Remembering A "Star" Marine

It may have been one of the proudest moments of Gary Stokes's life, but it's also one he would trade for anything in the world.

This past summer, his son Sean, a Marine who had served in Iraq, told his family he was now floating on an aircraft carrier far away from danger.

"When did you know something was wrong?" CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy asked Sean's father.

"I didn't even know he was in Iraq until the Marines knocked on my door," Gary Stokes said. The Marine at his door said: "We regret to inform you that your son has been killed in Iraq."

Sean had been in Iraq for 45 days. It was the third tour for the former athlete, who chose the Marines over college after 9/11.

Was his family upset about it? Did they say, "I don't want you to do this?"

Yes, they told Tracy.

In Fallujah, Sean moved house to house hunting down Iraqi insurgents.

What he did was so dangerous it was documented by journalists.

The History Channel showed him saying: "Every house I walk up saying a prayer, like 'get me out of this one, Lord, please.'"

He was only a private, but Sean stood out, often volunteering to go in first, directly in the line of fire.

Wounded several times, he made it home - twice.

"We said, 'Sean, please, you've done your part. No more, please'" his father said.

But Sean wouldn't let down his fellow Marines. He returned to Iraq for a third time. On patrol, Sean stepped on a roadside bomb.

This week, on what would have been his 25th birthday, Sean was awarded the coveted Silver Star for courage in battle.

"The young men and women who have answered that call ... we can't just forget them," a guest said at the awards ceremony.

That goes especially for a Marine who proved at such an early age that being a hero has nothing to do with rank.