marine corps veteran lance cpl benjamin gonzalez center poses with his daughters after receiving an award upgrade from silver star to the navy cross in el paso texas nov 14 2017 gonzalez was serving in al fallujah iraq as an automatic rifleman with company f 2nd battalion 1st marine regiment 1st marine division when a motorcycle borne insurgent threw a hand grenade into his fighting hole gonzalez threw himself on a fellow marine shielding him from the blast us marine corps photo by pfc samantha schwochreleased mk62xe.jpg from milangie gonzález View Photo