Lance Cpl. Joel Murray was aboard Forward Operating Base Shir Ghazi in Afghanistan on May 13 when a truck laden with explosives detonated outside. Three Georgian soldiers were mortally wounded, and several other Georgians and U.S. Marines sustained injuries. Murray, an engineer equipment operator with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, quickly rushed to the site of the blast, Marine officials said. Insurgents were attempting to penetrate the security perimeter of the base, in Helmand province’s Musa Qala district. Murray killed an enemy fighter, and then applied a tourniquet to a Georgian soldier who had sustained a life-threatening leg injury, according to…
Browsing: Republic of Georgia
June has been a rough year in Afghanistan for one of the Marine Corps’ closest allies, the Republic of Georgia. The small eastern European nation has lost at least 10 soldiers in recent attacks, including a June 6 truck bomb ambush that killed seven and wounded nine others in Helmand province’s Now Zad district. Another bomb in May in Musa Qala district killed three Georgian soldiers. It’s at times like these that Americans should remember just how closely the Georgians and U.S. Marines are intertwined on the battlefield. The Georgians began deploying a battalion at a time to northern Helmand…