(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 Jose Rolando Rodriguez, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Platoon Sergeant with Company B, 3d Battalion, 69th Armor, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division, during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, on 19 March 2007, in Iraq. On that date, Sergeant First Class Rodriguez rushed out of Forward Operating Base Hawas in a Bradley vehicle to help two of his platoon’s Bradley vehicles that were on overwatch duty. They were attacked by an unknown number of insurgents who pinned them down with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. When he got there, he heard the gunfire, but he couldn’t lay eyes on his two Bradleys and didn’t want to lay down suppressive fire until he could figure out where they were. Sergeant First Class Rodriguez began looking down a series of alleys perpendicular to a main road. Turning down one of them, his driver struck a roadway bomb. The driver of the Bradley Sergeant First Class Rodriguez was looking for couldn’t back up, either, because there was another roadway bomb. Pinned down, Sergeant First Class Rodriguez called for more help, and his tactical operations center dispatched two more Bradleys and a recovery vehicle for his own Bradley. While his driver was on the radio Sergeant First Class Rodriguez realized the front of his Bradley was on fire and the driver’s compartment was filling with smoke and he crawled in through the space between the gunner’s position and the driver’s compartment and pulled him out by the handle on the back of his vest. The gunner was still engaging the enemy with his main gun and the two Bradleys on the main road were still taking and returning fire. More improvised explosive devices were being tossed everywhere making it harder and harder to move around. After pulling his driver to safety into the back of the Bradley, Sergeant First Class Rodriguez got out to help the recovery vehicle operator hook up the towing chains and saw a number of insurgents approaching their position. He raised the muzzle of his rifle and shot and killed eight of them. Sergeant First Class Rodriguez’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, his unit, and the United States Army.