Like many Soldiers honored as heroes, 1st Lt. Christopher Dean of V Corps' 1st Armored Division says he was just doing his job the day he earned a Silver Star for leading the rescue of a patrol ambushed in Baghdad.
"People don't say, 'I'm going to try to win a Silver Star today.' We go out and we're put in an extraordinary position, and the right people recognize what we are doing," said Dean. "I wouldn't say I was in the right place at the right time, but I guess I was fortunate to be in the wrong place at the right time."
Dean, a platoon leader in the division's Company C, 2nd Battalion 37th Armor, based in Friedberg, Germany, was helping to hand authority for the division mission over to the incoming 1st Cavalry Division at that "right time" -- April 4. More importantly, the lieutenant's assignment that day was to serve as Quick Reaction Force tank platoon leader, with oversight for the "wrong place" -- Sadr City, arguably the most violent section of Baghdad.
A patrol from 1st Cavalry was ambushed in the city. Dean rolled out immediately with four tanks under his charge. Traveling at top speed, they headed to the grid coordinates given by the besieged patrol. As soon as they arrived, the QRF was hit by a barrage of gunfire.
"We had rounds coming in from everywhere, said Dean. "It sounded like Rice Krispies popping." One of his Soldiers was killed.
Dean the led a seven-tank attack back into the engagement area to find the ambushed patrol. The.50-caliber machine gun was taken out by enemy fire, leaving him atop the vehicle with only his M4 rifle. He was hit by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade blast.
Reaching the ambushed patrol, the QRF dismounted to help get the patrol out. Under heavy enemy fire they pulled out the dead and wounded and put them inside the tanks, then used one of Dean's tanks to push two damaged vehicles out of the area.
Dean's team rescued 19 Soldiers from the ambush.
In a huge ceremony Oct. 7, 1st Armored Division welcomed its "Iron Soldiers" home from their 15 months in Iraq, and Dean stood before thousands of his fellow troops as a Silver Star was pinned to his uniform, to wear along with the Purple Heart he had been presented earlier.
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