Marine Sgt. Wade D. Wilson, 22, of Centerville, who died last year in combat in Afghanistan, will receive a posthumous Silver Star Thursday in a ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he was based.

The Silver Star is the third highest combat award given for bravery.

Major General Ronald L. Bailey, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, will present the award to Wilson's mother.

Wilson was an anti-tank missile-man who was on his second deployment to Afghanistan when he was killed by an insurgent in a close-quarters firefight in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.

The Marines say Wilson left his armored vehicle and put himself between the insurgent and a critically wounded Marine.

Wilson, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, from Camp Pendleton, Calif., was a 2007 graduate of Centerville High School, where he played football and ran track.