Lance Cpl. Martial Agbyssi, a food service specialist with Headquarters Battery, 14th Marine Regiment, fled to the United States in 2006 with his mother and two sisters. Agbyssi was born and raised in Niakara, Ivory Coast, a country in western Africa. For nearly a decade now, Ivory Coast has been involved in a civil conflict within the country. However, Agbyssi still plans to return to the country he once called home one day. Photo by Lance Cpl. Lucas Vega

His fondest memory as a child was when a U.S. Marine handed him a piece of candy. The Marines were not solely in Ivory Coast just to hand out candy; they were supporting a humanitarian exercise in the war-torn country Lance Cpl. Martial Agbyssi once called home, but young Agbyssi did not know the difference.

“All I knew is that U.S. Marines made people happy,” said Agbyssi, a food service specialist with Headquarters Battery, 14th Marine Regiment. “Ever since that unforgettable day, I knew that I wanted to be a Marine.”

In 2006 at the age of 16, he came to the United States alongside his two sisters and his mother to escape the civil strife caused by rebel forces in his country. Agbyssi and his family initially left their home in Niakara, Ivory Coast, and fled to neighboring Senegal after his mother was deemed to be a target of the rebels.

“As a mother I did what was best for my children,” said Marceline Kone, mother of Agbyssi. “I was scared for my children. I wanted them to be safe.”

In Senegal, she pled her case to emigrate to America along with her family. Weeks later, the Sengalian government called Kone to notify her she had been selected to migrate to the U.S. Kone, a middle class accountant responsible for handling funds of multiple businesses back in the Ivory Coast, lived a good life, but the safety of her family and hope of a more promising future led her to migrate to the U.S.

“I lived a good life in Ivory Coast,” said Agbyssi. “My mother was an accountant so we were not poor, but we knew we could live a better life in America.”

Upon arrival, Agbyssi entered high school as a sophomore speaking only French, the main language of the Ivory Coast. Agbyssi still pursued his dreams of becoming a United States Marine. In order to join, he knew a high school diploma was a requirement.

“At first high school was very challenging because of the language barrier,” he said. “I took a lot of extra English tutoring so I could grasp the language faster. I also had the help of local college students who helped me with my homework after school.”

Still unsure about his future after high school, he joined his school’s Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program. Joining JROTC helped Agbyssi develop a better understanding of the military and ultimately helped him make his final decision.

“I chose to be in the Marine Corps. Even though I was in Air Force JROTC, my heart was still set on being a Marine,” said Agbyssi. “The instructors of the program helped me successfully achieve all the requirements for joining the Marine Corps.”

After only eight months in the states, Agbyssi finally visited the local Marine Corps recruiter, where he took his first step to becoming a Marine.

“I didn’t care about what job I got, as long as I became a Marine which is what was most important to me,” explained Agbyssi, who now resides in Watauga, Texas, a small city just outside Fort Worth.

His mother, a witness of the conflict and violence within her homeland feared for her son’s life in the military force reputed to be the “first to fight.”

“My mother was very scared,” Agbyssi explained. “I had to reassure her that I would be okay. She feared that I would go to combat and my life would be in danger. I explained to her that was a possibility, but as a reservist I would be home with her and only go to drill once a month.”

Agbyssi checked into the unit after graduating from military occupational school at Fort Lee, Va., in February. As a Marine, Agbyssi plans on working part time while attending Tarrant County Community College.

“Everything Is Earned”

Despite the ongoing conflict in the Ivory Coast, Agbyssi still plans to return there someday. Currently, he is a permanent resident of the United States but is classified as a refugee. However, the U.S. government prohibits permanent residents in a refugee status to return to their homeland until they have become a full-fledged U.S. citizen.

“I just want to go home,” explained Agbyssi, who is currently in the process of becoming a naturalized citizen. “There are many relatives I have not seen in a long time who I would like to visit. The first thing I’m going to do when I get my citizenship is go home.”

Regardless of what happens in his homeland, Agbyssi described the effect living in the United States and becoming a Marine has had on him.

“The Marines helped me rebuild my confidence. They taught me how to be a better person while giving me a sense of pride in belonging in this country,” Agbyssi explained. “In this world, I believe that everything is earned. I am proud to stand tall and say that I have earned everything.”

According to a Today’s Zaman news article published in September, United Nations forces have been deployed to Ivory Coast since 2004 to maintain peace within the country.

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Story by Lance Cpl. Lucas Vega

Cpl Dakota Meyer

It wasn’t a very big battle, as battles go. The Sept. 8, 2009, ambush on a joint patrol of Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces in Ganjgal village, Kunar Province, Afghanistan cost the lives of five Americans and nine Afghans. Like so many heartbreaking battles in this war, it need not have turned out this way.

The official report on this action reads:

During mission execution on 8 September 2009, the actions of key leaders at the battalion level were inadequate and ineffective, contributing directly to the loss of life which ensued.

Embedded Training Team 2-8 and the Afghans it was training walked in to a well prepared ambush by 100 to 150 Taliban. Four Marines from the team were cut off and calling for help. Several attempts to reach the four using an armored vehicle were repulsed.

Then Cpl. Dakota Meyer, nearing the end of his four year hitch with the Corps, took matters into his own hands. Already wounded from the rescue attempts with the armored vehicle, he left the vehicle on foot to find his comrades.

They were dead. Under heavy fire, Meyer carried each body back to the relative safety of the vehicle. The Marine Times describes the situation:

After helicopter pilots called on to respond said fighting was too fierce for them to land, Meyer, then 21, charged into the kill zone on foot to find his friends. Under heavy fire, he reached a trench where the pilots had spotted the Marines, by then considered missing.

He found Johnson, 31; Staff Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, 30; 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, 25; Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class James Layton, 22; and an Afghan soldier they were training — all dead and bloody from gunshot wounds. They were spread out in the ditch, their weapons and radios stolen.

“I checked them all for a pulse. There [sic] bodies were already stiff,” Meyer said in a sworn statement he was asked to provide military investigators. “I found SSgt Kenefick facedown in the trench w/ his GPS in his hand. His face appeared as if he was screaming. He had been shot in the head.”

Rather than give up, Meyer, of Greensburg, Ky., fought to bring his buddies back home. Bleeding from his shrapnel wound and still under fire, he carried their bodies back to a Humvee with the help of Afghan troops, and escorted them to nearby Forward Operating Base Joyce, about a mile to the northeast of Ganjgal.

Meyer has reportedly been nominated for the Medal of Honor for his actions on that day. If it is approved by the White House, he would be the second third living recipient of the Medal during the War on Terror.

The Adair County Community Voice has this to say about Meyer and his life after the Corps:

He returned home in June [2010] after his four-year term with the Marines was complete.

Dakota’s perspective of handling the small things in life has changed since his time in Afghanistan.

“It really changed my perspective on taking things for granted,” Dakota said. “It may seem tough here but there are guys over there getting shot at … It’s hard to understand until you’ve seen it first hand.”

Dakota has no plans to return to active duty.

Dakota now works for Ausgar Technology, which is based in San Diego, Calif. He trains military on new gear and technology. However, he has times when his passion for the Marines makes him want to go back.

“When I see things on the news, it makes me want to go back,” Dakota said. “But I can’t win the war by myself.”

This story is also being covered by John Donovon and Blackfive, among many others.

Marine Cpl. Cory J. Gibson of Lacey, Wash., receives the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device from Lt. Col. Joseph Raftery during a ceremony at the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Training Center here, Monday. Gibson was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device for his heroic actions taken after an improvised explosive device attack on his squad in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Aug. 26. Photo by Warren Wright

Initiative, courage and dedication are just a few of the words used to describe the heroic and selfless actions taken by then Lance Cpl. Cory J. Gibson after his squad was hit by an improvised explosive device while assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 7, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan.

For his heroic actions on Aug. 26, 2009 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Gibson was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with the Combat Distinguishing Device in a ceremony held at the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Training Center here, Monday, Nov. 1.

According to the Secretary of the Navy Instruction 1650.1g, the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device is awarded to individuals who distinguish themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.

“The Marine Corps puts a lot of weight on combat awards,” said Capt. Lance Day who served as Gibson’s company commander during their tour in Afghanistan. “As a company commander, to have a Marine with the guts to do what he did, it’s an absolute bonus. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Gibson, a resident of Lacey, Wash., distinguished himself by taking immediate action to help his injured squad mates after the explosion. The IED injured seven out of the eight Marines in the squad, including Gibson’s squad leader who suffered severe arterial bleeding.

Injured himself, Gibson moved from Marine to Marine, providing first aid to those who needed it and radioed a situation report and a request for support from his higher headquarters.

Once the medical evacuation helicopters arrived on scene, Gibson helped carry his injured comrades to the casualty evacuation site, carrying some Marines more than 100 meters with a full combat load.

Wounded with a severe concussion and fragmentation wounds to his lower extremities, Gibson refused to take a seat on the evacuation helicopter, waiting until all of his fellow Marines who were more severely wounded were evacuated.

“Today we’re here to present an award to (Gibson) for his actions and participation in Operation Enduring freedom over there in Afghanistan. It’s quite a story and I’m humbled by it,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Raftery, the inspector instructor for the 4th Marine Landing Support Battalion based here. “Few words can sum up what kind of Marine Cpl Gibson is.”

“He took the initiative right away,” said Raftery. “It took courage to carry on and bring his fellow marines to safety.”

“The Strength, the bearing, the love for fellow marines, your actions and presence of mind; take all that and it sums up, in my eyes, a hero and a dedicated marine,” said Raftery.

When speaking to Gibson, Raftery said, “I know you don’t consider yourself a hero, but in my eyes, you’re a hero to me, you’re a hero to that battalion.”

“I didn’t do what I did for the award,” said Gibson. “It feels like a big deal, but it’s not a big deal. I’m glad I got it and I’m glad they recognized me, but I would have rather not lived that day.”

Even though Gibson would prefer to have not experienced the event, it has not swayed his dedication to his country and to the Marine Corps. Gibson, currently a college student, is planning on re-enlisting in the active duty Marine Corps so that he can deploy again and serve alongside his fellow Marines.

Story by Sgt. Warren Wright
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Sgt. Tanell Nedd, (center) a tactical switch operator and the platoon sergeant for the S-6 Communications shop with Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, stands with her Marines in the wire shop of the CLB-2 compound. Nedd attributes her strong work ethic, loyalty and dedication to the mentorship of 1st Sgt. Jeffrey Young and guidance from her parents. Nedd was nominated as CLB-2\'s outstanding woman in honor of Women's History Month. Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Katesha Washington

Sgt. Tanell Nedd is one of the busiest non-commissioned officers working in the 2nd Marine Logistics Group these days. While she directs and mentors her platoon of young Marines, she is also preparing them for a grueling future deployment to Afghanistan.

Nedd, a tactical switch operator with Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 2nd MLG, is the platoon sergeant for the S-6 Communications shop. On the surface, she looks like the average hotshot platoon sergeant; slim physical appearance, confident and sharply clad in her camouflage uniform.

It is Nedd’s tenacity and dependability to take care of her Marines though, that gives her staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge such a good impression of her; he says she is among the cream of the crop in the battalion.

“Sgt Nedd is the best NCO in the platoon. When dealing with the same rank it can be difficult for some leaders to give orders, guidance, and direction to their peers.” SNCOIC of S-6 Staff Sgt. Steven Gabrielson, said. “Sgt Nedd does not have this problem. She is looked up to and respected by all ranks under her charge.”

The 21-year-old sergeant did not have an easy road on her journey to becoming a standout NCO. During the first four years of her career, she says her morale was very low and she was looking forward to leaving the Corps as soon as her contract was complete.

“I was having a rough time during my first enlistment. I wasn’t being challenged and I didn’t feel my job was important to the mission.” She said.

But the guidance and mentorship of a special leader during Nedd’s deployment to Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq in 2006 completely changed her attitude, and her life.

“Gunnery Sgt. Young was very instrumental in making me the person that I am today,” she explained. “His leadership motivated me, strengthened me and changed my life as a Marine.

If he hadn’t believed in me and pushed me, I probably would not have re-enlisted.” she added.

Jeffrey Young, then a gunnery sergeant, was the Communications chief and Nedd’s mentor. Today, he is the first sergeant for Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division. Throughout his career he’s dealt with his fair share of Marine NCOs. He saw where Nedd was at one point in her life and is pleased to see the change in her leadership and attitude.

“She was ‘a piece of work’, foul mouthed, undisciplined, and [had] zero tact. Back then, she was not a Marine worth emulating, or for future service in the Marine Corps.
Now, she is the model Marine. She is very compassionate about her Marines and she demands respect and obedience at all times.” Young said.

As a woman, he added, Sgt. Nedd has class, she conducts herself like a lady, and demands others to treat her as such.

Nedd also credits her parents, both of whom served in the U.S. military, and are natives of the South American country Guyana, with influencing her decision to join the Marine Corps. Although she chose a different service, she wanted to follow in her parent’s footsteps by making the military a career.

“My father, who was in the Army, had a big impact on my career. I wouldn’t really have joined if it weren’t for his motivation and dedication to the military. I am fulfilling his dream.” she said.

Her mother, a 12-year veteran of the Navy, helped shape Nedd’s character into the hardworking, dedicated and extremely loyal woman she is today.

“Watching my mother push herself in the military and take care of her kids at the same time made me see how strong she was and how much I wanted to be like that,” Nedd explained. “I think I am.”

As she continues on her journey to one day becoming a commissioned officer or sergeant major, Nedd realizes now, just how important her role is as a leader of Marines and as a strong woman. She wants to be a positive role model to all of her Marines, regardless of their gender.

“If they see me striving to be better than everyone around me, they will do the same. I just want what other leaders want from their Marines – for them to do and be the best that they can.” she said.

Nedd plans to become a drill instructor possibly after her next deployment, but for now is focused on bringing her Marines back from Afghanistan once they’ve accomplished their mission there. Her success and transformation is the reason why her former mentor, 1st Sgt. Young worked so hard to help Nedd.

“If we don’t develop and train our replacement, then the future of our Corps is doomed. We have a responsibility to make [model] Marines and citizens.” He concluded.

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Story by Gunnery Sgt. Katesha Washington

Maj. Gen. Paul E. Lefebvre, the commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command presents Chief Petty Officer Jeremy K. Torrisi, a hospital corpsman with 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion with the Silver Star Medal in Court House Bay's gymnasium, Jan 21. Torrisi received the medal for heroic actions in Afghanistan June 26, 2008. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Richard Blumenstein)

“You hear your buddies go down …You close your eyes… You think about everything … You hear you’re the only other corpsman. What would you do?”

Chief Petty Officer Jeremy K. Torrisi, a hospital corpsman with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, faced that question, June 26, 2008 in the mountains of Afghanistan during the fiercest firefight of his life. Torrisi saved the lives of four of his comrades and received the Silver Star Medal at the Court House Bay Gymnasium, Jan 21.

So far, one Navy Cross, two Silver Star Medals, and two Bronze Star Medals with combat distinguishing devices have been awarded in the battle’s aftermath.

“I’m the one getting recognized today, but everybody knows, I hope, the story that went down that day it wasn’t one person, it wasn’t two, it wasn’t three, it was everybody,” Torrisi said during the award ceremony. “Everybody doing their part. We have a lot of guys around today walking, talking, and breathing because of that. I was just part of the well-oiled machine that we were.”

The Battle

On June 26, 2008, two Marine Special Operations Teams with 2d Marine Special Operation Battalion, MARSOC, and Afghan national army soldiers set out on a mission to locate a high value target in the mountains of Afghanistan.

After driving across the desert, the teams came to a draw surrounded on each side by mountains. MSOT 1 pushed into the narrow draw with two tactical vehicles and an additional tactical vehicle from MSOT 2. The forward vehicle of the team encountered a cave system with two abandoned cars parked in front.

The team’s vehicles spread out inside the draw. The team dismounted from their vehicles and used their standard operating procedures to insure the vehicles were not rigged to explode; they were not, according to Torrisi, who was with MSOT 2.

That’s when two “ranging shots” gave way to a hail of gunfire that literally seemed to rain down on the team’s position, according to Torrisi.

“I’ve never heard gunfire like that before,” Torrisi said. “It was like four or five guys just depressing on a [M2 50. caliber machine gun] at once.”

The bullets shot into the antennas, doors, windows, gun turrets, vehicles, engine blocks, and tires.

“In the first four to five minutes we received roughly four to five casualties,” Torrisi said.

Among them was Sgt. Samuel E. Schoenheit, an operator with MARSOC and now a staff sergeant.

Schoenheit and Sgt. Carlos Bolanos, the MSOT 1 communications chief, were in the second vehicle roughly 50 meters away from the forward most vehicle. Both sergeants received Bronze Stars with combat distinguishing devices, for their actions in the firefight.

As the gunfire rained down on their position the sergeants immediately began laying down cover fire in hopes the Marines further on the ground would be able to take cover. Bolanos jumped from the driver seat to man a M240G machine gun and sprayed rounds into the mountainside while Schoenheit fired a barrage of Mark 47 Striker 40 automatic grenade launcher rounds.

“When he’s running out of ammo, I’m shooting and when I’m down he’s shooting, we’re talking guns,” Bolanos said.

The Marines received the order to move forward. Bolanos exposed himself to the enemy’s line of fire to move closer to the forward vehicle. He jumped out of the vehicle and the two sergeants resumed laying fire into the mountainside.

However, the enemy positions seemed impossible to find, and their fire was deadly accurate.

A single shot tore though Schoenheit’s night vision goggles and Kevlar helmet, then split and entered his skull.

“My bell was rung pretty good,” Schoenheit said. “At first I blacked out momentarily in the turret and woke up in the truck. In my mind I’m thinking I’m fine, I’m fine, but my ability to speak was shut down.”

Bolanos pulled Schoenheit into a safe position in the truck and bandaged his head wound. Another Marine ran back to the vehicle to take up the automatic grenade launcher and was then shot through the hand and shoulder. Bolanos pulled him into the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Gunnery Sgt. John S. Mosser and Maj. Dan Strelkauskas, then a captain and team leader, were dealing with mounting injuries and relentless fire on the ground near the cave system. Mosser was awarded the Navy Cross and Strelkauskas received a Silver Star Medal for their actions that day. Over the radio, Mosser, ordered no one else enter the draw.

“He was basically saying over the radio, ‘nobody else comes in. If anybody else comes in you’re going to die,’” Torrisi said. Then a bullet ripped through the only other corpsman on the ground, piercing his lungs and other vital organs.

“That’s when I heard [the other corpsman] was injured. … They don’t have any other corpsmen in there… You hear your buddies go down …You close your eyes… You think about everything … You hear you’re the only other corpsman. What would you do?” Torrisi said. Torrisi was in the trunk of a MSOT 2 vehicle that was heading toward the draw to provide additional support. However, Mosser’s orders and the rugged terrain halted them. Torrisi jumped out of the vehicle and sprinted 50 meters through the enemy’s line of fire to the rearward vehicle. He addressed the Marines’ wounds and then sprinted another 50-75 meters to Bolanos’ and Schoenheit’s vehicle.

“The vehicle was getting pinged like it was cool, because they saw me run up,” Torrisi said.

Bullets entered the inside of the vehicle from the turret and windows. Immersed in rapid sniper fire, and unable to provide Schoenheit care, Torrisi did something a little crazy to end the snipers assault on their position.

“I launched a bunch of 203 rounds [grenade rounds fired from an M203 grenade launcher mounted on the underside of a service rifle] up through the turret from my sitting position, probably not the smartest thing, but it stopped the fire,” Torrisi said. Torrisi administered aid and then ordered Bolanos to back the vehicle to a safer location.
The boulders made navigating though the draw difficult, and slowing down or turning around was impossible, Bolanos said.

“There was no maneuvering forward, just backward. There was just one path in and one path out,” Bolanos said.

Torrisi then fireman-carried Schoenheit the rest of the way to the rearward vehicle. Three of the wounded Marines where evacuated by air support.

As the firefight raged on, Torrisi found himself with seven other Marines taking cover tightly along the side of the forwardmost vehicle. Torrisi was shot in the leg while administering aid to the wounded corpsman. He refused aid until the corpsman’s wounds were addressed. With the Marines pinned down, Moser exposed himself to enemy fire to gather more accurate grid coordinates on the enemy’s position. He then radioed in the grid coordinates and air support dropped a barrage of bombs, distracting the enemy.

Three Marines and Torrisi took the opportunity to carry the wounded corpsman to the cave system. The Marine driving the forward-most vehicle smashed it into one of the abandoned cars to clear a path. The vehicles pulled in, and the Marines loaded their wounded into the vehicles and headed to a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that landed inside the danger zone. The severely wounded were evacuated. The Marines then pulled out of the draw, to a safe location where the rest of the wounded Marines where evacuated.

“It sounds cheesy, but we don’t do it for the medals,” Bolanos said. “We don’t do it for the awards. We do it for each other and to make sure we come back safe and sound.”

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Story by Cpl. Richard Blumenstein