Thomas Charles “Charlie” Linville, USMC
2014 Recipient
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Charlie was born in Boise, Idaho in 1985,the youngest child and only son in his family
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He graduated from Boise High School in 2004
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Charlie chose to defend his country and enlisted in the US Marine Corps in January 2006. He attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California.
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Charlie married his high school sweetheart Mandi in August 2006. They are blessed to be the parents of two lovely daughters; Taylor born in 2008 and Dyllan born in 2010
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He was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq from September 2007 to April 2008
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During his combat tour he was meritoriously promoted to Corporal for actions taken while conducting infantry operations.
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Charlie reported to NAVSCHOOL EOD in March 2008.
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On January 20, 2011 while deployed to Afghanistan SSgt Linville and his team were responding to an IED detonation. While conducting a sweep of the surrounding area, SSgt Linville was struck by a tertiary device. The IED blasted Charlie into the air, and brought him directly down into the blast crater.
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The explosion inflicted multiple injuries on SSgt Linville, some visible, others not. Staff Sergeant Linville suffered fractures to his right foot, his right middle finger, amputation of his right ring finger lower spine trauma, PTSD, and mild traumatic brain injury.
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Charlie lost his foot to a below the knee amputation the summer of 2013 after fighting for over a year to save it.
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Charlie successfully reached the summit of Mt Everest during his third attempt in May 2016. His first attempt in 2014 was canceled after an avalanche killed 16 Sherpas. His second attempt in 2015 was abandoned after Nepal was devastated by an earthquake.