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Diaz receives Bronze Star for Iraq service

Spotsylvania resident Michael Diaz awarded Bronze Star for meritorious achievement after yearlong deployment to Iraq

By CONOR REILLY

Date published: 3/10/2004

There was no big party for Michael Diaz when he got home to Spotsylvania County from his one-year deployment in Iraq, just a banner his wife had hung from the house saying "Welcome Home."

But despite being awarded a Bronze Star for his efforts in the war, Diaz wouldn't have wanted it to be any different.

"I was glad to be home alive," he said. "I just wanted to meet with my loved ones."

Diaz, a 46-year-old first sergeant with the Army Reserve's 220th Military Police Brigade based in Gaithersburg, Md., was presented the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He received the medal when he returned to the United States on Feb. 8.

Diaz was "instrumental" in the first phase of the war in Iraq, according to his Bronze Star citation.

He arrived in Kuwait on April 6, 2003, and in August moved into Baghdad to set up an allied encampment and protect its soldiers from Iraqi attack.

"My job was to keep soldiers alive," he said.

The camp, situated in the heart of Baghdad in front of Uday Hussein's palace, was under constant attack. His brigade set up a "life-support" system, putting up sandbags to stop enemy fire and defending the base during attacks.

Since the brigade's commander was still in Kuwait, Diaz was in charge of the unit.

"I wore a lot of different hats," he said. "I worked from sunup to sundown."

The worst attacks came after Saddam Hussein was captured Dec. 13, Diaz said.

"It was raining bullets on the compound," he said. "It was pretty damn scary."

Insurgents also used mortars and other weapons to attack the camp.

"The hardest thing was not knowing when you're going to go," he said. "You never knew when that mortar was going to come down on you."

Meanwhile in Spotsylvania, Diaz's wife, Ruth, and their 9-year-old son, Miguel, were worried about him.

When he was stationed in Kuwait, Diaz was able to e-mail his family and occasionally phone them. But when he moved into Baghdad, such contact became less frequent.

He kept pictures of Ruth and Miguel on the back of the access badge he wore around his neck at all times.

"I was missing them," he said. "They're my world."

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Date published: 3/10/2004