Today is about Navy Cross recipient Staff Sergeant Anthony Viggiani
After Boot Camp and Infantry Training, Anthony Viggiani was sent to the Marine Security Forces School at Chesapeake, Virginia, where he was trained for Marine
Security Guard duty. He subsequently served more than two years at the Presidential Retreat at Camp David, Maryland. Of the night of the actions that resulted in both injury and award of the Navy Cross, he later recalled, "I didn't want to tell [my mom] because I knew she would be upset. "But when I did call her, out of the five minutes I got to talk to her, three and a half were spent calming her
down." Following his Iraq service, he was assigned as a Marine Corps Drill Instructor at Paris Island, South Carolina, and his award was presented during the graduation of one of his classes.
His team and another squad received reports that a group of Taliban fighters were fleeing out of the town and into the forbidding hills - incredibly tough terrain full of caves and crevices, pits, and pitfalls.
As the men approached the ridgeline north of town, Viggiani's squad lost touch with the others as the mountains interfered with the radio transmissions. Then Viggiani and his squad came under heavy and accurate fire, which injured two Marines and halted the advance. Viggiani crept forward, as it seemed like the fire was coming from the steep slope in front of him.
Viggiani and another Marine continued their slow advance -and suddenly came under direct fire. Shooting was coming from a cave just a few feet away, and the enemies were
still firing at the wounded Marines who had taken cover behind a nearby rock. With the rest of his team pinned down, it fell to Viggiani to eliminate the well-entrenched insurgents.
Maneuvering to a better position, he found himself peering through a small break in the rocks. When he saw a piece of cloth move, He fired off three or four rounds. He heard no
sounds that would lead him to believe the enemies had been hit, so he grabbed a grenade and dropped it into the hole. The cave blew apart, exposing three now-dead Taliban snipers.
With the threat eliminated, the medic was able to reach and treat the two injured Marines.
Viggiani refused treatment for the gunshot to his leg and instead continued fighting. "It stings, but it's nothing." Most people might say that when describing a carpet burn or perhaps a bee sting. Staff Sgt. Viggiani, on the other hand, said that of a bullet wound sustained on June 3, 2004, in the mountainous region around Khabargho, Afghanistan.
After three or four hours of intense chase and fighting, the Marines killed 14 enemy fighters and cleared the area. For his leadership and bravery, Viggiani was awarded the Navy Cross on Jan. 25, 2006.
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Sergeant Anthony Lester Viggiani, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism in action against Anti-Coalition Force Militia in Zabol Province, Afghanistan, serving as a squad leader for Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team, First Battalion, Sixth Marines, Twenty-Second Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed with commander, United States Fifth Fleet during Operation Enduring Freedom 3 June 2004. While leading a company assault against an enemy-held ridgeline north of the village of Khabargho, Sergeant Viggiani and his squadron came under heavy and accurate fire from an enemy force well entrenched inside a cave, pinning down one of his teams and wounding two of his Marines. Moving across exposed ground, under observation and fire from an adjacent enemy position, Sergeant Viggiani maneuvered to the cave opening, but achieving no effect on the enemy. Braving enemy fire from the adjacent enemy position, he went back to retrieve a fragmentation grenade. Again, under a hail of fire, he moved to within feet of the cave opening and employed the grenade to eliminate the enemy position, which was actively firing upon friendly forces. Killing three enemy fighters, Sergeant Viggiani destroyed the enemy strongpoint and allowed his company to continue their advance up to the ridgeline, solidly defeating the enemy by killing a total of fourteen Anti-Coalition fighters. In the process, he was wounded by rifle fire from the adjacent enemy position, yet he continued to lead his Marines in the attack. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of enemy fire and utmost dedication to duty, Sergeant Viggiani reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
