29 Palms Marine receives Navy Cross - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

29 Palms Marine receives Navy Cross

A junior Marine severely wounded during an ambush last year in Afghanistan’s Helmand province received the Navy Cross on Thursday at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., base officials said.

Lance Cpl. Richard S. Weinmaster, a squad automatic rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, was presented the nation’s second-highest medal for combat valor. Weinmaster, 20, of Cozad, Neb., was a private first class assigned to Echo Company’s 3rd Platoon when his squad came under fire during a dismounted attack July 8, 2008, in Helmand’s Sangin District.

His other military awards include the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and National Defense Service Medal.