Sean Stokes

Sean Andrew Stokes (February 6, 1983 – July 30, 2007) was a United States Marine who posthumously received the Silver Star for actions while serving with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines during the Second Battle of Fallujah. Stokes was one of only three Marine privates to ever be awarded the Silver Star.

Military career
At age 17, Stokes wanted to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, but his father denied him permission to enlist. When Stokes turned 18 in February 2002, he enlisted without his father's permission. He went to Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego. In 2004, then-Lance Corporal Stokes left his unit without permission in order to help a family member escape from domestic violence. After moving her to a new house, Stokes returned to Camp Pendleton. Stokes was subsequently court martialed, and reduced to the rank of Private.

He was then transferred to Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines (3/1). He was 21 years old, the lowest-ranking member of 2nd Squad, and one of the most senior rifleman in the platoon.

A few months after arriving at 3/1, Stokes deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, where in November 2004, he participated in Operation Phantom Fury. He killed nine enemy terrorists in Fallujah.

In 2005, Stokes returned to Iraq, this time near the city of Haditha. 3/1 deployed again in 2007, and Stokes, by now a Corporal, was selected to serve on the Battalion Commander's Personal Security Detachment.

Personal life
Stokes was born in Fremont, California, and grew up in Auburn, California. When Stokes was 9 years old, his parents got a divorce, and he and his younger brother moved in with their father in Lake of the Pines, California, located on the outlying edge of Auburn. According to his father, they also lived in Alta Sierra, California when Stokes was young, and where he once found a 14 inch bass in the bathtub that Stokes had caught in a local pond.

He graduated from Bear River High School in 2001, where he played baseball and football. His high school football jersey was retired after his death. Teacher Alexander Croft said of Stokes: "He was one of those kids who you remember because he just stands out". He was engaged to be married to Sgt. Nicole Besier at the time of his death.

Death
On 30 July 2007, while escorting the Battalion Commander across 3/1's Area of Operations in Iraq's Tharthar region, the convoy came to a section of road which had been rendered impassable by an improvised explosive device (IED) several days prior. Following protocol, Stokes dismounted his vehicle and began sweeping the surrounding area before attempting to move the convoy around the crater. However, there was a well-concealed IED, with two 150-millimeter shells that had been armed to detonate when someone stepped on the pressure plate. The booby-trap is called a "daisy chain" IED, because the first explosion automatically sets off a second one. The IED detonated as he stepped on it, wounding him fatally, and severely injuring his friend, Sgt. Bradley Adams, in the blast that followed.

In popular culture
Military historian Patrick K. O'Donnell was embedded with Stokes' platoon for one year leading up to and during their deployment to Fallujah, and Stokes is a prominent figure in his 2006 non-fiction book We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines Who Took Fallujah. O'Donnell said his first impression of Stokes was his resemblance to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. In 2006, Stokes was featured in an episode of Shootout! on the History Channel entitled "D-Day: Fallujah", wherein his actions in 2004 are dramatized while he and other Marines recount the details.

Silver Star Citation


The President of the United States

Takes Pleasure in Presenting The Silver Star (Posthumously)

To Sean Andrew Stokes

Corporal, United States Marine Corps For Services as Set Forth in the Following Citation: