(Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant First Class Sean Bennett, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with the 2d Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, during combat operations in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, on 20 January 2007, at Karbala, Iraq. Sergeant First Class Bennett was assigned to a civil affairs group training police and other provincial personnel in the Karbala area and occupied a room that functioned as a communications center and bunkhouse for four or five soldiers when the militants, dressed in American uniforms, burst into the provincial building. The militants arrived in SUVs like the ones used by private military contractors and either bluffed their way past Iraqi-manned checkpoints or had inside help from supposed coalition allies. They attempted to force their way through the door of the communications room, but Sergeant First Class Bennett pressed back. When one of the militants poked the muzzle of an AK-47 assault rifle through the small opening in the door, he grabbed it and attempted to direct its fire away from the other soldiers. A militant tossed a grenade into the room and Private First Class Johnathon Millican, either jumped or fell on the grenade, absorbing the brunt of its force. Sergeant First Class Bennett lost a chunk of his left biceps, either from rifle fire or the grenade, and suffered severe burns from the hot rifle muzzle. Yet he continued to hold back the door until the militants detonated a charge in the hallway as they fled, then he communicated what had happened to his commanders back on base and helped organize the medical evacuation of the wounded. Sergeant First Class Bennett’s gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 25th Infantry Division, and the United States Army.