John Ethan Place is an American serviceman who served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

as a

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

. In

Fallujah Fallujah ( ar, ٱلْفَلُّوجَة, al-Fallūjah, Iraqi pronunciation: ) is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jew ...

, which the US Army bombarded, the then-twenty-year-old sniper killed 32 people (insurgents) in thirteen days, from April 11 to April 24, 2004. He received the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

, the military's third highest award.

Early life

Ethan Place grew up in

Lake St. Louis, Missouri The City of Lake St. Louis is a planned community situated around two lakes between Interstate 70 and Interstate 64 in western St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 16,707 as of the 2020 US Census. History In January ...

and graduated from

Wentzville Holt High School Wentzville Holt High School (Emil E. Holt Sr. High School, or simply Holt High School) is the oldest of the four high schools in the Wentzville R-IV School District and second oldest high school in St. Charles County, Missouri. With a 2020-21 enrol ...

in 2001. He played varsity quarterback for three years in high school. He entertained some offers to play college football, but he was not sure he was ready to attend college. Ethan chose instead to enlist in the Marine Corps.

Military service

Ethan enlisted in the Marine Corps and shipped out to boot camp less than a month after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

of 2001. He was convinced by a corporal to try to get into sniper school, where he was among twelve in a class of 24 that passed. During the

First Battle of Fallujah The First Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an operation against militants in Fallujah as well as an attempt to apprehend or kill the perpetrators of the killing of four U.S. contractors in March 2004. The chief ca ...

, Place amassed 32 confirmed kills from April 11 to April 24, 2004. On April 26 he left the cover of his defensive position to carry wounded Marines to safety, and killing five insurgents. His leaders thought enough of his actions that Place was nominated for a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. When leadership reviewed the Summary of Action that detailed his actions, they decided to elevate his honour to a

Post-military career

After completing his military service, Place returned home to the St. Louis area and enrolled at

Lindenwood University Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Charles, Missouri. Founded in 1827 by George Champlin Sibley and Mary Easton Sibley as The Lindenwood School for Girls, it is the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Missis ...

in 2006, with the goal of becoming a history teacher and football coach. While studying at Lindenwood, he began working as an assistant football coach under Chris Shields at Wentzville Holt High School. Place graduated from Lindenwood in 2010. In 2011, Place moved to Joplin, Missouri when Shields accepted the head coaching position at Joplin High School. Place served as an offensive coordinator and also taught American History at Joplin. In 2015, Place returned to Wentzville to become head football coach at Holt High School. Place led the Indians to an 8–2 record in 2020, capped off by the team's first playoff win in eight years. In the day immediately following that first playoff win, the remainder of the 2020 season was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Ethan has led the Holt Indians to their first state championship game after going 13–0, the Indians first ever undefeated season.https://issuu.com/dmsgroup/docs/08-21-2021/20

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Place, Ethan 1980s births United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War People from Lake St. Louis, Missouri United States Marines Recipients of the Silver Star Living people