Wichita ? Pfc. Patrick Miller has been awarded the Silver Star for his efforts during a fatal ambush in southern Iraq that ended with 11 U.S. soldiers killed and six captured.

Miller, 23, of Valley Center, may have killed as many as nine Iraqi fighters before he and the five other soldiers were taken captive by the Iraqis, a U.S. Army report says.

The report also says that mistakes and malfunctions led the Army’s 507th Maintenance Co. into the ambush on March 23 — the third day of the war.

More than three dozen medals have been awarded to soldiers in the ambush, including Bronze Stars, Purple Hearts and Prisoner of War Medals, officials said. Miller was the only one to receive the Silver Star, which is awarded for bravery in combat.

The report assigns no individual blame but it makes clear that trouble began when the unit’s commander, Capt. Troy King, took the wrong route. That mistake put his convoy of 33 soldiers in 18 vehicles on a path to tragedy.

It said the unprecedented speed of the U.S. ground advance from assault positions in northern Kuwait was a contributing factor because it overextended the 507th support convoy’s communications.

Of 33 people and 18 vehicles ambushed, only 16 soldiers in eight vehicles got away, the report said. Two soldiers in the convoy were from the 3rd Forward Support Battalion and are among the 11 killed. It was the deadliest day of the Iraq war for U.S. forces.

Miller was released with four other POWs April 13.

Former prisoner of war Patrick Miller, of Wichita, has been honored with the Silver Star for bravery during an ambush in Iraq. Miller, a member of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas, threw the ceremonial first pitch Thursday at a Texas League baseball game in El Paso, Texas.