2 awarded Silver Stars for bravery in Afghanistan

Marine Lt. Col. Fridrik Fridriksson, assisted by Sgt. Maj. Scott Samuels, pins the Silver Star on Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter A. Gould during ceremonies at Camp Pendleton.


Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

2 awarded Silver Stars for bravery in Afghanistan
Tony Perry at Camp Pendleton
March 4, 2011

On two successive mornings in July, Joseph Gould woke up at 3 a.m. with an overwhelming need to pray for his son, a Navy corpsman deployed in Afghanistan. "I awoke and I felt like Peter was in trouble," he said.

On the third morning, also at 3 a.m., Joseph and Malissa Gould got a telephone call from their son, Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter A. Gould. The Marine Corps squad to which he was assigned had been ambushed by the Taliban in the Garmsir district of Helmand province.

Gould, 24, downplayed his injuries. "He said he only had a few cuts and scratches," his father remembers. He made no mention of his actions during the morning-long firefight in which the Marines were attacked from three directions by 35 to 40 Taliban fighters armed with machine guns, improvised explosive devices and other weapons.

The Marines from Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment who were with Gould during the fight later praised his heroism to the brass. On Friday, at a ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Gould was awarded a Silver Star for bravery as the squad medic on that brutal morning.

Within moments of the patrol being attacked, Gould ran through enemy fire to rescue a wounded Marine. As the battle continued, Gould was severely wounded by a shrapnel blast to his face and neck from a roadside bomb but he continued to administer aid to "my" Marines.
"His inspirational actions and mental toughness under intense enemy fire led directly to saving at least one Marine’s life that day," according to the Silver Star citation read to a gathering of Marines, family members and friends at a parade deck.

A second Silver Star also was awarded Friday to the family of Marine Cpl. Larry Harris Jr.

During the same attack, Harris was attempting to carry a Marine to safety when he stepped on a roadside bomb. Harris, a fire team leader, died instantly but the Marine that he was carrying survived.
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2 awarded Silver Stars for bravery in Afghanistan