Sgt. Scott Kenyon was leading a squad of Schofield Barracks soldiers on June 6, 2008, west of Abu Ghraib, Iraq, on a mission to counter some men spotted planting a roadside bomb.

A firefight ensued and the 22-year-old Michigan native shot two men but was hit twice in the process by an enemy fighter's silenced 9 mm machine gun, officials said. One bullet was stopped by a protective plate in Kenyon's body armor; the other lodged in his helmet.

Kenyon overpowered the wounded enemy fighter and took away his weapon, and a second squad was able to move in to secure the area.

Kenyon on Friday will receive the Silver Star at Schofield Barracks for actions that "undoubtedly prevented the loss of life within his squad and platoon," the medal citation says.

The Silver Star is the third highest military decoration that can be awarded to U.S. armed services personnel.

The presentation will be at 11 a.m. at the 25th Infantry Division Memorial near the entrance to Fernandez Hall, the division headquarters at Schofield Barracks.

Kenyon is with the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry "Gimlets," a unit that is part of Schofield's 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

The 4,300-soldier unit had about 330 Stryker armored vehicles in Iraq on a 15-month deployment that ended in January and February.

Although the Stryker brigade soldiers have been home for several months, the unit's 19-ton Stryker vehicles are just now starting to return to O'ahu after receiving maintenance at Fort Lewis in Washington state.

About 45 of the vehicles have returned to Hawai'i in a process that is expected to take several months, officials said.