While on patrol to clear insurgent areas near the Syrian border as part of Operation Matador, then-Lance Cpl. Mark Camp, serving with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, stood in the hatch of an amphibious assault vehicle closely surveying his surroundings. Children had been playing in the area, but as the convoy rolled further along, Camp noticed the sudden, strange silence.

A roadside bomb exploded, sending Camp’s vehicle into the air. Camp then fought to extinguish the flames on his hands and face, while directing others to open the door of the vehicle in which 17 Marines were trapped. While most of the Marines stumbled out, badly injured, Camp heard the voice of his friend, Pfc. Christopher Dixon, who was still trapped. Camp crawled back into the vehicle, though his right leg was badly injured by shrapnel. Despite his injuries, continued gunfire from the insurgents, and intense heat inside the vehicle that was causing ammunition to cook off, he was determined to save Dixon.

Another explosion sent Camp flying back out of the vehicle; he was on fire again. After beating down the flames, Camp climbed back into the vehicle a second time and realized, as he tried to pull Dixon to safety, that his hands were burned beyond function. “I [was] screaming for someone to help me… someone with fresh hands,” Camp later said. Camp and Dixon were finally pulled free, though Dixon was killed by the second detonation.

For exhibiting character typical of a Marine in both his brave rescue actions and for another incident involving an insurgent attack, Cpl. Mark Camp was awarded the Silver Star.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776

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