Four years after a Marine from the Hudson Valley was critically wounded in Iraq, a fellow soldier was awarded a prestigious medal Monday for saving his life.

A formal ceremony took place at Stewart Air Base in Orange County, where Marine Cpl. Carl Schaeffer was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. Schaeffer is credited with helping Sgt. Eddie Ryan on the day he was shot by crawling though gunfire to shield Ryan's body with his own.

Schaeffer says the strength Ryan shows, pushing through the brain injury he sustained, is what's really inspiring.