I recently shared the heartbreaking story of Marine Corporal DJ Emery. DJ was gravely wounded when a suicide bomber attacked the checkpoint he was manning. DJ’s life was saved only because of the selfless act of another Marine. This Marine saw the terrorist approaching, suspected that he was a suicide bomber and immediately put himself between the bomber and his Marines. When the bomber detonated himself this heroic Marine was killed instantly, but he saved the life of DJ Emery who is right now fighting for his life in Bethesda Naval Hospital. The Marine who saved his life was Sergeant Major Joseph Ellis.

Sergeant Major Ellis was 40 years old when he stepped in front of a terrorist. He had volunteered for three tours in Iraq because he wanted to make a difference. Joseph Ellis enlisted in the Marine Corps when he was only 17 years old. He spent 23 years in the Corps, most of it in reconnaissance units. He spent more than a year in the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm before returning to the United States. He eventually reached the Marine Corps’ highest enlisted rank and was the battalion Sergeant Major for Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 15 Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is a special operations team when he was killed. Sergeant Major Ellis had been planning to retire in May and return to North Carolina. Instead, he gave his life to protect his Marines. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

I wanted to share the name and story of this brave Marine because he is truly a hero. When he saw a terrorist approaching his Marines, he didn’t stop to consider the political ramifications of his actions, he didn’t waste precious moments while he considered the moral foundation of the war in Iraq. He saw a threat to the men he was fighting with and he stepped in front of them. He put his body between the men he had trained, the Marines he had fought with and bled with and a suicide bomber. Sergeant Major Ellis knew why he was in Iraq. He was there to fight for this country, to fight for his Marines and he made the ultimate sacrifice.

That kind of selfless devotion to this country and to one’s comrades in arms is being exemplified every day by the brave men and women who are willing to give their lives to protect each other. It is a shame that our troops cannot depend on that same kind of commitment from the politicians who sent them to Iraq in the first place.