Gallantry in Action: Army Awards Silver Stars for Bravery
HARRIS: Stories of true heroism now. Seven soldiers singled out by the Army for one of its highest honors. Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr has their stories from Fort Bragg, North Carolina.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ordinary soldiers, extraordinary men. These Special Forces troops each receiving a Silver Star here at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.</s>JULIO BOCANEGRA, MASTER SERGEANT, SPECIAL FORCES/SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: I just did my job.</s>CLOUSE: I'm a guy who on one day in June of 2008 earned my paycheck.</s>STARR: The Army begs to differ.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For gallantry in action in Afghanistan on June 11, 2007, signed Secretary of the Army.</s>STARR (voice-over): They all survived deadly Taliban ambushes. All ran into fields of fire to save each other, to save other wounded Americans, and even to save Afghans. Staff Sergeant Daniel Gould and Sergeant First Class Mario Pinilla were ambushed by Taliban, who literally jumped out right in front of them.</s>DANIEL GOULD, STAFF SERGEANT, SPECIAL FORCES/SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: I got hit in the helmet, and then my helmet went flying off my head.</s>STARR: Pinilla ran into the gunfire to put his body between the enemy and his friend. He was hit.</s>MARIO PINILLA, SERGEANT FIRST CLASS, SPECIAL FORCES/SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: I immediately dropped down to the ground, because I couldn't feel my legs anymore. They were numb. I dragged myself -- I was trying to look for some cover. Then he grabbed my weapon and continued to fire into the enemy.</s>STARR (voice-over): The army calls it gallantry in action. But for these men, an unbreakable bond from risking it all, risking it together.</s>GOULD: I look at Mario, not just as a friend, but this guy came to save my life and in turn, I helped save his life.</s>STARR: The Chief Warrant Officer Mark Roland and Sergeant First Class Antonio Gonzalez also pinned down in an ambush, ran to save Afghan troops, trapped by heavy Taliban gunfire.</s>ANTONIO GONZALEZ, SERGEANT FIRST CLASS, SPECIAL FORCES/SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: It's the right thing to do.</s>STARR (on camera): But what makes somebody repeatedly run across an open field of fire to go save other men you don't even know?</s>MARK ROLAND, CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER, SPECIAL FORCES/SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: We spent countless hours, days, weeks, into months, out on patrol with them. And so the -- the bond is not just nation to nation. But it's person to person.</s>GONZALEZ: We grow so close that we build that brotherhood bond.</s>STARR: Sergeant First Class Jonathon Clouse, another soldier determined to do the right thing when his patrol was ambushed. He ran repeatedly into the line of fire to drag other American troops to safety. He refuses to be called hero.</s>CLOUSE: There were guys that were dying. If I didn't run to them, they would have died. There wasn't a lot of thought at the time of the danger. It was just, they called -- guys called me, they needed me, and so I went to them.</s>STARR: These highly decorated soldiers may be sent to Afghanistan for yet another tour of duty, another tour they will tell you when they are just doing their job. Barbara Starr, CNN, Fort Bragg, North Carolina</s>HARRIS: And then there's this. A Missouri law restricting protests at military funerals has been struck down by a federal judge. The ruling is a victory for a controversial Kansas church whose members protest outside military funerals. They believe the deaths of U.S. troops are God's way of punishing the country for homosexuality. The judge ruled the state's limits on protests violates First Amendment rights. We are bringing you news from around the world, and we are also watching what's hot online. Ines Ferre is surfing the Web for us. Ines, good morning.</s>INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. Top on CNN.com, a dispute in Italy over who owns the world's most famous statue, Michelangelo's "David." You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.