Twice-injured sergeant among those honored by Wounded Warrior Regiment

Twice-injured sergeant among those honored by Wounded Warrior Regiment

By JENNIFER HLAD
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 4, 2012

QUANTICO, Va. — Sgt. Than Naing’s Afghanistan deployment in 2010 ended much like the Iraq deployment that preceded it, with the Marine medevaced out of the country and nursing battle wounds.

Machine gun fire from an ambush at a vehicle checkpoint in Marjah left him with serious internal injuries. He faced a long recovery back in the States and another assignment to Wounded Warrior Battalion East.

His response to the adversity has not gone unnoticed.

Naing was among those honored Tuesday during an awards ceremony that marked the Marine Corps’ Wounded Warrior Regiment’s fifth birthday. Naing received the Wounded Warrior Regiment’s Wounded, Ill or Injured Service Member Award for his “perseverance and drive.”

“We have Marines out there who still have that spirit, still have that fire in their eye” that they had when they stood on the yellow footprints at boot camp, said Lt. Col. Michael Corrado, the unit’s executive officer. But in some cases, they must learn to take that spark and use it in a different way. read more here