The Navy Cross, the second highest award for combat bravery the United States can bestow to a marine.
Captain Brian Chontosh (right) and the Commandant of the Marine Corps (left).

It was a year ago on a road into Baghdad. 1st Lt. Brian Chontosh was a platoon leader rolling up Highway 1 in a humvee when his unit was ambushed.
So he moved to the side of his column, looking for a way to lead his men to safety. As he tried to poke a hole through the Iraqi line his humvee came under direct enemy machine gun fire. He told his driver to floor the humvee directly at the machine gun emplacement that was firing at them while the gunner unloaded with the 50 cal on top of the humvee.
Within moments the Iraqis manning the machine gun were down and Chontosh was still advancing, ordering his driver now to take the humvee directly into the Iraqi trench that was attacking his Marines.
Over into the battlement the humvee went and out the door Brian Chontosh bailed, carrying an M16, a Beretta and 228 years of Marine Corps pride. Chontosh ran along the trench, filled with mortars, riflemen, machineguns and grenadiers.

He fought with the M16 until it was out of ammo.

Then he fought with the Beretta until it too, was out of ammo. He picked up a dead man's AK47 and continued the attack until he emptied the clip, then picked up a second dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. At one point he fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy cluster, sending attackers flying with its grenade explosion. When the action was over, Brian Chontosh had cleared 200 yards of entrenched Iraqis from his platoon's flank. He had killed more than 20 and wounded at least as many more.

"By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, 1st Lt. Chontosh reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service."

Real heroes still exist.