Friend Killed in Iraq from this area
 

Nicholas C. Kirven - the final battle in Afghanistan May 8, 2005
Telephone conversation from Nicholasââ,¬â,,¢s Commanding Officer, Marine Col
May 12, 2005.

The Squad had been there 4 days, meeting in Male Valley. Interpreters with platoon picked up heavy radio transmission and found the Pashtoon were organizing ambushes against our forces. Reports keep coming over the icom.
> Nickââ,¬â,,¢s squad proceeded into the mountains in search of the insurgents when from across the valley on the other side of the mountain shots were fired on them. A firefight ensured. Nickââ,¬â,,¢s squad moved up with the other squad as the insurgents split into two groups. One group left to the city, the other to the caves on the other side of the mountains. The Platoon commander could not get the helicopters to respond because of the weather and the mountainous terrain. They asked for air support. And the USAF responded 15 minutes later with A-10 Thunderbolts. The Thunderbolts eventually run out of fuel and ammunitions and returned to base. Nickââ,¬â,,¢s squad moved in closer with fire power provided by the A-10ââ,¬â,,¢s. The Taliban split off and one enemy element went into a cave. Nickââ,¬â,,¢s squad under Sgt. Campbell advanced to close out the cave. After the Thunderbolts pounded the cave for about 15 minutes Nicholas and Corp. Ricky Schoener spread out and entered the cave. They came upon a body and Rickey was in the observation position and Nicholas checked the body for weapons and / or bombing devices. At that time Ricky reported movement spotted from the corner of his eye and at point blank range Nicholas and Ricky came under very heavy direct fire. Ricky and Nicholas returned fire in the direction determined they were fired upon when Ricky was struck in the arm, Nicholas in the side. They both went down and they continued to return fire. They both yelled to the squad mates for help. The squad mates tried to retrieve both Nicholas and Ricky but were pinned down by fire. Grenades were launched; Nicholas and Ricky were both hit. As the squad tried to remove Nicholas one Marine was trying to pull Nicholas by the vest strap but it broke under the pressure as fire from small arms continued. He was pinned by gun fire.
The squad finally got control of the situation and eliminated the enemy. They came to Nicholasââ,¬â,,¢s and Rickyââ,¬â,,¢s aid but found that Nicholas had no pulse and Rickyââ,¬â,,¢s was very faint. Ricky had major blood lose and a major artery in his legs was severed by the grenade(s) and he died shortly afterwards.
No helicopters to get to the region for support so the Squad carried Nicholas and Ricky on their backs for 4000 to 4500 kilometers, 6 Ã,½ hours as they reached their vehicles. The US Marine CO told us this was a significant battle and victory and that Nicholas did not die for an inconsequential cause. They reported 38 deaths, 5 arrests three of witch are major opposition players 2 bothers and an uncle). This battle was successfully concluded and the 2nd platoon was sent back to base as he sent the 1st and the 3rd platoons to return to the region to complete the clean up which was completed by Wednesday May 11th.
Nicholasââ,¬â,,¢s squad is in total disbelief and shock at their losses as was the CO and the rest of the Corps. The Co assured us that Nicholas and Ricky did exactly what they were trained to do and went down returning fire to the end and never gave up. He also though it was important to note that these two brave men were ââ,¬Å"always faithfulââ,¬Â�.

http://swirvinkirven.tripod.com/index.html

Story like these really put things in perspective.... sorry to hear about your loss.
 

actually, our loss.

very sorry for your loss
 

having a brother that's currently serving in Iraq, it always scares me to read stories like these, but it makes me proud to know that he's out there doing what he was trained to do...Semper Fi

Always disturbing to hear about our brothers going down
 

but makes me proud knowing that they went down fighting, as all Devil Dogs do.

Semper Fi

:(

Sad story...sorry to hear.

sorry to hear that man...
 

i hope he is recognized for his heroic actions

<Salutes!>

Everyone should feel it this personally to understand the commitment level.
 

It's easy to get caught up in the video-game mentality of military action, and in truth, we are doing an amazing job of accomplishing our objectives with minimal casualties; but the personal pain that the few are feeling due to loss of friends or family is something that we all should try to understand. (Not a statement on what we should or should not do, just a suggestion that we take a broader view.)