Marine Shields Team from Grenade and Keeps Fighting

Marine Shields Team from Grenade

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Cpl. Richard S. Weinmaster smiles as he is congratulated by a Marine after the ceremony where he was awarded the Navy Cross.
(Photo by: Lauren Katzenberg, Task & Purpose)[/caption]There is going to be lots of news coverage of the first female candidates to successfully complete Ranger School. That is news that leads to often angry discussions that divide our community. Let's take some time to focus on news that we can all agree on and marvel at. I stumbled on this story from Task & Purpose about an incredible Marine who not only threw himself in the path of a grenade lobbed at his team, but after taking the force of the blast, he kept on fighting and returning fire. With shrapnel in his brain. That is one amazing Marine. From Task & Purpose:“Ambush Alley.” That was what they called this side street. It was nestled in the Sangin district of Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, a Taliban stronghold. The street was just 8 feet wide, with 10-foot brick walls lining either side.It was where Pfc. Richard Weinmaster would prove his mettle.

Weinmaster and other members of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment were conducting a dismounted patrol through Ambush Alley on July 8, 2008, when they were attacked by Taliban fighters. Small arms fire rained down on the Americans. Weinmaster, who had been in Afghanistan just over two months, was leading the way with his machine gun. It was his first deployment.Unfazed, Weinmaster fired back with his automatic weapon. His award citation states that he confronted a “withering volume of fire that passed within meters of his position.”Then, insurgents lobbed two hand grenades over the wall. One landed near Weinmaster’s team leader, Lance Cpl. Travis Wilkerson, and three other Marines.Read the rest at Task & Purpose[mwi-cat-listing cat="94" ppp="4" cols="4" desc="false" type="view" btn_color="black" ]