Marine Awarded Purple Heart. Finally.
A Marine finally received a Purple Heart for a 2005 ambush in Ramadi
The award was long overdue.
BY MATT WHITE
Francisco Roman was leading a team of Marines through the chaotic roads of Ramadi, Iraq in 2005 when the streets suddenly turned quiet.
“We were patrolling back to our base, and I noticed that the streets were empty,” said Roman. “A mosque started playing the call to prayer. I looked back and told my squad mate that it felt like we were in a movie and the next thing I saw was a bright orange flash.”
An improvised explosive device hit his team. Roman was a veteran of the first battle of Fallujah in 2004 and was now a leader of young Marines with the 1st Marine Division. They were his first thought as he regained consciousness. He stumbled to take cover, fighting through blurry vision and a “tingling” feeling all over his body.
“I found my squad and asked them who got hit and they told me that I got hit,” said Roman. “I didn’t know I got hit.”
On Tuesday, according to a Marine Corps press release, Roman was finally awarded a Purple Heart from the explosion, almost two decades after the ambush.
Amid the violence and chaos of war in Ramadi, Roman was never put in for a Purple Heart. His company commander was killed in action, and any push to put the Marine in for a Purple Heart melted away as the violent deployment dragged on.
Roman said Tuesday that he’d played down his injuries and never considered himself worthy of the award.
“Couple of reasons why it took so long, when I got injured back in 2005, I did not want to get evacuated, I didn’t want to leave my guys behind. I wanted to stay with them,” he said Tuesday at an award ceremony aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. “I also felt I wasn’t injured enough to leave the battlefield.”
Getting blown up by an IED wasn’t injured enough for him. Wear it with pride, Marine.
Category: Bravo Zulu, Marines
Earned.
Clang!
6605-01-269-2217 Brass Solid Ball
When locals disappear, sh*t about to go down.
I had a CPT, stop our small group of gun trucks in the middle of Bajji Iraq in 04, and the streets were completely empty. I looked down a side street and saw a mom swooshing her kid into the house.
I was the TC on the first truck and told the driver to GO! The rest caught up and when we stopped at a fuel point later the CPT started berating me.
I said “ Sir, let’s step over here”. Once we were out of hearing range of the others, I explained how stupid he was and if he didn’t start listening, he wasn’t long in this life. He actually shut up and let the “professionals” take over. He arrived a Diamond Back later that day, fully intact.
Gotta love war stories!
I hope he listened and learned.
“…I did not want to get evacuated, I didn’t want to leave my guys behind. I wanted to stay with them,” The FIRST Rule…leave no one behind…look after your buddy…and your buddy’s buddy.
Hardcore! A Warrior’s Warrior.
Ohhh fuckin Ra
Military Phonies or Embellishers should be highly ASHAMED of claiming a PH or even wanting one after reading SSG Roman’s story…
(Yes, there are folks out there who wished they were wounded in action just to have a PH..”LOOK AT ME!” those folks have VERY serious mental issues..)
Check this out about SSG Roman AFTER he retired from the Marine Corps…WOW…
“After retiring from the Marines as a Staff Sergeant, Roman became a police officer in San Diego. In 2018, he was shot three times in a shootout when he threw his body in front of another wounded officer.”
“I took a position in front of him just in case, so it would be me to get hit next instead of him getting hit, again,” said Roman, “All I could think about was my family and protecting my partner.”
“He was so gravely wounded that doctors induced him into a coma for two days. Roman spent 364 days in rehabilitation.”
Pretty bad ass.
Well done Marine!
Yep…that’s a Marine; explosives are not enough to send us to the rear when wounded.
Semper Fi Marine