At barely 39 degrees Fahrenheit outside, the two women of Female Engagement Team 6 warmed their red, sniffling noses by drinking hot chocolate out of canteen cups. It was early morning and they had little sleep from the cold night before. The Marines began dressing in their body armor, preparing for their upcoming day of work.

Sergeants Jessica Lugo and Autumn Sekely were getting ready to go out in support of Marines with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, and the Afghan National Civil Order Police during a recent security patrol through their area of Sangin district, Helmand province.

Sergeants Jessica Lugo -left- and Autumn Sekely -right-, of Female Engagement Team 6, walk into a village leader’s compound in Sangin district, Helmand province. Sekely, of Pittsburgh, and Lugo, of San Pedro, Calif., are assigned to support 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, by engaging with the local women and children, building trust and rapport between local residents and the Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces. Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Katherine Keleher

The purpose of the day was to familiarize Marines new to the unit with the area, while also giving Lugo and Sekely the opportunity to interact with local women and children.
While supporting the infantry Marines with 2nd Marine Division (Forward), FET socialized with local children passing by, handing out candy and pencils while sharing smiling faces through the language barrier.

“Establishing a good relationship with the children and their families is very important, and it’s one of our primary tasks here,” said Sekely, a reservist from Pittsburgh. “It helps build trust and rapport. They really appreciate that the Marines make an effort to respect their culture by having FET out here.”
When wrapping up the introduction of the area to the new Marines, 1st Squad made a pit stop at one of the village leader’s compounds while on its way back to the patrol base.

The village leader opened the doors to his home with open arms, allowing FET inside to talk with his wife and children.

“The women, they stay in the compounds while the men are in the bazaars and farming fields working,” explained Lugo, also a reservist who is from San Pedro, Calif. “They hear a lot of things from the people who come in and out of their compounds. So when we get there, these women are just aching to talk. They’re just like we are, and they want their voices to be heard.”

Sergeants Jessica Lugo and Autumn Sekely, of Female Engagement Team 6, walk into a village leader’s compound in Sangin district, Helmand province. Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Katherine Keleher

During their visit with the village leader and his family, the Marines and Afghans used an interpreter to discuss the possibility of building a water well in the village, as well as raising money to build a mosque.

“Things like this take a lot of money and time,” Lugo, the FET 6 team leader, told them.

While carrying on the conversation with the adults, Lugo and Sekley played with the children, giving them crayons and paper, showing them how to color.

“We have the capability of talking to one-hundred percent of the population,” Lugo, a military policewoman by trade, explained. “It’s not only engaging the women of Afghanistan for us, it’s engaging with everyone. Like today, the village leader talked to us. You would think in (this culture) the men wouldn’t want to talk to us, but they do. They’re kind of intrigued by having women in military clothing around.

“The (local residents) are very intrigued by us. They see us, the color of our skin, the color of our eyes, us carrying a rifle walking alongside the males. They see that we’re equal,” Lugo added.

Working side-by-side, FET and 3/7 have until spring to continue working together, winning over hearts and minds and helping the Afghan people toward a brighter tomorrow.

By Cpl. Katherine Keleher
DVIDS

Marines with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, shovel mud and obstacles out of a canal, July 30. Marines, Afghan soldiers, and locals all helped repair two canals in the area. Photo by Lance Cpl. Eric Laclair

As Marines with Company K continue to stabilize Sangin through regular patrols and frequent interaction with the public, a few Marines and Afghan soldiers lent a hand to help local villagers repair a few canals, July 30.

Marines of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, along with Afghan National Army soldiers and local Afghan villagers, coordinated a project to rebuild two canals in Sangin.

“There were approximately 30 local nationals, 30 Marines, and 20 ANA soldiers,” said Company K’s 1st Sgt. Michael Woods.

“We had our engineers on site, along with all their equipment,” Woods continued. “Coupled with the muscle of the Marines, ANA, and the local population, we were able to put shovels in the ground and make the water flow again.”

The canals were not the only things that were built during the day.

“They helped us build the bridges that get us into their neighborhoods,” said Woods, a 36-year-old native of Kansas City, Miss. “And they allowed us to build a road that cuts through their fields.”

The day-long community event impacted more than dirt and water.

“We wanted to show the locals that the coalition forces are here to do good,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Aaron Belcher, the senior line-corpsmen with Company K, 3rd Bn., 7th Marines. “We showed them that we will help them put in a hard day’s work.”

Marines dug wearing Kevlar helmets and flak jackets, but the locals, wearing no protective armor, had much more to risk.

“This was the locals’ way of showing the Taliban that they are willing to help us and that they are interested in change,” Woods said. “The fact that they had the courage to help Marines and ANA build a road that leads deep into enemy territory is historic.”

The ANA soldiers were able to help Marines communicate with the local villagers. They helped, not only by interpreting words between Marines and locals but by reinforcing their own messages that the Marines and ANA are here to improve Sangin and rid it of insurgency.

“The Afghan Army is able to speak the language of the people and tell them that there is a better future,” Woods said. “They are true patriots and are very optimistic about Marines and ANA making a lasting improvement in this area.”

The Afghan soldiers, however, are not the only ones who believe in this change.

“The Marines and sailors of Kilo Company do things for the right reasons,” Woods said. “They understand that their actions can affect the mission in Afghanistan.”

At the end of the day, the two canals were finished, bridges were built, and water flowed again. The locals seemed happy with the work and Marines knew they had accomplished something for the future.

“I was proud to be a part of something so inspiring,” Woods said.

DVIDS
Story by Cpl. Ned Johnson

Lance Cpl. Derek Hopkins, a mortarman with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, carries a mortar tube while walking through a flooded field during a patrol, Aug. 3. Marines with Company K carry their mortar systems on patrols for support during firefights. Photo by Cpl. Ned Johnson

When the Marines of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, set out on patrol, Aug. 3, a simple civil affairs mission turned into an on-going firefight.

The task was to provide security during transport of a civil affairs team to talk to the locals about how Marines could help them, said Staff Sgt. Jesus Suarez, a platoon sergeant with Company K, 3rd Bn., 7th Marines.

Just a few minutes after the locals said there village had not seen fighting in a year, insurgents attacked with small arms and machine gun fire.

“We had a main effort push into the village and start conducting key leader engagements,” Suarez said. “That was when we got attacked by enemy forces.”

The Marines immediately found protection for nearby villagers and returned fire.

“The [insurgent] element was probably a squad size element,” said Derek Hopkins, a mortarman with Company K, 3rd Bn., 7th Marines.

After fighting continued for several minutes, Marines used fire superiority and movement to gain advantage over the enemy. Once the firing stopped, the Marines continued on the mission.

Although the mission was complete, the conflict was not over.

“As we were headed back, we continued to take contact,” said Suarez, a 34-year-old native of Corpus Christi, Texas.

This time, the snipers attached to Company K took control of the battle and helped defeat the enemy. The effective fire of the snipers immediately neutralized two of the enemy combatants.

The mission was designed to establish relationships with the villagers. Even though the village swarmed with civilians, insurgents attacked anyway.

“I think they are becoming desperate,” Suarez said. “They see the success we are having and they don’t want it to spread into other areas.”

“They are causing whatever violence they can to keep the local population from working with us,” Suarez continued.

The violence, however, will not prevent the Marines from continuing to help the locals, and Hopkins said they will continue to do security patrols throughout the Northern Green Zone and search for more avenues to help the locals via civil affairs projects.

DVIDS
Story by Cpl. Ned Johnson

“It all started because the lawnmower ran out of gas,” said Maj. Trent A. Gibson, the executive officer of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, with a chuckle. “If the lawnmower hadn’t run out of gas, I would have never heard the phone ring.”

The voice he heard upon answering was that of a Marine recruiter, explaining what the Marine Corps had to offer the young man from Piedmont, Okla. Neither could imagine the future that Gibson would experience as he enlisted to become one of the few, the proud and the brave.

After twenty-two years as one of the few, Gibson experienced true pride in having served among the undeniably brave.

In the dangerous city of Karabilah, Iraq on April 14, 2004, Gibson, then a captain and the commander of Company K, 3rd Bn,, 7th Marines, went on patrol with his men of 2nd Squad, 4th Platoon.

WHO WAS JASON DUNHAM?
The carefully chosen squad leader for 2nd Squad was a 22-year-old corporal from the small town of Scio, N.Y., by the name of Jason Dunham.

“Cpl. Dunham was the quintessential Marine,” Gibson said. “He was the square-jawed, muscular all-American man you envision when someone says Marine. He had the character to back up his looks, too. There wasn’t a mean bone in his body.”

He earned respect from his men by example, not by intimidation, Gibson said of his leadership style.

“Cpl. Dunham was the kind of guy you would want your daughter to bring home,” he added.

During the patrol, their battalion commander’s convoy was ambushed nearby. Dunham led his Marines south of the ambushed convoy when vehicles began to flee the scene. As the Marines prepared to stop the vehicles, an Iraqi clad in black jumped from a white sport utility vehicle and attempted to choke Dunham. During the scuffle that ensued, the Iraqi dropped a hand grenade.

THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
Cpl. Dunham didn’t falter.

In his last conscious act he threw his Kevlar helmet – then himself – on the grenade, absorbing the blast and saving the lives of his fellow Marines who were nearby.

When the smoke cleared, Dunham lay unconscious on the hard dirt road. His Kevlar ripped into two major pieces and countless shreds by the explosion.

When Gibson arrived on scene, he inspected the small cache of weapons retrieved from the vehicles and noticed a piece of Dunham’s Kevlar leaning against the wall of a nearby building. Once he realized what exactly he had found, he and the Marines in the area scoured the street for any scraps of the Kevlar they could find.

Five years have passed since Dunham’s selfless sacrifice to save the lives of his fellow Marines earned him the Medal of Honor and a Navy destroyer bearing his name.

THE DECISION TO DISPLAY
For five years the pieces of Dunham’s Kevlar were stored within the 7th Marine Regiment–until Gibson began collaborating with Deb and Dan Dunham, Cpl. Dunham’s parents, on the proper way to preserve the history of the helmet.

The three of them had to decide either to donate the helmet to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., to display the helmet on the quarterdeck of the USS Jason Dunham along with his dress blue uniform, seal the entire thing in the destroyer’s mast or simply to bury it.

“At first we were a little uneasy about the notion of displaying it, due to the graphic nature of the object,” Gibson said. “But I mainly didn’t want the significance of the helmet to become lost. It isn’t just Marine Corps property; it was spiritually transformed to a part of the Marine Corps’ living history.”

Eventually they concluded the best way to ensure the legacy of the Kevlar and the history it represents was to donate most of the helmet to the museum, but to save a single shred to be forever sealed in the mast of the ship that bears Dunham’s name.

Gibson contacted Lin Ezell, the director of the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and coordinated to deliver the helmet to the museum during the same weekend the ship’s Mast-Stepping ceremony was being held.

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
As Gibson made his way from the Combat Center to the Marine Corps Museum, he carried with him a simple, locked black case with the combination 0-4-2 which represented Cpl. Dunham’s radio call sign of Kilo 4-2.

The case, which was never out of Gibson’s sight, attracted the attention of curious passengers throughout the trip. Gibson left each inquiring commuter with a new memory as he told them the story of what the simple black case held.

Within the first hour of arriving in Washington, D.C., July 9, Gibson made his way to the Marine Corps War Memorial and spent more than an hour sitting on the steps carefully examining the fragments of Dunham’s helmet-pieces he helped collect from the streets of Karabilah.

THE HANDOVER
After ensuring all the pieces were accounted for, he changed into his desert utility uniform and drove to Marine Corps Base Quantico to pick up Sgt. Mark Dean, one of Cpl. Dunham’s close friends and an Owasso, Okla., native, and the pair made the final leg of the journey to the museum together.

As they entered, they were greeted by Ezell and Owen Conner, the uniforms curator at the museum, and escorted upstairs to complete the exchange. Once upstairs, Gibson recounted the story and shared with the small audience the importance the helmet carried with it.

Once Gibson showed what each piece was and how the puzzle fit together, Gibson and Dean deliberated on which piece of the helmet would be appropriate to bring to the USS Jason Dunham to be forever capsulated in the destroyer’s mast.

TOAST TO A HERO
After ensuring the helmet was in competent hands, the history would be displayed for generations to come, and an appropriate piece had been set aside, the group went to the museum’s “Tun Tavern” and shared a toast.

“It’s been a while,” Dean said emotionally.

“It’s been five damn years,” Gibson replied. “Five damn years.”

After their glasses were drained and their stories shared, Gibson and Dean parted ways once again with promises of reunions to come. They parted with the Kevlar that Cpl. Jason Dunham used to selflessly save his fellow Marines’ lives – but not with Dunham. He will live with them forever in spirit and history.

DVIDS
Story by Pfc. Michael Gams

Lance Cpl. Brady Gustafson, a machine gunner with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, stands in from of the battalion at perfect parade rest, despite the amputation of his right leg below the knee. Gustafson received the Navy Cross and a meritorious promotion to corporal during a ceremony March 27 at Lance Cpl. Torrey Grey Field. Photo by Pfc. Michael T. Gams

Lance Cpl. Brady Gustafson’s parents describe him as “reserved, loyal, stubborn and determined.”
This was proven in action July 21, 2008.

His loyalty to his fellow Marines, his stubborn nature when he refused medical treatment and his determination under enemy fire as a machine gunner with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment earned him the Navy Cross, and a place among the ranks of such Marine Corps legends as Lewis ‘Chesty’ Puller, Daniel ‘Dan’ Daly and John Basilone.

He received this medal, the highest awarded by the Navy, for his deployment to Afghanistan is support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Navy Cross was pinned on his chest by Lt. Col. John M. Reed, the commanding officer of 2/7, and meritorious corporal chevrons to his collar by Maj. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser and Sgt. Maj. Randall Carter, the commanding general and sergeant major of 1st Marine Division, at a ceremony held March 27 at Lance Cpl. Torrey L. Grey Field. The ceremony included speeches from his former and current commanding officers.

Gustafson accepted his medal at a perfect position of attention, despite missing his right leg below the knee. His entire battalion was in attendance as well as Marines from across the nation, former service members, family and friends.

According to eyewitness accounts, Gustafson’s actions that fateful day in July 2008 met and exceeded the requirements for a Navy Cross.

On July 21 Gustafson was manning the turret of the lead vehicle, a mine resistant ambush protected vehicle, or MRAP, during a four-vehicle mounted patrol riding through the streets of Shewan, Afghanistan.

That’s when things got ugly.

The patrol came under heavy fire from machine guns as well as rocket-propelled grenades from hidden insurgent positions.

One of the RPGs hit Gustafson’s MRAP, piercing its armor, rendering the driver unconscious and partially amputating Gustafson’s right leg.

Despite his injuries, Gustafson remained vigilant on his M240B machine gun, locating and accurately firing on several insurgent positions, some as close as 20 meters from the vehicle.

He remained in the turret, reloading twice and firing over 600 rounds, while Lance Cpl. Cody Comstock, an Anderson, Ind. native, applied a tourniquet to his leg.

After regaining consciousness, the driver, Cpl. Geoffrey Kamp, an Indianapolis native, put the vehicle in reverse and pushed the disabled vehicle behind them out of the kill zone.

Not until both vehicles were safe from the heavy insurgent fire and all the Marines had evacuated the burning vehicle did he allow himself to be removed from the turret for medical treatment.

“I knew I was hit,” he said. “I guess the adrenaline kept me going.”

Gustafson humbly stressed that he was only doing his job, nothing more.

“Anyone I served with would have done the same,” said the Eagan, IL native. “Heck, if it wasn’t for everyone else out there, I wouldn’t have made it.”

After being treated by corpsmen at the scene, he was transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and then to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Upon regaining consciousness after surgery, Gustafson called his parents to tell them what happened, said the 21 year-old.

“We were worried about him,” said his mother, Kim Gustafson. “But we knew everything would work out, God does have a plan after all.”

During 2/7’s deployment to Afghanistan, “the extraordinary became ordinary,” said Lt. Col Richard Hall, 2/7’s commanding officer during the deployment. “I underestimated my Marines and I’m in awe of what they accomplished.”

Known as the hardest hit battalion in the Marine Corps during 2008, 2/7 lost over 20 Marines and sailors and sent over 80 home with serious injuries during their eight month deployment to Afghanistan.

Lance Cpl. Brady Gustafson received the Navy Cross and a meritorious promotion to corporal during a ceremony March 27 at Lance Cpl. Torrey Grey Field.

Gustafson is now looking to the future and says he is looking forward to a bright future outside of the Marine Corps.

“I took a lot of photos in Afghanistan,” said Gustafson. “I’m going to go to college in the fall and try and make a career out of it.”

Cpl. Brady Gustafson never faltered during the ambush and his heroism helped save the lives of all the Marines involved.

The valor and courage displayed on the streets of Shewan that July day embodied the core values of the Marine Corps and sets an example for all to emulate and be proud of.

“I’m proud of all the Marines,” said Kim. “There are so many heroes, I’m so lucky to count my son among one of them.”

United States Marines
By Pfc. Michael T. Gams,
Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command 29 Palms