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Staff Sgt. Chad Malmberg became the first Minnesota National Guard member to be awarded the Silver Star since World War II.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty pinned the medal on the 27-year-old soldier from St. Paul at a ceremony on Saturday attended by about 1,000 of his fellow soldiers and their families at RiverCentre in St. Paul.

"He's a hero, no question about it," the governor said.

Malmberg led a fierce 50-minute firefight south of Baghdad to defend a convoy escort team. No one in his crew was killed or injured in the fight with 30 or more insurgents eight months ago.

"I remember when I was a little kid my dad telling me, 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but it's the size of the fight in the dog.' That day, we had a lot of fight in us," he said.