MARTIN, TN, USA U.S. Marines CAPT, B CO, 1ST RECON BN, 1ST MAR DIV, CAMP PENDLETON, CA AL ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ 04/07/2004
Brent Morel always seemed to be getting out of trouble. Whether it was ending arguments as a bar bouncer, breaking up a scuffle between neighborhood kids or sparring in a college boxing match, Morel could quickly end any fight.
Morel, 27, who lived in McKenzie, Tenn., and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California.
College friend Eric Wells said he remembers Morel stopping a bar brawl of about 20 people near the University of Memphis.
“Brent had a broken leg and was on crutches, but he just dove right in the middle of it and took out the ringleaders,” Wells said. “He’s the toughest guy I ever knew.”
Morel, an avid hunter, graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1999 with a degree in history. He became a commissioned officer in the Marines the next week.
Morel married Amy Mullins a week after that. “He became a different person when he married Amy,” Wells said. “He was totally dedicated to her. He knew a week after he met her that she was the one.”
On May 21, 2005, at the offices of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, Marine Corps Training Center in Memphis, TN., the nation’s second highest medal for battlefield valor, the Navy Cross, was presented to Amy Morel, wife of U.S. Marine Capt. Brent L. Morel.
It contained the following words: “The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the NAVY CROSS posthumously to Captain Brent L. Morel for service as set forth in the following CITATION: “For extraordinary heroism as Platoon Commander, 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 7 April 2004.”
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