WEBVTT

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(instrumental "Star-Spangled Banner")

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- True privilege to have you here today.

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To your wife, Christine, and your family,

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thank you for being here.

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Thank you for supporting your husband, your father.

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Because it's...

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It's a long road

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and we're finally here.

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...To keep pushing.

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They're all also recipients of this award.

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Thanks to each of you for what you did.

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...Participating in Operation Dewey Canyon.

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And on 13 February 1969,

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he was leading 3rd Squad of 3rd Platoon,

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Company C, 1st Battalion, 9th-

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...Snapping through the air all around him.

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But Corporal Heller's focus was on his Marines,

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getting them out, getting them the medical care-

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...By awarding him the Navy Cross,

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our nation's second-highest award for valor.

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This is not just about correcting the record.

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It is about ensuring that the legacy-

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...That we stand on the shoulders of giants.

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Corporal Heller, your actions that day showed us all

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what it means to be a Marine.

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You led from the front.

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You protected your brothers and you fought with skill-

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- [Announcer]...Marine Corps, for service as set forth

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in the following citation.

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"For extraordinary heroism

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"on 13 February 1969-"

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"...Sixty machine gun

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"and got the weapon back in action.

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"As he reached the second wounded Marine,

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"an RPG explosion severely wounded both of them.

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"Undaunted, he carried the other Marine-"

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- Just so you know what we were whispering about,

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I was telling Corporal Heller we're proud of him.

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And his actions contributed to the legacy of the Corps.

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And his response was, "I just wish I could have done more."

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And that's why he's receiving the Navy Cross today.

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So, ladies and gentlemen,

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I present to you

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Corporal Heller, Navy Cross recipient.

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(applause)

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- I'm glad he could make it down here

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(mumbles)

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And he's a big part of

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what's happening now.

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Him and my platoon sergeant, Don (inaudible),

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passed away some time ago.

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They wouldn't give up on this.

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And I tell you, I didn't do it

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for a Navy Cross.

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Hell, I never even...

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I never even heard of a Navy Cross.

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So, but...

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It's (mumbles) all the

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family that came down.

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And I appreciate them all.

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I wanna say semper fi

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and how 'bout them Jarheads?

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(applause)

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Actually I got wounded twice in the same day.

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Once in the afternoon, I got ambushed.

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- [Photographer] If everyone can look over here real quick.

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One, two, three.

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Ready? One, two, three.

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Thank you.

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If everyone can look over here.

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On the count of three. One, two, three.

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(murmuring)