A junior enlisted soldier stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii will receive the Soldier\u2019s Medal on Wednesday afternoon for intervening in a violent assault, according to service officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spc. Rene Rodriguez is assigned to 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, which is part of the 25th Infantry Division\u2019s 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a division press release. The award ceremony will take place on the division\u2019s parade field, named for Gen. Frederick C. Weyand<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Soldier\u2019s Medal is the Army\u2019s highest award for non-combat heroism, and qualifying circumstances must carry \u201ca clearly recognizable personal hazard or danger and the voluntary risk of life,\u201d according to service regulations<\/a>. Less than 0.1% of the Army\u2019s active duty troops wear the award, said division commander Maj. Gen. Joseph Ryan in a July 14 video newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Oct. 22, 2022, while in the vicinity of Wahiawa on the island of O\u02bbahu, Rodriguez saw a man violently assaulting a woman off-post, according to the release, Ryan\u2019s remarks, and the soldier\u2019s award citation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRodriguez, with complete disregard for his own safety, swiftly moved to protect a woman enduring a violent assault,\u201d reads his award citation, a copy of which was provided to Army Times. After \u201crecognizing the woman\u2019s risk of serious injury or death,\u201d he pushed through a crowd of bystanders and placed his body between the victim and the attacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe used his body as a shield, endured numerous strikes from the assailant, all while moving the woman into his vehicle to depart the scene,\u201d according to the citation. \u201cHe continued to protect the woman until law enforcement arrived on the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The specialist was unaware that the man \u201cwas a felon on the lam from California, wanted for murder,\u201d Ryan said in the video newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n