The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Hospital Corpsman Third Class Joshua T. Chiarini, United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy as Platoon Corpsman, 1st Platoon, Battery G, Battalion Landing Team 1/2, Twenty-Second Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM 04-06, in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, on 10 February 2006. While conducting a combat patrol, 3d Squad was attacked by two improvised explosive devices followed by heavy small arms and machinegun fire that wounded five Marines and one interpreter. Witnessing the initial attack and seeing that the road ahead was blocked by disabled vehicles, Petty Officer Chiarini immediately left the relative safety of his vehicle and fought his way across one hundred meters of fire-swept terrain to reach the casualties. He then used his own body to shield the wounded from the increasingly high volume of incoming rounds as me moved them to cover. Realizing that most of the wounded needed to be evacuated, without hesitation, he placed himself between the casualty and the enemy fire, assisting the casualty with one arm while providing suppressive fire on the enemy with his rifle in the other. He then fought his way back across the one hundred meters of fire-swept terrain to the casualty collection point. He repeated this action three times until each casualty was stabilized and safely loaded for evacuation. Despite the insurgents concentrating their fire on him, he remained focused on saving the lives of his wounded comrades. By his zealous initiative, courageous actions, and exceptional dedication to duty, Petty Officer Chiarini reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.