"It is very fitting that we take this morning, the morning of our Marine Corps' 235th birthday to honor our fallen hero, 1st Lt. Mike Johnson," Urbina said. "This dedication is but a small step toward ensuring that our hero's life and all of his accomplishments are never forgotten."

A communications officer by trade, Johnson served with Embedded Training Team 2-8 and 1st Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 201st Corps, Afghan National Army, as an advisor and mentor to Afghan soldiers, and is where he would perform the actions that earned him a Bronze Star with a combat distinguishing device.

In the early hours of Sept. 8, 2009, Johnson and his team of advisors patrolled through Ganjgal Valley, Afghanistan to conduct a meeting with village elders after sweeping the area for weapons and suspected enemy forces.

At approximately 5:30 a.m., as the patrol moved to the village, Johnson and the lead security element of the patrol came under heavy fire from an enemy force which was estimated to consist of more than 80 insurgents.

Johnson directed the security element to take cover near a retaining wall and return fire. Shortly afterward, another enemy force, fighting from a house on their flank, opened fire with automatic weapons.

Johnson immediately led a hasty attack in order to clear a house from which they were taking fire and then use it for cover.

After Johnson and his element cleared the house, they received heavy machine gun fire and sustained rocket propelled grenade fire from other nearby houses. Meanwhile, the enemy began an attempt to isolate them from the rest of the patrol.

Johnson quickly made the decision to fight out of the enemy encirclement and move toward the remainder of the patrol.

As they bounded across 150 meters under enemy fire from three directions, Johnson received the first of several wounds.

The team finally took cover in a small ditch. It was from this position that Johnson began to give directions to establish a hasty defense and return fire. As he began to direct supporting arms, Johnson was mortally wounded.

The hasty defense allowed the interpreter and several Afghan soldiers to escape the fire fight, regain contact with the rest of the patrol and continue to fight through the rest of the engagement.

"For those of us who were lucky enough to know (Johnson), we all knew that he was awesome. He was a young, happy go-lucky person and was always optimistic," said 1st Lt. Jason Smith, regimental communication officer, Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III MEF.

The room will serve as a reminder to all that step in it of Johnson's act in the Ganjgal Valley that day, said Urbina. "We owe him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid."