Sgt. Ryan Sotelo Honored For Bravery During Afghanistan Battle with Silver Star

Camp Pendleton Marine Awarded Silver Star
 Sgt. Ryan Sotelo Honored For Bravery During Afghanistan Battle
March 30, 2012
 SAN DIEGO -- A Camp Pendleton Marine was honored Friday wit h the country's third-highest combat award for his heroic actions while deployed in Afghanistan. Sgt. Ryan Sotelo became the latest Camp Pendleton Marine to be decorated for bravery in battle when he was awarded the Silver Star in a ceremony in the San Mateo section of the base.

On Thanksgiving Day 2010, Sotelo's squad left their forward operating base in the Sangin district of southern Afghanistan to hunt for a Taliban commander. The squad came under intense enemy fire, which killed the officer in charge, 1st. Lt. William Donnelly. The citation read, in part: "Sprinting into the open under enemy fire, Sotelo went to retrieve his fallen commander who was in the open." read more here