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NEW YORK - A local Marine will be honored for his community service in a Times Square-ceremony Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 3 p.m. before he and his family departs for California just before Christmas in preparation for an Afghanistan deployment.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Valdes, a father of three children, will receive the Meritorious Volunteer Service Medal for his community outreach work as a member of 6th Communications Battalion in Brooklyn since 2008. Later this month he and his family will move to Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he will join the 1st Assault Amphibian Battalion and deploy to Afghanistan in early 2012.
The Meritorious Volunteer Service Medal recognizes service members who perform outstanding volunteer community service of a sustained, direct and consequential nature, above and beyond their duties as a Marine.
As a family man with a wife and three children, Valdes has spent his time supporting organizations that seek to help families. He has been the driving force behind the battalion's key community outreach events over the past years. Most notably, Valdes initiated a relationship between the battalion and the Ronald McDonald House, serving families of children who are hospitalized, by organizing three separate events featuring a spaghetti meal for the families, gift baskets, toy giveaways, and entertainment.
In 2008 he deployed to Iraq for eight months. He currently serves as the battalion's logistic chief.
Valdes' personal awards include: a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, three Good Conduct Medals, an Operation Iraqi Freedom Medal, four Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, a National Defense Medal.
This event will be held in front of the U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Station at 43rd St., between Broadway and 7th Ave. It is open to the public, and media are not required to RSVP. For further questions or to arrange further interviews please contact 347.292.8762 or email NYCMarines@usmc.mil. Photos of the event will be available shortly after the ceremony concludes at www.flickr.com/NYCMarines.
| Date Taken: | 12.06.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 12.06.2011 11:17 |
| Story ID: | 80947 |
| Location: | NEW YORK, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 182 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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