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CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (5/28/2012) — As the blistering sun
sets, disappearing in the horizon, a solemn wind of silence breezes
through the dusky sky along with the first hints of cool evening air
here at this remotely located operating base in Helmand province at
precisely 7:12 p.m., May 28, 2012.
U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. David H. Berger, commanding general of Task Force Leatherneck, and Sgt. Maj. Terry L. Jones, Sergeant Major of Task Force Leatherneck, salute the American flag during a Memorial Day ceremony aboard Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan on May 28, 2012. Marines, Sailors, Afghan National Army Soldiers, and Department of Defense civilians gathered to honor fallen service members. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Marionne T. Mangrum |
Flanked by a bugler, who plays the ceremonial hymn,
Retreat, three formations of U.S. Marines and Sailors,
British service members, along with Afghan National Army
soldiers stand in orderly fashion at center stage of the
Task Force Leatherneck compound here, to witness the
lowering of the colors and to reflect on those who have
perished during generations of war in service to America.
Prior to the lowering of the colors, and in
observance of Memorial Day, Maj. Gen. David H. Berger,
commanding general of 1st Marine Division (Forward), and
TFL, the ground combat element of Regional Command
Southwest, which covers Helmand and Nimroz provinces, led
the TFL formation to pay tribute to fallen warriors from all
conflicts.
During his remarks Berger said that
Memorial Day should remind everyone of the sacrifice of U.S.
service members who have died here in Afghanistan. Also,
people should remember the sacrifice of the wounded, the
family members who bear the burden of long and numerous
deployments, and those who have died defending the nation in
other conflicts.
“The sacrifice of those whose plain
white markers stand proudly in those cemeteries,” said
Berger, “in long rows, all perfectly aligned is a solemn
reminder that the cost of freedom is high and the greatest
strength of our nation is her people.”
In the often
volatile Afghanistan provinces of Helmand and Nimroz alone,
49 Marines have died since Jan. 1, 2012 to today.
This Memorial Day had greater importance to Sgt. Camilo R.
Osuna, company police sergeant for Headquarters Battalion (Fwd),
1st MarDiv (Fwd). Today was Osuna's father's birthday: a
former Marine, and a fallen Marine.
“Today is my
dad's birthday,” said Osuna, whose father passed away at 25.
“He was a Marine and he died in 1991 during (Operation)
Desert Storm. His birthday just happened to line up with
Memorial Day and I got to raise the flag in the morning and
lower it in the evening on his birthday.”
Osuna, a
native of Calexico, Calif., is more than a company police
sergeant. He is a military musician, the chief Martial Arts
Instructor Trainer here, and the color sergeant. “Today, I
felt so much more pride raising and lowering the flag.”
Historic Reunion a Near Century Later
Task Force
Leatherneck is led by 1st MarDiv (Fwd) and works in
partnership with the Afghan National Security Force and the
Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to conduct
counterinsurgency operations. Regimental Combat Teams 5 and
6 currently fall under TFL's command.
During the
onward stages of this year's fighting season, which
typically occur during the spring and summer months,
Regimental Combat Teams 5 and 6 are deeply engaged in
combat. Regimental Combat Team 5 has an area of
responsibility in the southern region of RC(SW), while RCT 6
patrols the north.
The last time 5th and 6th Marine
Regiments fought side-by-side was 94 years ago during the
World War I Battle of Belleau Wood, which was fought against
the Germans from June 1-26, 1918, in what was then a remote
wheat field that laid entrance to a dense, 200-acre forest
just outside of Chateau Theirry, about 50 miles east of
Paris. In that battle, the Allied troops lost about 1,800
men as it was often regarded as the bloodiest battle in
Marine Corps history at the time.
In a polarizing
landscape almost a century later, 5th and 6th Marine
Regiments are together again on the Afghan battlefield.
Furthermore, members of the remain-behind element of 5th
Marine Regiment, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., stood
in Belleau, France, during a Memorial Day ceremony at the
Ainse-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial to honor those
lost on that French battlefield in 1918 where the cemetery
stands today.
In the past ten years of combat
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. has lost more
than 6,400 service members.
As the colors lower and
the detail of Marines receive the flag, the formation of
Marines and Sailors reflect with somber silence on the
meaning of Memorial Day and the price paid in blood by their
fallen brothers and sisters of past and present.
By USMC Master Sgt. Grady Fontana
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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