Members of the Coastguard community received a message this morning, passing on a prayer request from a Marine Chaplain. The request from Chaplain Claire Fitzgerald of the Marine Corps reads:
"We are asking everyone to say a prayer for "Darkhorse" 3rd Battalion 5th Marines and their families. The Battalion is fighting it out in Afghanistan and have lost 9 marines in four days Claire requested we keep the Battalion in our prayers and concluded with "God Bless America and God Bless the United States Marine Corps..."
In further research, I learned that the 3/5 has actually lost 13 marines since October. They are fighting it out in the Helmand Province, which is an extremely violent region of the Country. It's the same part of Afghanistan where the British suffered 1/3 of their deaths. One Associated Press (AP) account described the situation that "they are literally in a race for their lives." The center of the fight is in the Sangin District, described as the last remaining sanctuary in Helmand where the Taliban can freely process the opium and heroin that is essentially funding the insurgency. Our Marines are making progress against an enemy that has been fighting here for years and have blanketed the area with tons of IEDs.
You can read the article from former Marine, now reporter Tim King. King's gripping report of what's going on with the Battalion includes AP accounts and a statement from the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines Commanding Officer, LtCol Jason Morris here in the : Salem News. I found it to be an insightful look at some of the challenges we face in Afghanistan as a whole. The article also points out ways that you can help lift the spirits of our young Marines who are coping with watching their "best friends die or suffer grievous wounds".
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