David Bellavia

David Bellavia
Nickname(s)	Bell
Born	(1975-11-10) November 10, 1975
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1999-2005
Rank	Staff Sergeant
Unit	2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Battles/wars	Iraq War Second Battle of Fallujah
Awards	Silver Star Bronze Star Medal Army Commendation Medal Army Achievement Medal

David Bellavia (born November 10, 1975) is an American Iraq War veteran who was awarded the Silver Star for his actions during the Second Battle of Fallujah. Bellavia has also received the Bronze Star, three Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross. He has also been nominated for the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross. In 2005, Bellavia was inducted into the New York Veterans' Hall of Fame.^[1] He has subsequently been involved with politics in Western New York State. Bellavia was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. He attended Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire and the University at Buffalo.^[2]

Military service

Bellavia enlisted in the United States Army in July 1999 and deployed to Iraq after serving in Kosovo.

The actions for which Bellavia earned a Silver Star took place on his 29th birthday. As a member of Company A, Task Force 2-2, 1st Infantry Division, his platoon was assigned during Operation Phantom Fury to clear a block of twelve buildings from which insurgents were firing on American forces. The platoon began searching house-to-house. At the tenth house, Bellavia fatally shot an insurgent preparing to load a rocket-propelled grenade. A second insurgent fired at him, and Bellavia wounded him in the shoulder. When Staff Sergeant Bellavia entered a bedroom, the wounded insurgent followed, forcing Bellavia to kill him. When another insurgent began firing from upstairs, Bellavia returned fire and killed him. A fourth insurgent then jumped out of a closet in the bedroom, yelling and firing his weapon as he leaped over a bed trying to reach Bellavia. The insurgent tripped and Bellavia wounded him. Bellavia chased the insurgent when he ran upstairs. He followed the wounded insurgent's bloody footprints to a room on the left and threw in a fragmentation grenade. Upon entering the room, Bellavia discovered it was filled with propane tanks and plastic explosives. He did not fire his weapon for fear of setting off an explosion and instead then engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the insurgent, which lead to Bellavia killing the insurgent by stabbing him in the collarbone with a Gerber LMF Infantry combat Knife.

His actions in Fallujah were first documented in the November 22, 2004 Time magazine cover story, "Into the Hot Zone", by journalist Michael Ware, who was attached with Bellavia's unit during the fight.

After serving for six years, Bellavia left the service with the rank of Staff Sergeant in 2005.

Subsequent career

Bellavia lives in Batavia, New York^[3] and was Vice Chairman and co-founder of Vets for Freedom. He attended the 2006 State of the Union address as an honored guest. He currently is President of EMPact America, an American energy resiliency organization based in Elma, New York. He has three children.

In 2007, Bellavia published a memoir, House to House: An Epic Memoir of War, co-written with John R. Bruning.^[4] In September 2010, the book was chosen as one of the top five best Iraq War memoirs by journalist Thomas Ricks (author of Fiasco).^[5] In 2012, Bellavia signed an agreement with 2012 Oscar-winning producer Rich Middlemas to make his memoir into a major motion picture.^[6]

Since leaving the U.S. Army, Bellavia has twice run for congress in New York's 26th congressional district.

In 2008, he ran in the Republican primary to succeed retiring representative Tom Reynolds. Bellavia dropped out of the race before the Republican Party ballot was finalized and endorsed Republican Chris Lee, who went on to win the seat.

When Lee resigned from office in 2011, Bellavia again tried for the seat. State party officials endorsed State Assemblywoman Jane Corwin, so Bellavia launched an unsuccessful third-party bid, forming the "Federalist Party of New York" with political operatives that had previously been involved in the short-lived Taxpayers Party.^[7] The New York State Tea Party announced their displeasure with the Republican party's choice of Corwin, and hinted that they might back Bellavia's run,^[8] but the ruling of State Board of Elections that Bellavia's petition to be placed on the ballot was deficient ended his 2011 run.^[9] Bellavia, in turn, endorsed perennial candidate Jack Davis, who likewise had been spurned by the Republicans during the endorsement process and was running on a third-party candidacy backed by a competing Tea Party faction.

Bellavia was a candidate in the 2012 GOP primary for the since-renumbered 27th congressional district of New York. Bellavia competed against Chris Collins, the former county executive of Erie County, for the Republican nomination. Buoyed by the endorsements of four of the five GOP county committees that endorsed, Bellavia and Collins faced off in a June 26, 2012 primary. Collins won both the primary and the general election even though Bellavia won six of NY 27th Congressional District's eight counties.

Bellavia joined the staff of WBEN in late 2012 as a fill-in host and became the station's permanent late-night host in October 2013.^[10] Bellavia left the show on November 4, 2013.^[11] Currently, Bellavia is working on his second book. Recently on WBEN, he announced plans to pursue a career in musicals. David starred in 'Singin in the Rain' while in high school. WBEN listeners often ask David about his song and dance career when he fills in. He also collects top hats and builds sandcastles in his spare time.

References

External links

• Silver Star citation
• Interview on House to House at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on March 19, 2009