NAPERVILLE, Ill. — A US Marine staff sergeant currently assigned to Recruiting substation DuPage South in the Chicago suburb of Naperville has put in to be awarded the Navy Cross due to wounds suffered from exposure to the war torn city.

Staff Sgt. Delroy McGovern submitted a formal request for the award to Headquarters Marine Corps yesterday, citing the widespread violence and total lack of order and discipline in the city as justification for the award. McGovern, a Fox Crossing, Mt. native, said the past 14 months "on the streets" had been a soul-hardening experience.

“Having spent my entire eight-year career in a supply warehouse until I arrived here. I never really thought about what war or combat would be like,” he told reporters after a poolee fun run at a nearby park. “This experience though. This tour of duty has changed me completely.”

The city of Chicago has seen 3,154 shootings, 488 of them fatal, in calendar year 2016 — a spike of more than 80% from the previous year. The city of Naperville, however, has reported only a single murder this year and is consistently listed as a top city in America in which to live and raise a family.