At one point, U. Defense Secretary Robert Gates considered pulling the battalion out. But Morris and other top Marines said it would be a mistake. They wanted to retain control of Sangin because it was the epicenter of opium production and financing in Helmand Province, and its loss would negatively impact their ability to finance their war.
We crushed the Taliban. It sent a shockwave through the North Helmand Province, that the Marine Corps was there and took the fight to them and destroyed them. We cleared out Sangin where the Afghan people could live in a semblance of peace. My Marines accomplished the mission with their heads held high and kept their honor clean. Chischilly grew up on a Navajo reservation and later in Phoenix.
Chischilly first deployed to Iraq in Then two more times. He re-enlisted and had planned on getting a break from fighting. On Oct. An artillery unit provided cover as they withdrew. Chischilly was second from the end as they walked in a single line, an Afghan policeman behind him. Suddenly, a blast went off. Unfortunately, he gave his life and I lost a leg.
I was more upset I was taken out of the fight. Carlos Garcia was 19 when he joined the Marines. He had grown up in a rough part of Los Angeles and decided that joining the military was his only way out. When he deployed to Afghanistan as a combat engineer attached to an infantry unit, it was his job to be out in front with a metal detector, looking for IEDs. The first time he failed at his job, he said, was when Lance Cpl. James Boelk was killed after stepping on a pressure plate right behind him.
After that patrol, he said, he never let the squads get close to him. I would sweep everything. On Nov. He came alongside a ditch and jumped in. As he did, a pressure plate went off. I realized my legs were destroyed. Ceniceros was one of the 25 men killed during the deployment. The Marine died Oct.
He was awarded a posthumous Silver Star for courage in combat. We got through the first part with no casualties only because he drew fire to himself. They were attacked a second time, Patterson said, and again Ceniceros ran out to engage the Taliban. Despite being shot through the chest, he picked up his machine gun and moved to a different place. Corpsmen came out to give him treatment and he threw them off with one arm. He got back behind the gun until he died. He died pulling the trigger.
He did that because four Marines were still stuck. Family members of Marine Lance Cpl. Ceniceros died in while serving in Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. They became part of the Wounded Warrior Regiment, through which active-duty Marines receive services for their injuries and eventually are helped with transitioning out of the service.
Though they were in the same battalion, they first met at the Balboa Naval Medical Hospital where they bonded over handcycling. They trained together and eventually both signed up for a marathon. They soon moved on to wheelchair basketball where they competed at the Marine Corps Trials. Later, they joined the San Diego Wolfpack, the only wheelchair basketball team in the U. For us, it was very tough love.
We were always there for each other. In August the Battalion was deactivated following World War I and less than two years later, in May , the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines was reactivated. For the next several years, men of the 3rd Battalion served in the Caribbean and at home, guarding the U.
In March , the 3rd Battalion deployed to Nicaragua to help stabilize the government against overthrow attempts by rebel forces. For the next six years, the Battalion aided the Nicaraguan Government until peace was finally restored. The victory won, the 3rd Battalion was once again disbanded on January In November , the 3rd Battalion was reactivated for the fourth time, only to be deactivated in March In April , their mission accomplished, 3rd Battalion was disbanded and most of the Pacific Veterans returned to civilian life.
During October of , 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines was activated in Guam. During August , the Battalion deployed to fight the Communist force invading the Republic of Korea. At the close of hostilities, the 3rd Battalion returned to the United States, settling at Camp Pendleton as part of the free world forces poised for deployment anywhere their fighting experience was needed.
0コメント