Between the rigorous training, combat experience, and David Bellavia’s leadership, we were ready.” “We were fortunate to get out without any casualties,” says Ruiz. While his squad reorganized, Bellavia single-handedly cleared the house. Recognizing the urgency, Bellavia charged, firing on the enemy until they were forced to take cover, allowing the soldiers to move out of the house. Other insurgents began firing through a window, wounding several members of Bellavia’s squad and effectively trapping them. Bellavia won the Medal of Honor for his leadership and courage that day.Īs the squad entered the house, they immediately came under machine-gun fire from insurgents hiding under a stairwell. It was the last house we were going to check that day.” The 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment on the morning they battled insurgents hidden in a house. This was the end of a very long couple of days. While in the city we were on 75 percent security, meaning 75 percent of the unit was on duty at any given time, so we were lucky to get two to three hours of sleep a night. “We had been in-country for over nine months and been involved in every major battle up to that point,” recalls Ruiz. It’s during those times that you are thankful for the countless hours of drilling and training.”ĭuring the Second Battle of Fallujah, also known as Operation Phantom Fury, Bellavia led his squad in clearing a block of buildings to search for hidden insurgents. Ultimately, that paid off because we were put into very compromising situations. ![]() He wanted us to be the very best that we could be. “He’s hyper-focused, very intelligent, and a bit of a perfectionist,” says Ruiz. John Ruiz, right, with another member of his squad at the Forward Operating Base, Normandy, Muqdadiyah, Iraq.īellavia was his team leader on a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and was promoted to staff sergeant just before the unit deployed to Iraq in 2004. ![]() I wanted to be on the front lines,” he says. “I went into the infantry, much to the dismay of my family. That event, and his family’s long history of military service, drove him to enlist in 2002 just after graduation. ![]() Ruiz was a senior at Tracy High School during 9/11. But last summer, he found himself transported back to one of the most harrowing days of his Army career at the Medal of Honor ceremony for his former squad leader, Staff Sergeant David G. It’s been more than 10 years since John Ruiz, a mechanical designer in NIF’s Facilities and Infrastructure Systems group, left the Army.
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