Wounded Marine from Camp Pendleton honored at World Series

A former Marine from Camp Pendleton, severely wounded in Iraq, was honored in a pregame ceremony before Wednesday night's first game of the 2011 World Series.

James Sperry and his 5-year-old daughter, Hannah, along with Dr. Jill Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama, received a standing ovation from the crowd at Busch Stadium in St. Louis before the game between the Cardinals and the Texas Rangers.

Sperry, a machine-gunner, served with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment during the November 2004 battle in Fallouja, the most intense urban warfare the Marines had faced since Vietnam.

He was wounded multiple times from small-arms fire, improvised explosive devices and a rocket-propelled grenade as Marines confronted insurgents in barricaded homes and other buildings.

Medically retired from the Marine Corps in 2006, Sperry still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. He works as a counselor for wounded veterans with the Wounded Warrior Regiment and the Midwest Marines Foundation.

A native of Belleville, Ill., Sperry is a lifelong Cardinals fan.

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Photo: First Lady Michelle Obama, right, and Dr. Jill Biden listen to the national anthem with Hannah Sperry, 5, and her father, medically-retired Marine Lance Cpl. James Sperry, before the Texas Rangers play the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the World Series.

Credit: Jim Young / Reuters