ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - A sailor from western Maryland who was fatally shot protecting another sailor aboard a Navy destroyer has been laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Mayo of Hagerstown was buried Friday.
The 24-year-old sailor was posthumously awarded the Navy Marine Corps Medal. That’s the highest noncombatant decoration for heroism by a sailor or Marine.
The vice chief of naval operations, Admiral Mark Ferguson, presented the award to Mayo’s family before the burial. The citation says Mayor acted with total disregard for his own safety when he dove between another sailor and a civilian truck driver who had seized her gun aboard the USS Mahan at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on March 24.
The Navy says Mayo’s actions saved the lives of four others.
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