Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Michael Joshua Constantine, who served three tours in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan.
Michael Joshua Constantine joined the Army in 2005 after serving as a Marine Corps Reservist. Constantine served as an infantryman in the Army for the majority of his service.
He deployed for the first time to Hit, Iraq, from 2006 to 2007. He then deployed to Al Anbar Province from 2007 to 2008, and then to Baghdad from 2008 to 2009 to aid U.S. forces in the ongoing Battle of Sadr City.
The Battle of Sadr City was a blockade on the Mahdi Army in Baghdad by U.S. and Iraqi forces during the Iraq War. Constantine led his team along Route Gold, a major road running through the city. Constantine and his team cleared several key rooftop positions along Route Gold and established important machine gun support points throughout the city. He placed himself directly in the line of enemy fire to complete his mission and helped sustain the blockade.
Constantine endured multiple gunshot wounds in Iraq and received a Purple Heart for his combat injuries.
In 2016, he deployed again to Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.
Throughout his military career, Constantine received many decorations, eight Army Commendation Medals, seven Army Achievement Medals, an Army Good Conduct Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, a Combat Infantry Badge, an Expert Infantry Badge, a German Armed Forces Badge of Marksmanship, a SGT Audie Murphy Award and a SGT Morales Award.
Thank you for your service!
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Contributors
Writer: Maggie Thomas
Editor: Merrit Pope and Annabelle Colton
Fact checker: Anthony Mendez and Lia Sansoucy
Graphic artist: Philip Levine
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Thank you for your service Michael Joshua Constantine.
His Father would have been so proud and honored by this. I know that I am. Thank you for your service to this United States of America. God bless you.