[If you like this story of one of our bravest, you should check out the hundreds of other stories in our category called Heroes of the War on Terror.]

Silver Star [posthumous]

Yet another Marine hero from the second battle of Fallujah

SFgate
Sean joined the Marines when he turned 18 in February 2002, and went to Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego.

He didn’t like the Marines at first. Life in the Marine Corps is hard, and the people who are in charge are tough and demanding. Not like Sean’s father.

Sean stuck it out, though, and eventually was promoted to private first class. In early 2004, Sean went AWOL, for personal reasons, his dad said, and when he returned, he tested positive for marijuana. He was busted down to private, the lowest rank in the Marine Corps.

But somehow, his father said, the experience changed him. He resolved to become a better Marine and a better person. That summer, he went with his unit - 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment - to Iraq. Destination: Fallujah.

Six Marine and Army battalions swept through Fallujah that November and engaged in some of the toughest urban combat since World War II. It was bloody, sometimes hand-to-hand combat, in which thousands of insurgents and other Iraqis died, as well as about 100 Marines and soldiers.

In Fallujah, Sean became something of a legend. He insisted on being “point man” for his squad as they went door to door looking for a fight. That means he was the one to kick in the door and charge in first. If someone was inside with a gun, chances are they’d try to shoot the first American through the door. That was Sean.

He was in some wild and hairy fights. The History Channel profiled one of the firefights on its show “Shootout.” In that fight, Sean’s unit stumbled upon a group of well-trained and hardcore fighters inside a house. The rest of the Marines were able to get out, but Sean was knocked down by a hand grenade. He fought alone inside the house until one of his buddies crashed though another door and dragged him to safety.

Marine Times
His former 3/1 platoon commander, Lt. Jeffrey Sommers, wrote a poignant story online about Stokes’ early days at the battalion, where he had been reassigned from a sister battalion, 1/1, at Camp Horno. Stokes had encountered some trouble — a positive urinalysis pop for smoking pot and deserting the unit — that got him busted down two ranks to private, Sommers wrote in his Web blog.

“It’s tough being a private in an infantry deployed unit,” he wrote. But Stokes “took it all in stride, and his composure in operations on top of all the bull—- of being a private impressed me; he was a solid, dependable Marine. His work ethic and attitude prompted us to ask, almost beg, for his promotion.”

But that didn’t happen, he wrote, and Stokes “would remain a private for the rest of the deployment no matter what he did or was capable of.”

Then came the battle of Fallujah, where “nobody worked harder than Pvt. Stokes,” who led point for his squad, Sommers wrote, retelling the young Marine’s actions. “Time again, he was the one to get shot at first, he dodged death so many times as that point man over the course of the battle.”

Even when the grenade wounded him, Stokes kept firing his weapon at enemy fighters before he was later evacuated, Sommers wrote.

Stokes’ actions in that battle weren’t forgotten when the dust settled. “We returned home, and the mantra of not being able to promote a drug pop Marine carried into the awards process,” Sommers wrote. “[He] was never awarded for his actions.”

Fox6
Sean Stokes was a genuine hero. We’ve heard that before about the actions of soldiers and marines on the battlefield but when you really understand what this young man did for his country in Iraq, it’s the only phrase that truly fits.

“Him and I we’re best friends. We did everything together,” said Marine Brad Adams. He was with Stokes in Fallujah, and by his side three years later when Stokes was killed by a roadside bomb near Baghdad. “You could count on him, you know. He would be there — no matter what the situation — was how far away — he’d be there to help you out.”

Sean’s father, Gary Stokes, accepted the Silver Star on his son’s behalf.

“I know that Sean would have wanted to acknowledge the rest of the guys and the rest of the marines instead of himself,” explained Gary.

Sean Andrew Stokes Memorial Organization
The SEAN ANDREW STOKES MEMORIAL ORGANIZATION (SASMO) is a nonpolitical / nonprofit organization created to honor the memory of all fallen Iraq war soldiers/*”heroes” including our hero son, Sean Andrew Stokes. Sean was killed in Action in Iraq on July 30th 2007.

Therefore, SASMO’s mission is to honor the memory of all Iraq war heroes, by continuing to carry on Sean’s courageous ambition (i.e. to selflessly give “his all” to something larger than himself). One way Sean did this, was by supporting all his brothers and sisters in harm’s way. SASMO will carry on Sean’s, legacy by ensuring that Sean’s and all other fallen US heroes’, efforts and sacrifices will not be forgotten and their surviving families of the Iraq war will be supported now and in the future. We offer the surviving families of the Iraq war, various choices of how they would like to honor their fallen loved one. One option the surviving families may choose, is to help SASMO memorialize their fallen heroes on this website, just as we have honored Sean forming and operating SASMO and his memory on this website. Once the memorializing function is constructed on this website (in the near future), surviving families can send pictures, text, blogs, etc. that will added to their heroes’ webpages. There will be numerous other ways that SASMO will help surviving families’ honor their fallen heroes, as donated funds allow.

*SASMO believes that our soldiers, who have volunteered to answer our country’s call to serve overseas, who follow the decisions of the policy-makers without question and are willing to give their lives in that pursuit, should all be defined as heroes. Other people may have different opinions about this and they are welcome to their opinions, but what is more heroic than giving your life for the something that has been agreed upon, by the majority of those who decide policy, for the greater good of the country? We believe that these fallen heroes should be honored, and not ever forgotten, by all–whose lives have been enriched and benefited from the freedom gained through the sacrifices these heroes have made. We also believe that the surviving families should be supported, as their sacrifices are life-long and unending. They, too, have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country; the sacrifice of losing a loved one whom they will miss for the rest of their lives.

More:

• Newsbusters
• Samantha Speaks
• CBS News
• MSNBC / NBC News video