KB
08-05-2011, 09:56 PM
SANGIN, Afghanistan — Lance Cpl. John Farias parked himself in front of a video camera June 2 and fumbled his way through a seven-minute greeting to his family in Texas. A rifleman with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, he discussed the austere living conditions at his patrol base and his craving for sushi.
Farias, 20, talked about the way Sangin — easily the nastiest place left for Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand province — was forcing him to “grow up.”
“If you don’t take your responsibility to the fullest,” he told the camera, “one of our friends might die.”
Three-and-a-half weeks later, Farias was killed when his squad came under enemy fire during a patrol in the Upper Sangin Valley. His video appeared on YouTube several days later.
Farias is one of at least 12 men assigned or attached to 1/5 lost here since it arrived in March from Camp Pendleton, Calif. Marines engage the enemy directly, but improvised explosive devices remain the biggest threat, officials said.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/08/marine-co-sky-isnt-fallin-sangin-ied-attacks-080211/
Farias, 20, talked about the way Sangin — easily the nastiest place left for Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand province — was forcing him to “grow up.”
“If you don’t take your responsibility to the fullest,” he told the camera, “one of our friends might die.”
Three-and-a-half weeks later, Farias was killed when his squad came under enemy fire during a patrol in the Upper Sangin Valley. His video appeared on YouTube several days later.
Farias is one of at least 12 men assigned or attached to 1/5 lost here since it arrived in March from Camp Pendleton, Calif. Marines engage the enemy directly, but improvised explosive devices remain the biggest threat, officials said.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/08/marine-co-sky-isnt-fallin-sangin-ied-attacks-080211/