Fighting 69th

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March 18th, 2006 -- Wearing his uniform for perhaps the last time, Fighting 69th hero Daniel Swift accepted an extraordinary military honor yesterday - the Bronze Star with Valor - for risking his life to save injured comrades in Iraq. "It's a great honor," the 25-year-old Manhattan firefighter said during a ceremony at the National Guard's Lexington Ave. headquarters. "It's a shame that two guys had to get killed for me to get a medal. It makes it bittersweet," Swift said. Swift's pals Christian Engeldrum, a 39-year-old married father of three and FDNY firefighter and Wilfredo Urbina, 29, of Long Island, were killed instantly on Nov. 29, 2004. Their Humvee patrol was ambushed and hit with 300 pounds of explosives on a rural road in Taji. Swift's Bronze Star is recognition of how he crawled through the smoking wreckage to care for several wounded soldiers.Swift suffered shrapnel wounds, spent two weeks in a German military hospital, months rehabilitating in the U.S. and still has limited vision in his right eye. "I was petrified," Swift recalled. "Absolutely." Friends and family gathered yesterday to salute the modest firefighter and soldier whose picture graced yesterday's Daily News front page. Daniel Swift said he doesn't plan to return to combat, but will continue to serve New York as one of the city's Bravest.

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Job well done!

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Congrats on a job well done.