{"id":22950,"date":"2016-09-01T21:56:10","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T21:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:42:13","slug":"hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/","title":{"rendered":"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Navy Cross recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge, who killed a Taliban fighter in hand-to-hand combat, has left the Marine Corps after spending nine years in the service. <br\/> <br\/>&#8220;I enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps,&#8221; Wooldridge told Marine Corps Times. &#8220;It&#8217;s had a huge impact on my life. I&#8217;m going to miss the men I&#8217;ve served with and miss being in the fight with them.&#8221; <br\/> <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wooldridge, 28, said his last day in the Marines was Tuesday. He said his time in the Corps made him appreciate life and not take it for granted. <br\/> <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It made me a man and I am forever grateful for the men who mentored me and led by example,&#8221; he said. <br\/> <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cliff-wooldridge.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-49838\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cliff-wooldridge.jpg.jpg 640w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cliff-wooldridge.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sgt. Clifford Wooldridge, combat weapons instructor, Marine Corps Security Forces Regiment, Chesapeake, Va., stands at attention after receiving the Navy Cross Medal, May 18, at Lance Cpl Torrey L. Gray Field. He earned the medal for combat actions in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while attached to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, in 2010.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Sgt. Clifford Wooldridge, receives the Navy Cross on May 18, 2012 for combat actions in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while attached to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, in 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Photo Credit: Photo by Cpl. Sarah Anderson.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br\/>Wooldridge&#8217;s tale of bravery in Afghanistan is legendary. In 2010 he was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, when his company ran into &#8220;a hornet&#8217;s nest&#8221; of insurgents, his company commander Maj. Carin Calvin later recounted. <br\/> <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After shooting four enemy fighters, then-Cpl. Wooldridge ran out of ammunition and ended up in a life-and-death struggle with a man who tried to pull the pin on a grenade attached to Wooldridge&#8217;s vest.\u00a0 <br\/> <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wooldridge took the man&#8217;s machine gun away from him and beat the man to death with it. He later told his platoon commander, &#8220;I think I just killed a guy with my hands.&#8221; <br\/> <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2012, Wooldridge  <a class=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/valor.militarytimes.com\/recipient.php?recipientid=204838\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Link: null\">received the Navy Cross<\/a>\u00a0for his actions in Afghanistan, an award second only to the Medal of Honor. <br\/> <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After his Afghanistan deployment, Wooldridge served as an instructor with the Marine Corps Security Force Training Company&#8217;s Close Quarter Battle School. <br\/> <br\/>&#8220;We had a rough deployment, but it&#8217;s war,&#8221; he told Marine Corps Times in July 2013. &#8220;I think about that stuff all the time, but it helped mold me into the Marine I am now. The mistakes we made out there, I&#8217;m going to make damn sure those mistakes are never made again by the guys I train.&#8221; <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wooldridge received another accolade when he was selected as the 2013 Marine Corps Times Marine of the Year. <br\/> <br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;There are definitely a lot of people who deserve this award over me, but the mere fact that I was even put up for this was incredible,&#8221; Wooldridge told Marine Corps at the time. &#8220;I&#8217;m very humbled.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Navy Cross recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge leaves the Marine Corps after nine years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":49831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":83,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[83,12,15,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1187],"class_list":["post-22950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-benefits","category-news","category-pay-benefits","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"GQLTLCLRBRGXDKYPVZX57YREIQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Navy Cross recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge leaves the Marine Corps after nine years.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Navy Cross recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge leaves the Marine Corps after nine years.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marine Corps Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-01T21:56:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T20:42:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeff Schogol\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeff Schogol\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2016-09-01T21:56:10+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T20:42:13+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 473,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/mar-smoy-wooldridge07.JPG.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Military Benefits\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Pay &amp; Benefits\",\n\t                \"Your Marine Corps\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps - Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/mar-smoy-wooldridge07.JPG.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2016-09-01T21:56:10+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T20:42:13+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Navy Cross recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge leaves the Marine Corps after nine years.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/mar-smoy-wooldridge07.JPG.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/mar-smoy-wooldridge07.JPG.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/01\\\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Military Benefits\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/pay-benefits\\\/military-benefits\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"military-benefits\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Marine Corps Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps - Marine Corps Times","description":"Navy Cross recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge leaves the Marine Corps after nine years.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps","og_description":"Navy Cross recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge leaves the Marine Corps after nine years.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/","og_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","article_published_time":"2016-09-01T21:56:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T20:42:13+00:00","author":"Jeff Schogol","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeff Schogol","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps","datePublished":"2016-09-01T21:56:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T20:42:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/"},"wordCount":473,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mar-smoy-wooldridge07.JPG.jpg","articleSection":["Military Benefits","News","Pay &amp; Benefits","Your Marine Corps"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/","name":"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps - Marine Corps Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mar-smoy-wooldridge07.JPG.jpg","datePublished":"2016-09-01T21:56:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T20:42:13+00:00","description":"Navy Cross recipient Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge leaves the Marine Corps after nine years.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mar-smoy-wooldridge07.JPG.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mar-smoy-wooldridge07.JPG.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2016\/09\/01\/hero-marine-who-killed-taliban-fighter-with-his-hands-leaves-the-corps\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Military Benefits","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/","ad_zone":"military-benefits"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Hero Marine who killed Taliban fighter with his hands leaves the Corps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","name":"Marine Corps Times","description":"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization","name":"Marine Corps Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","caption":"Marine Corps Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mar-smoy-wooldridge07.JPG.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22960,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22950\/revisions\/22960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22950"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=22950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}