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| Marine Hero to Be Decorated for His Bravery -- 1st Sgt. Brad Kasal |
| 2006-05-01 |
| Registration required, here's article. Anyone got that great pic of him? CAMP PENDLETON — It has become one of the iconic pictures of the war in Iraq: blood-soaked Marine 1st Sgt. Brad Kasal, grim-faced and still clutching his service pistol, being helped from a firefight by two younger Marines. Although wounded by seven AK-47 rounds and hit by more than 40 pieces of hot shrapnel from a grenade, Kasal refused to quit fighting and is credited with saving the lives of several Marines during the U.S. assault on insurgent strongholds in Fallouja in November 2004. "He was hurt bad, but for the most part, he was more worried about his Marines than himself," said then-Cpl. R.J. Mitchell, one of the Marines involved in the firefight in a two-story stucco house. Kasal has undergone 21 surgeries and months of painful rehabilitation to repair his injuries and attempt to save his right leg. Today, the 39-year-old Iowa native will be promoted to sergeant major, the highest enlisted rank in the Marine Corps, and receive the Navy Cross for combat bravery, second only to the Medal of Honor. Only nine others have received the Navy Cross for service in Iraq or Afghanistan. Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, said Kasal "set an example for future generations of combat leaders to emulate." The picture, taken by Lucian Read, a photographer for World Picture News who was embedded with the Marines, has been widely reprinted. It was used on the back cover of "No True Glory," an account of the fight for Fallouja by Bing West, the premier historian of Marines in combat in Iraq. Kasal, in his second tour in Iraq, was with the Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, during the assault. At the height of the fighting Nov. 13, Marines were going door to door. Insurgents were often waiting upstairs to rain down AK-47 fire and grenades. When Kasal learned that three Marines were pinned down in one house, he and other Marines went to their aid. Once inside the house, Kasal barked orders to younger Marines to cover vantage spots where insurgents might be hiding. He turned into one room and immediately ran into an insurgent who cried out in Arabic. The two exchanged gunfire; the insurgent missed and Kasal killed him. Other insurgents fired at the Marines from upstairs, hitting Kasal and others. Kasal fought his way to a wounded Marine and used a tourniquet on his leg to keep him from bleeding to death. When he spotted an insurgent's grenade, he sheltered the wounded Marine with his body to protect him from the blast. Kasal refused medical attention until other Marines were helped and made sure Marines in the street knew there were Marines inside so none would be hit by so-called friendly fire. "Although severely wounded himself, he shouted encouragement to his fellow Marines," the Navy Cross citation states. By the time he was evacuated, Kasal had lost about 60% of his blood and was barely conscious. Marines who knew Kasal before the fight were not surprised at his actions. "He led by example — always," said Mitchell, 26, who was wounded for the fourth time during the fight and is now medically retired from the Marine Corps and studying to be a motorcycle mechanic in Phoenix. Kasal said the picture and the acclaim it has brought him should not overshadow the actions of other Marines in the same fight. "That house was full of heroes," he said. Doctors initially told Kasal that his right leg below the knee was so badly mangled it might not be saved, and that subjecting himself to surgeries and rehabilitation could prove futile. Four inches of bone had been shot away. Kasal opted against amputation, knowing that it would mean the end of his career in the Marines. "I decided to gut it out and work through the pain," he said. "I wanted to do whatever was needed to keep it going." Six days a week, he does two to four hours of rehabilitation. Recently, the onetime high school wrestler and football player was able to run for the first time since Fallouja. "It wasn't pretty, but I was able to do it," he said. Kasal, who is single, has been assigned to a recruiting station in Des Moines. He did three years as a recruiter in the 1990s in Minnesota, the only stretch in his 21 years in the Marine Corps in which he has not been assigned to an infantry company. His goal is to get strong enough to return to the infantry and go back to Iraq. "We started it; we need to finish it," he said. "I believe in what we're doing. I'd go back in a heartbeat." |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #14 "Although severely wounded himself, he shouted encouragement to his fellow Marines," the Navy Cross citation states. By the time he was evacuated, Kasal had lost about 60% of his blood and was barely conscious. All that remains is for us, as individuals and as a nation, to figure out how we can remain worthy of such valor on the part of our warriors. We are in dire risk of no longer deserving them. In the near future, our constitution will be more deserving of such courage than most people on the street. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-05-01 20:05 |
| #13 Oo Rah! |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2006-05-01 17:49 |
| #12 link to amazon photo of rear book cover showing brad |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-05-01 17:31 |
| #11 Matt: What surprises me is that we haven't seen more high decorations coming out of Iraq. One Medal of Honor, IIRC. Fewer opportunities to get killed. During WWII, we had an army of 8 million fighting armies of millions. The other side did not have superior firepower, but they attacked with air strikes, massed artillery, tanks, throughout the war. Nothing like that in Iraq. Total Iraqi insurgent force is probably no more than tens of thousands, tops. I'm fine with less medals, because that also correlates with a lower friendly body count. A lot of medals were awarded during Vietnam, but we also lost about 60,000 dead. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-05-01 16:50 |
| #10 I'm suspect that the number of officers being awarded is a feature - not a bug. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-01 16:47 |
| #9 Seems like historically a disproportionate number of the big medals go to officers, and disproportionately to officers above Lt. as well. Given the small unit nature of these conflicts a lot of engagements will not include officers above Lt., so less medals will be issued. That, plus maybe some embarassment in the services about the Kerry-style Bronze Star (v). |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-05-01 16:22 |
| #8 go to sftt.org |
| Posted by: Spearong Glomogum2222 2006-05-01 15:42 |
| #7 I think it's time he let the young 'uns take over. "Today, the 39-year-old Iowa native will be promoted to sergeant major" Zhang, there are plenty of us who consider anyone 39 to be a young'un. |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-05-01 15:23 |
| #6 Carl may be right, but this is still very impressive. Kudos to Brad Kasal! |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-05-01 15:15 |
| #5 I suspect that the *** apparent *** low number of medals may have to do with the nature of the fights: mostly small skirmishes against inferior opponents. Face it, despite MSM's best efforts to suggest otherwise, the casualty rate is pretty low, and most of that is against IEDs. Actual casualty rates in stand-up fights are minimal, indicative of an enemy that is pretty ineffective at such fights. There is little opportunity for "above and beyond" citations when you so outclass the enemy that you wipe them out at will just by following your training. (Not to denigrate the troops who are in those fights, of course) I suppose that the correct comparison for medal counts would be with the banana republic fights in the 20th century --both the ones in the early part of the century *and* Grenada and Panama. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2006-05-01 15:12 |
| #4 Article: Kasal, who is single, has been assigned to a recruiting station in Des Moines. He did three years as a recruiter in the 1990s in Minnesota, the only stretch in his 21 years in the Marine Corps in which he has not been assigned to an infantry company. It's too bad he won't hang up his rifle. I think it's time he let the young 'uns take over. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-05-01 15:04 |
| #3 And Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Matt 2006-05-01 14:50 |
| #2 What surprises me is that we haven't seen more high decorations coming out of Iraq. One Medal of Honor, IIRC. |
| Posted by: Matt 2006-05-01 14:50 |
| #1 "He was hurt bad, but for the most part, he was more worried about his Marines than himself," Isn't that in the definition of a good Marine (or Soldier, Airman, or Sailor)? I'm in no way minimizing his heroism, but the more I learn about our service members in combat, the more I think that the phrase "uncommon valor was a common virtue" still applies way beyond Iwo Jima. Awe isn't a strong enough word for what I feel toward our heroes. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-05-01 14:06 |