COMBAT OUTPOST CASTLE, Afghanistan – Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Nalls, a light armored vehicle crewman serving with 1st Platoon, Delta Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, was the point man an evening resupply patrol to another squad of Marines near a small village in Helmand province’s Khan Neshin district Feb. 23, 2012. While crossing a bridge made of tree branches, the bridge shifted causing Nalls to fall in the 9-foot-deep canal. The strong current swept him under the bridge, and his helmet caught on a tree branch protruding from underneath the bridge. He unfastened h
COMBAT OUTPOST CASTLE, Afghanistan – Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Nalls, a light armored vehicle crewman serving with 1st Platoon, Delta Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, was the point man an evening resupply patrol to another squad of Marines near a small village in Helmand province’s Khan Neshin district Feb. 23, 2012. While crossing a bridge made of tree branches, the bridge shifted causing Nalls to fall in the 9-foot-deep canal. The strong current swept him under the bridge, and his helmet caught on a tree branch protruding from underneath the bridge. He unfastened his helmet to free himself from the bridge, and was swept down the canal flipping head over heals under water from the strong current. Nalls, a native of Stevensville, Mont., was able to reach the canal bank where Marines helped him out of the water. While he was turned underneath the water, his rifle unslung from his body and remained stranded at the bottom of the canal. Less than a week later, after searching day in and day out, the local Afghan Uniformed Police retrieved the rifle from the bottom of the canal and returned it to the Marines of 1st LAR. Marines choose brotherhood over personal safety, Afghan police show trustworthiness 120321-M-XZ164-015
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Photo credit: © PJF Military Collection / Alamy / Afripics
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