Honoree: Michael P. Cardenaz


Michael P. Cardenaz
Dates: Died February 20, 2010
Hometown: Corona, CA
Branch of Service: Army
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Player: Grant Greazel

Staff Sergeant Michael Cardenaz, 29, of Corona, Calif., was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo. He died February 20, 2010, when enemy forces attacked his unit with rocket-propelled grenades in Chapa Dara, Afghanistan.

SSG Cardenaz graduated from Corona High School and enlisted in the Army in 1998. Throughout his career, he was deployed five times including twice to Kosovo, twice to Iraq, and his final tour in Afghanistan.

On one occasion, he was awarded The Soldier’s Medal, the highest non-combat honor a soldier can earn, for his attempt, in full gear, to save four other soldiers whose Humvee had plunged into a murky canal in Iraq. Although it was too late to save the soldiers, he and an officer kept at it until all were retrieved.

SSG Cardenaz was an avid Los Angeles Dodgers fan, loved fishing, listening to music, driving around to new places and making people laugh. “He was the bravest man I have ever met,” said John Maldonado, a fellow soldier who served with Staff Sgt. Cardenaz in Kosovo and Germany.

Michael is survived by his wife, Macarena; 5 children, Jason, Jasmine, Mariella, Mariliz and Marianna.