Sgt. Jeremiah Workman, is now a drill instructor with Delta Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion based on Paris Island. But in 2004, he was in Fallujah. And it was in Fallujah that he did the deeds that earned him the Navy Cross.
While serving as a squad leader for the Mortar Platoon, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine Division, Sgt Workman
repeatedly exposed himself to a hail of enemy fire to retrieve isolated Marines trapped inside an insurgent-infested building.
Ignoring heavy enemy fire and a storm of grenades raining down on his position, Workman fearlessly laid down enough cover fire to allow the trapped Marines to escape.
After seeing the first group of wounded Marines safely to a neighboring yard, Workman rallied additional Marines to his side and provided more cover fire for an attack into the building to rescue other Marines still trapped. He continued to fire even after receiving numerous shrapnel wounds to his arms and legs after a grenade exploded in front of him, stated his citation.
Workman's efforts did not stop after the second rescue attack. Ignoring his wounds, Workman once again united his team for a final assault strike into the building to retrieve remaining Marines and to clear the building of insurgents.
"Basically, we got ambushed," he said. "There were insurgents on the second floor in a bedroom. We fought our way up the stairs. There were grenades going off around us (and) small arms fire everywhere."During the course of the fight, Workman was responsible for the elimination of more than 20 insurgents.
While the citation states he "reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps," Workman does not dwell on the fact that he is a Navy Cross recipient. All that matters in the long run are the lives lost and saved during the war, he said.
"The first thing I thought about was all the Marines we lost over there," Workman said, reflecting on that fateful day. "I don't look at myself as being any different. I did what any other Marine would have done. There are thousands of other Marines over there (in the Middle East) that deserve to be awarded, too."
