The commander of the 341st Infantry Battalion received Wednesday, February 18, the Bronze Star offered by the US State Secretary of Defense.

Lieutenant Colonel Vasile Vreme received the medal in Tallil military base from Colonel Philip Battaglia, commander of the 4th US Cavalry Brigade, during the ceremony with the participation of Brigade Taleb Habib, commander of the 10th Iraqi Division, and the Iraqi, US and Romanian militaries.

Medal's citation notes that the Bronze Star was awarded for heroic achievements while serving in military actions in support of the Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The distinction I received today, honors me and I do consider it as recognition of the effort we, the Romanian militaries, made during the process of stabilization and reconstruction in Iraq, stated Lieutenant Colonel Vreme.

Having in view that soon the 341st Infantry Battalion will end the mission in the theater of operations in Iraq, Colonel Battaglia transmitted to the Romanian militaries his thanks for the way they fulfilled the missions and the fact that he was honored to cooperate with the White Sharks.

The 341st Infantry Battalion is in the sixth month of mission and till now it fulfilled about 1,200 missions in its area of responsibility.

MoND Press Office