the best and to be heard.
The boy who was prone to scrapes and cuts because of his thirst for adventure kept his mother, Charlene Thais, on her toes and in emergency rooms.
"He didn't have any teeth when he was 4 because he used to jump from bunk bed to bunk bed until finally he fell," Thais says.
At 13, Thais dragged Montoya to karate class after she found him brawling on the front lawn with neighborhood kids. It was there that he found his passion for the fight – and a father figure.
"He was a rough guy, tough guy, that was headed for big-time trouble," says Paul Dye, karate instructor and friend of 20 years. "But he was one of those rare individuals that could fight adult males in black belt and hold his own.
"I had never dealt with a student like him. I really thought he'd be in state prison by the time he was 19. But my wife and I decided to guide him and show him the right side of the fence."
The young Montoya had a quick temper that erupted into fights in school and in the streets.
Through karate, he tempered his fighting and found hope and accomplishments. He finished high school, enrolled in a trade school and began working for Xerox at 18. On the side, he taught karate to children.
And then the rough, tough guy who had long rebelled against authority decided to become authority.
Band of brothers
Montoya joined the Orange County Sheriff's Department 10 years ago, working in the county jail.
Immediately, he noticed the unique camaraderie among a handful of his co-workers.
Men who had never met would say "Devil Dog," and instantly there were handshakes, slaps on the back and knowing nods. They were Marines. Montoya didn't understand the bond.
But he knew he wanted to be a part of it.
At 25, he left the department, paid off the mortgage and joined the Marines at Camp Pendleton.
He was called "Grandpa" by Marines not much older than 19, but he found his age had given him an edge that the others didn't have.
The former defiant teenager who squeaked by in high school excelled as a Marine.
He earned high honors in academics, shooting and physical performance.
After four years, he re-enlisted in the Marines' scout sniper school.
His training included what to do if he were a prisoner of war.
He was beaten and tortured during the exercises, and still flinches when he thinks of what he went through to earn the elite title of sniper.
For eight years, Montoya trained for combat.
April 8, 2003
It's the day that changed his destiny.
He didn't have to be a Marine in his 30s crouched in the middle of a firefight in Iraq. He had completed eight years of active duty and was a reservist. But his "weird patriotism" had taken him away from home for 18 months straight.
As he ran toward the fallen Marine in a hail of gunfire, all he could think about was a passage from the New Testament.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
The brotherhood he had envied for years had him dodging gunfire while he tried to lift the wounded Marine.
But he was too heavy. As Montoya scanned his surroundings, he struggled to remove the Marine's helmet, ammunition and machine gun to make him lighter. After what seemed like hours, Montoya, wearing 80 pounds of his own war gear, carried his fellow Marine 500 yards to safety.
That was just the beginning.
Returning to the battle, he spotted another Marine down in the fire-swept street and carried him to safety.
And then he saved another dazed and wounded Marine. And then another who was unconscious. And then another wounded by an explosion.
The Navy Cross
It's been almost two years since that day in 2003. He's back home, living in Montclair and is a deputy in training at the Stanton sheriff's station.
He still appreciates a cold soda, a warm shower and a good piece of steak.
War made him stronger and kinder, he says.
It also made him a hero.
For his heroism he will be awarded the Navy Cross – the second-highest honor a Marine can receive in combat, after the Medal of Honor. He will receive the award Sunday at the Marine Reserve office in Encino.
"There's something special about being awarded this by your peers, because it means they believe in you," Montoya says. "But what I did was an action of love. This award is for all the Marines that came before me and those that will come after me."
Since he returned in August 2003, he continues to adjust to civilian life while the memories of war haunt him. He suffers from sleepless nights and nightmares. Even the Los Angeles County Fair, with its exploding fireworks, had him dripping sweat.
But he goes on, grateful for the experience that has made him whole.
"I just knew I was going to do something great," Montoya, said. "I knew I had a destiny."
God Bless this MARINE!
USMC PING!
ping
Semper Fi!
Navy Cross awarded!!!!!!!
One of your neighbors?
Marine Bump!
Semper Fi.
OOooRaaah... Semper Fi.
We will not lose with Americans like this.
Unless it's changed from when I was "in" ('66 - '68) a Navy Cross recipient should have a superfine ride for the rest of his career; that Marine will be worshipped....even a Bronze Star, which was disgustingly common in the Army, was a rarity back then.
A-frinkin'-men!!!
This guy needs to find himself a good wife and make 10 babies like himself.... little patriotic Americans who know the price of freedom...
dang it makes me proud to think I live in the same country as this MAN.
You can rest assured that the Navy Cross is still a very rare award in the Marine Corps. When a Marine deserves the Medal of Honor but isn't killed in action, he gets the Navy Cross.
I wish he were. I need to get him to speak to our Kiwanis group.
Semper fidelis BUMP!
The highest honor a person can receive is the title, United States Marine.
Semper Fi Devil Dog!
Thanks for the ping!
"There's something special about being awarded this by your peers, because it means they believe in you," Montoya says. "But what I did was an action of love. This award is for all the Marines that came before me and those that will come after me."
God bless this Marine hero.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.