Marine Presented with Navy and Marine Corps Medal

Marine awarded for saving Senegalese man from drowning
Marine Corps Times
By Matthew L. Schehl
January 29, 2016

Sprankle, who also happens to be a Marine Corps water survival instructor, was at dinner with fellow Marines when they heard screams coming from a nearby pier: A swimmer had been caught up in a strong rip current.

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Matthew A. Sprankle is awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal after saving a Senegalese man from drowning last August, aboard Morón Air Base, Spain, Jan. 26, 2016. The award is the highest non-combative decoration for heroism awarded by the U.S. Department of the Navy.
(Photo: Sgt. Kassie McDole, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa)

A Marine who leapt into the ocean to save a drowning Senegalese man has received the Navy’s highest non-combat decoration for heroism.

Sgt. Matthew Sprankle was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal on Tuesday by Maj. Gen. Niel Nelson, commander of Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, at a ceremony aboard Moŕon Air Base, Spain. 

The mortarman deployed with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force — Crisis Response — Africa is credited with saving the man’s life as he was being swept out to sea Aug. 28 in Dakar, Senegal.
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