CAMP PENDLETON: Marine honored with Silver Star

Cardenas credited with saving a comrade

By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | Saturday, March 29, 2008 12:19 AM PDT ∞

Marine Lt. Col. Scott Leonard, right, accompanied by Lt. Col Kelly Alexander, middle, pins a Silver Star on Marine Lance Cpl. Moses Cardenas at a ceremony at Camp Pendleton on Friday. Cardenas was shot twice while helping rescue his wounded sergeant in Iraq last summer. Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - Staff Photographer

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Although he was bleeding from the neck and under enemy fire in Iraq last year, Marine commanders say Lance Cpl. Moses Cardenas managed to reach his wounded sergeant and pull him 100 yards to safety. View a video

For those actions, the 20-year-old Cardenas received a Silver Star, one of the Marine Corps' highest honors, during a ceremony at Camp Pendleton on Friday.

The events took place in Iraq's Anbar province on Aug. 2. Cardenas said his platoon was on patrol when several men jumped out of a truck and started firing. In the battle, Sgt. Randy M. Roedema was shot twice and Lance Cpl. Christian Vasquez was killed.

Cardenas, a Marine scout, said he was taking cover behind a vehicle when he realized that Roedema was down. Then, he went after him. On his way, Cardenas took two shots that knocked him to the ground.

Asked why he risked his life to rescue a fellow Marine, Cardenas answered simply.

"He was my sergeant."

Though it seemed longer to him, the Fullerton native said the action took only a few minutes. Cardenas said he felt the sting of the bullets going into his neck and shoulder.

After hitting the ground, he got up, reloaded his rifle and kept shooting at the enemy, according to the award citation. He continued the assault until he reached his wounded leader.

"It didn't really register how dangerous it was, with all the adrenaline going," Cardenas said. "It's either they kill you or you kill them."

Cardenas, who retold his story to reporters Friday morning, said he was eventually able to pull Roedema to safety, and both were treated for their wounds. During the ceremony, he choked back tears and wore a black metal bracelet commemorating Cpl. Vasquez.

"After sleeping, training, laughing and working with them, you get really close, like brothers, even more than brothers," Cardenas said of the camaraderie among Marines.

Roedema, 25, and his family said they are grateful for what Cardenas did.

"I owe him everything in the world," he said.

The day the men were shot, Roedema's wife, Sharla, was 8 months pregnant with the couple's daughter, Juliannah, who is now seven months old.

"There is no telling what would have happened if (Cardenas) had not done what he did," Sharla Roedema said. "And I really do feel that (my husband) is here because of what he did."

Roedema said that during the fight he was shot in the back and buttocks. He was unable to walk for a month and was unable to bathe without assistance for three months, he said.

After the ceremony, dozens of members of Cardenas' unit, the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, lined up to shake his hand and congratulate him.

"Outstanding, we're very proud of you," one of the Marines told Cardenas.

Nearby, Cardenas' parents, Raymundo Cardenas and Angelina Martinez, watched him proudly. His mother said she was just happy to have him back.

Martinez said that though she initially opposed his enlistment in the military, she has learned to accept it as his choice.

"To me the honor is that he is still alive," Martinez said in Spanish.

The Silver Star is the fifth-highest medal a Marine can receive. Cardenas, who joined the Marines in 2006, said he didn't realize how much of an honor it was to receive one until recently.

"A lieutenant was just telling me the magnitude of this award," Cardenas said. "Not a lot of people get it, and a lot of people have died for it."

Cardenas said he is scheduled for a second deployment to Iraq in September. He has two years left in his enlistment and has no plans to leave the Marines.

"I love this job," he said. "I've always been fascinated by the Marine Corps. I love it."

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.

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