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Hourly Update

Yuma Marine who disarmed huge truck bomb in Iraq honored

Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.27.2008
YUMA — A Marine who disarmed a huge truck bomb outside a bombmaking factory in Iraq last year has been awarded the Bronze Star medal.
Staff Sgt. Alexander Mazza was presented the medal Wednesday during a ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma. The explosive ordnance disposal technician went on more than 300 missions during his 6-month deployment to Iraq in 2007 and safely disarmed 75 improvised explosive devices and disposed of more than 11,000 pounds of unexploded ordnance and explosives.
But it was a mission on May 18 where he earned the Bronze Star, with a “V” for valor.
In a courtyard in Fallujah Marines found the dump truck loaded with a ton of explosives. Realizing that exploding the truck in place would have placed large numbers of civilians at risk, “Staff Sgt. Mazza fearlessly climbed into and manually rendered safe the truck-borne improvised explosive device,” the citation read.
After receiving the medal, Mazza put it on a memorial honoring 19 other Marine explosive technicians who died.
“They were out there doing the exact same thing I was doing, only I was fortunate enough to come home,” Mazza said. “I will be wearing this Bronze Star from here on out in remembrance of them, not for the actions that it was awarded to me for.”
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