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Operation Just Cause Soldiers’ valorous actions recognized after 34 years
231208-A-JF826-1070.JPG Photo By: Spc. Joshua Taeckens

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Maj. Gen. William Thigpen, commander of U.S. Army South (left), presents retired Lt. Col. Mikel Russell (right) the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device at the Army South holiday ball in San Antonio, Texas, Dec. 8, 2023. Russell, the former company commander of the 108th Military Police Company, received the upgraded award for his heroic actions during Operation Just Cause in 1989. Russell was tasked with securing key government buildings of the enemy when his company came under intense sniper and light machine gun fire from surrounding residential buildings filled with both combatants and noncombatants. With little regard for personal safety and only armed with a pistol, Russell neutralized an enemy manning a machine gun, shot out a streetlight to incapacitate enemy visibility and returned to the defended perimeter under gunfire. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joshua Taeckens)


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