Marines locked in deadly combat with the Taliban!!

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LanceOregon

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As many of you already know, the US Marine Corps is currently right in the middle of their big Spring offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

During a heated firefight, a news cameraman got an amazing video of a Marine cheating death. While firing his weapon at the enemy, numerous machine gun bullets strike all around this heroic Marine, sending rock and dirty flying all around. Somehow, by the grace of God, he survives this massive gunfire unharmed! This is truly amazing to see.

Here are some still photos from the video:


0519080838_M_051908_soldier2.jpg



0519080838_M_051908_soldier3.jpg



0519080838_M_051908_soldier4.jpg



0519080838_M_051908_soldier5.jpg



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Once in a lifetime shot for that photographer I'l bet. I'd be surprised if he didnt win an award for that series.Which is funny, as it was likely 99% dumb luck. Still some amazing pics though. Also glad, and surprised the Marine was OK.Close call doesnt cover that one.....
 
The guy almost gets his head blown off, and you guys worry about his gear?

I'm surprised no one asked if his finger was on the trigger or whether his NRA dues were paid up.
 
I'm surprised no one asked if his finger was on the trigger or whether his NRA dues were paid up.
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As active duty marine, doesn't he get at least one year of free NRA membership?

The picture almost looks bogus. Here we have a picture of a marine in a firefight, but he has neither protective gear or ammunition. He's sticking his head above a rock wall, and he doesn't even have his kevlar on.

If this guy had been killed, and there weren't some seriously compelling reason he charged into a firefight practically naked and without ammunition, then while the fact that he is a Marine fighting in Afghanistan does make him a hero ... the fact that he took no equipment also makes him a candidate for the mythical Darwin award.
 
makes him a candidate for the mythical Darwin award.
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We don't know the back-story.

He could have heard a buddy of his cry out for help while he was eating, or sleeping.

What troubles me is that we see a picture, and then with no info judge the guy.

Besides, here's Murphy's Law of combat:

Number 29. No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.
 
He could have heard a buddy of his cry out for help while he was eating, or sleeping.

What troubles me is that we see a picture, and then with no info judge the guy.
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For the former ... that would be a "seriously compelling" reason. I hope there is one, and I'm not saying there isn't.

It is true we are judging just by what we see. But what we see is a person who has hopefully been issued some equipment (a helmet, body armor, ammunition) who has none of it. Not one piece. It's kind of easy to make some assessments based on that ...
 
If you look closely, there is another soldier with a helmet and what appears to be a headlamp just over the dirt ridge, but he's got at least a full foot of his body exposed over the edge, just feet away from where his buddy is laying. He doesn't even seem too concerned while looking over at his buddy.

I think it's a fake.
 
If you look closely, there is another soldier with a helmet and what appears to be a headlamp just over the dirt ridge, but he's got at least a full foot of his body exposed over the edge, just feet away from where his buddy is laying. He doesn't even seem too concerned while looking over at his buddy.
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If you look at the last picture, the rifle is still not settled on the ground. What you're looking at is four photos taken in rapid succession...odds are that even assuming it's real the buddy who's still on his feet hasn't had time to start looking concerned. I'm guessing those photos span roughly a second.

As for his gear, I suppose it's possible that if these guys were actually staying out in these forward positions, he may have been sleeping when the firefight started (for instance, if he had just gotten off of security that night). Still, the interceptor armor is designed to be thrown on quickly (velcro) and it has all your crap (like ammunition, combat dressing in case you get hit, etc.) attached. Rushing forward with just your rifle without taking the three seconds to throw it on would be foolish. I'm not saying you should dig up your top (which he's also missing) or even your helmet and eye protection...but the vest is pretty much a must-have.
 
in a setting where you liv in enemy turf and never know when an attack will come there are many situations where you could be engaged in combat without having all your gear on. this could easily be there camp and all his gear may be on the ground behind him. i think it looks pretty real but i would like to see a link for the video
 
The presence of the 2nd marine standing exposed while his buddy takes machine gun fire is a little suspicious. I wonder what was going on.

Why didnt the 2nd marine duck, or at least shoot back, when taking incoming fire? He's just looking at his buddy.
 
The presence of the 2nd marine standing exposed while his buddy takes machine gun fire is a little suspicious. I wonder what was going on.

Why didnt the 2nd marine duck, or at least shoot back, when taking incoming fire? He's just looking at his buddy.
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Is there some accompanying video I haven't seen? Because these pictures represent about one second of the action. A second. Is it impossible for you to believe that it might take a human being a second to duck? Or that a soldier might have stopped firing for a single second?
 
No its not so impossible to believe, but why do you want to be an ass about it?

I thought we were just having a nice friendly theoretical discussion.

Sheesh.

anyway, sorry if i took your comments to personal. You don't know whats going on either.
 
Ridiculous criticism

Some of the criticism on this thread is ridiculous. The expectation that this guy eat and sleep fully geared and that his buddy in less than a second react to what is probably fire indistinguishable from all the other fire around them. Bullets have probably been hitting the wall in front of them for several minutes, and he is having rounds fired off all around him by other Marines. The sound would not be noticeable and he is probably pretty tunnel visioned to whereever the fire is coming from. I just hope I never find myself behind a clay wall taking fire, with or without armor.
 
anyway, sorry if i took your comments to personal. You don't know whats going on either.
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True, I don't. I didn't mean it personally. Just seen a couple people trying to read a lot out of what is essentially four frames worth of video. I'd actually dig seeing the whole video, but nobody provided a link and I'm too lazy to go find it. ;)

So, without further context, I prefer to simply take it at face value...a few cool pictures of a guy getting really lucky.
 
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