Sgt. Michael McMullen

Salisbury Firefighter Posthumously Awarded Silver Star-WBAL Channel.com

BALTIMORE -- The Army has awarded a Silver Star posthumously to a Salisbury firefighter who was fatally wounded on Christmas Eve rescuing a fellow soldier in Iraq.

Sgt. Michael McMullen, who will be buried with military honors in Arlington Cemetery on Friday, also received a posthumous promotion to Staff Sergeant, the Maryland National Guard said Wednesday.

McMullen, 25, was wounded near Ramadi when a homemade explosive device went off near his unit, the Baltimore-based 243rd Engineering Company.

He died last week at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

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