Navy corpsman receives Silver Star in Camp Pendleton ceremony
A Navy corpsman has been awarded a Silver Star for bravery for risking his life to save wounded Marines and a wounded Afghan police officer during a Taliban ambush.
Petty Officer 1st Class Benny Flores “steadfastly refused treatment for his own wounds until all of his comrades were treated,” according to the Silver Star citation read aloud during an award ceremony Friday at Camp Pendleton.
Flores, 30, a native of Guam, was serving with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) in Afghanistan when he was in a vehicle attacked with a roadside bomb and small-arms fire from several directions. He was wounded in the neck and arms by shrapnel.
Four times Flores braved enemy fire “without regard for his personal safety” to cross a street to reach and treat Marines and the Afghan police officer.
The incident occurred during a three-day, Afghan-led mission to Zaranj near the Iranian border in April 2012. One Marine was killed during the attack.
Flores enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school in 2001. He deployed to Iraq in 2004-2005 and is now stationed at Camp Pendleton with the 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company.
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