Four Twentynine Palms Marines will be decorated for heroism in Afghanistan. First Lt. Kenneth Conover III and Sgt. Kenneth Rick will each receive a Silver Star, while Staff Sgt. Joshua Brodrick and Sgt. Nicholas Brandau will each receive a Bronze Star with combat “V” device during a Feb. 18 ceremony aboard the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. A Marine spokesman said the awards are from a six-day operation during which 1st Platoon, Company D, of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, repeatedly engaged the enemy in close, intense fighting that ultimately resulted in the death of two Marines and the serious injury of another. Fighting began shortly after the unit conducted a nighttime air assault on June 22, 2012, into Qaleh-ye Gaz, an enemy stronghold in Helmand province. After the Marines landed, enemy forces engaged. For six days, 1st Platoon repelled “40 significant events, including 23 direct-fire engagements, one grenade attack, two indirect-fire attacks, and 10 enemy attempts to overrun their position.” Lt. Gen. John Toolan, commanding general of Ist Marine Expeditionary Force, will award the medals during a ceremony at Lance Cpl. Torrey L. Gray Field.
