Photo Series Marine Narrowly Escapes Death In Afghanistan
May 18: A U.S. Marine from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit flinches in a firefight with the Taliban near Garmser in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The Marine was uninjured in the exchange.
WOW, just fucking wow…..
Fox News
Dramatic photos show a Marine’s narrow escape from death Sunday while facing insurgent gunfire in Afghanistan.
The Marine, part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), was exchanging gunfire with Taliban fighters near Garmser in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province when a Reuters photographer captured the soldier’s very close call.
A series of six photos show the Marine, wearing a T-shirt and fatigues but no combat helmet, ducking as insurgent gunfire tears through the top of a mud wall he’s using for cover. Remarkably, the Marine escaped the gunfight without injury.
“The insurgents are finding that every time they engage with the Marines, they lose,” Col. Peter Petronzio, commander of the 24th MEU, said in a statement issued May 10. “The Marines are gaining ground every day and securing more of the routes through the district. The support we have received from our allied partners has contributed to our many successes thus far.”
The Garmser district has been the center of a joint operation of U.S. and British troops designed to put pressure on Taliban insurgents, Agence France-Presse reports.
Troops have targeted this region on the Pakistan border that has served as a route for supplies and reinforcements for insurgents since April 28.
“Definitely they are putting resistance in the area because Garmser is very important for them,” Gen. Carlos Branco, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, told the AFP.
“Garmser is a planning, staging and logistics hub. Once lost it will mean a severe defeat for them,” he told the agency. “That is why they are reinforcing with insurgents coming from other places, both north and south.”
Branco told the AFP that the insurgents had suffered “heavy” losses.
Click here to read the AFP’s story at News.com.au.
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PUT YOUR FUCKING HELMET ON!
grr
I do wonder if the Reuters photog bothered to check on the Marine afterwards or just started shouting “Allahu akbar!”.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:54 amProbably the later.
Allahu Akbar. Another dead piggy.
Who says Allahu is on their side. 
May 19th, 2008 at 7:19 amHajis must have caught our guys in some down time, there’s another marine in the background who doesn’t have his gear on either. Damn glad everyone came through OK.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:23 amWhy don’t they show the dead hadjis? Oh, that’s right, they’d have to show some bias, right?
May 19th, 2008 at 7:50 amwoah woah woah. You commander dared to let a photographer come around without everyone in proper uniform? Where’s the blouse, flak jacket, helmet? My CO would have finished the hadji’s job for him if we were found like that. We once had to use the last of our drinking water with no eta on a resup to shave so we would look good for fucking Geraldo “I’m a piece of shit” Rivera.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:03 am“PUT YOUR FUCKING HELMET ON!”
May 19th, 2008 at 8:26 amthe helmets aren’t rated to stop even AK rounds. they’re not as useful as people think.
the al reuter photog may have had the shooting timed by his buddies so he could get some good pics.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:28 amthese marines (and the reporter) were probably at a forward operating base where they thought they were safe from enemy contact. complacency kills.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:50 amOK THERE FRICKIN YOOHOO. I DON’T KNOW WHY I HAVE FRICKIN DEVIL DOGS WHO THINK THEY CAN RUN AROUND AFGHANISTAN WITHOUT PROPER PROTECTIVE GEAR, AND WITHOUT A DOG-GONE BLOUSE. GOOD TO GO. GOOD TO GO. I’LL NJP HIM. MAX HIM OUT. HOW ABOUT AYE FIRST SERGEANT?
May 19th, 2008 at 9:13 amthank God that Marine survived! he lives to fight another day to help push back the piggies and bring freedom to godless land. God Bless them, keep them safe.
P.S. God, help them to remember to throw on their gear.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:32 amHeadline should read, “Marine Cheats Death, Fails to Cheat Ass-Chewing by First Sergeant”. Because I guarantee he got one after the picture was published. Not to mention the talk his plt cmdr probably had with the Bn XO. Even if there were a legit reason for him being in a firefight with no PPE, shit will definitely flow downhill from that photo being published.
And by the way, helmets do sometimes stop AK rounds. Situationally dependent on range and angle of impact. FYI.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:40 amBaby, if you’re gonna “go commando” do it the right way …
Let ‘the boys’ be free (looks like those skivvies might need changing after that anyway …) … But wear your helmet, for shit-sake! Your face is too damn pretty for target practice.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:29 am“And by the way, helmets do sometimes stop AK rounds. Situationally dependent on range and angle of impact. FYI.” And my forehead stopped shrapnel from dual 133s at less than 10 feet.
Weird shit happens. The helmets are not at all intended to stop rifle rounds, and, more importantly, when the shit hits the fan, you return fire, before you worry about whether some pog first sergeant is going to chew you out for not putting your PPE because you were too busy slinging lead.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:28 pmDamn. Any day a Marine or soldier walks away from a firefight in one piece is a good day. Dude, put your shit on…
May 19th, 2008 at 12:35 pmWe gotta send this guy to a Code Pinko demonstration so we can see what happens when THEY don’t wear their friggin’ helmet.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:38 pmI myself would prefer some impact resistant goggle/safety glasses to save the eyes from the fragements. Then again shit probably happened so fast that it was not an option. How else woula AP photographers otherwise be anywhere near the action in most circumstances to get that type of photo series?
May 19th, 2008 at 2:24 pmSaw this when I was at work. Damn glad he is alright.
I am sure his commander reamed him out for not wearing all his gear. I am sure all of his brothers, friends and loveds will be next in line to chew him out as well.
I don’t know how true it is since I have never served but I heard that sometimes the gear interferes and that is why they sometimes do not wear the helmet?
Anyone know if that is true?
May 19th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
He should buy the lotto
May 19th, 2008 at 3:18 pmLooks like something out of a fucking movie. Die Hard III
Something to tell the grandkids about.
Semper Fi.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:00 pm“What did you do in the war, Daddy?”
“Well sweetie, go grab my photo album”
Hope he lives to share these photos with his great-grandkids!
Thanks Marine!
May 19th, 2008 at 4:49 pmcan everyone stop with the “put your gear on” BS. seeing as how this devil dog has nothing on but trousers, boots and his skivie shirt, he was probably doing some PT, sleeping or in the shitter when the firefight started, grabbed a rifle and shared some lead love with the enemy. thankfully nothing happened to him, and thankfully he had the sense to fight imediately rather than find his gear while the enemy was shooting him
May 19th, 2008 at 7:03 pmI wore a boonie in Somolia.
Helmets are good, BA is good… But when your number is up your number is up, all the gear in the world won’t change it.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:03 pmexactly, monkey.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:16 pmFaith of Judas
“when the shit hits the fan, you return fire, before you worry about whether some pog first sergeant is going to chew you out for not putting your PPE because you were too busy slinging lead.”
agreed.
May 20th, 2008 at 2:51 amI think it’s kind of funny that even though he’s not wearing any ppe, he still has his boots bloused. Hopefully he pointed that out to the first sergeant at some point during the ass chewing.
May 20th, 2008 at 2:54 amI don’t know how many times I got my ass chewed by my 1stSgt in Iraq for not having my throat protecter snapped. And for not having nametapes on my trousers. And for having a rip in my blouse. hahahahaha
May 20th, 2008 at 5:06 amI don’t know much about fighting bad men as I’ve made abundantly clear in the past (complete civilian) but I do have to wonder, “if I were sitting in some ravine and it was about 207 degrees in that netherworld called Afghanistan, I’d have to think that all that gear gets so f*king hot, you feel like you’re dead if you don’t strip.”
Probably explains why I am absolutely sure I’d have been fragged from some higher up for my smart mouth and it’s best for me to simply root for the good guys in my air-conditioned house.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Rather you are for the War or not the first round that lands near you will throw all the politics out the window! 
May 20th, 2008 at 10:53 am
0311YutYut
May 20th, 2008 at 3:57 pmdon’t forget the lectures about having your sleeves rolled down properly before entering some chowhall
all i am going to say is that is fucking motivating.
May 20th, 2008 at 4:14 pmmy team got kicked out of the chowhall several times after patrols for being “too dirty”
May 20th, 2008 at 7:37 pmIt’s a shame our government doesn’t do for this Marine what they did for the Marines on Iwo who raised the flag for the famous photo0. I’m not going to compare this photographer to Joe Rosenthal because I don’t know the whole story. We won’t see these photo’s in any papers or on any stamps but we should. Remember war has winners and losers. Unfortunately, these days we have to search the blogs to find out who is who because the press will not publish it. Tell your friends,
May 20th, 2008 at 8:50 pm“The insurgents are finding that every time they engage with the Marines, they lose,”
Personally, I’d like to read a lot more of that!
Dude told his wife,he was changing clothes when they came under attack,he didnt have time to go get his helmit,was to bussy shooting back.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356924,00.html
May 21st, 2008 at 9:54 am