[SR-25]

Submitted by: 2nd Force Service Support Group
Story by: Computed Name: Cpl. Sharon E. Fox
Story Identification #: 2004121095637




CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.(Dec. 8, 2004) -- A Marine was awarded the Purple Heart at the 2d Force Service Support Group’s Headquarters and Service Battalion headquarters building here Monday for injuries sustained in Iraq.

Corporal Julio E. DeJesus, a food service specialist from Food Service Company, Headquarters and Service Battalion, 2d FSSG, was deployed with Marine Expeditionary Unit Service Support Group-24 during Operation Iraqi Freedom II when his camp came under mortar fire and shrapnel tore through his body.

DeJesus often heard indirect fire around Camp Kalsu, Iraq, but on Oct. 5, while eating breakfast, the mortars sounded closer than usual. Before the Marines knew what was going on, a mortar hit just outside the chow hall barricades, sending shrapnel through the walls and shaking everything within a large vicinity of the building.

“BOOM!” was what the Marines heard as they dropped to the floor to protect themselves from the blast.

DeJesus and a couple other Marines wounded during the attack were medically evacuated from Iraq to Germany, and then to Bethesda, Md., for further treatment.

“The training we received from our senior Marines really helped us in Iraq,” said DeJesus. “It’s important to hit the deck during a mortar attack because the shrapnel spreads out and up, so the lower to the ground you are, the safer you’ll be.”

The Tampa, Fla., native, knows he is very lucky to have been able to walk away from the blast.

“They told me later that one whole wall of the building was gone after the blast,” said DeJesus.

Though he suffered nerve damage to his spine from shrapnel puncturing his lower back, DeJesus is able to walk with a cane now after being partially paralyzed for a few days after the blast.

He was sent home on convalescent leave after treatment at Bethesda and has been back with his unit for four weeks.

“It wasn’t my first time in Iraq so I knew there was a chance of getting hurt,” said DeJesus.
The 21-year-old served in OIF with 2d Maintenance Bn., 2d FSSG as a cook on ship. When he arrived in Kuwait, DeJesus served as the interior guard for the Marine Logistics Command at Camp Fox, and then served as a cook with 2d Transportation Support Battalion as the Marines headed north for Baghdad, Iraq. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his outstanding work and knowledge of equipment and field mess at Camp Viper.

While serving with MSSG-24, DeJesus said Camp Kalsu was receiving indirect fire at least three to four times a week. “I’d never been in a combat situation so dangerous to where people were actually getting hurt.”

The young corporal reiterated the importance of receiving good training and that without it, he, along with his fellow brothers and sisters, would not be able to survive an attack like he experienced.