Less than two years in Sangin, 50+Marines killed, 500+wounded

Sangin Marines brace for summer of combat
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 17, 2012

SANGIN, Afghanistan — Lying on a dusty rooftop, Lance Cpls. Jacob Bisek and Daniel Buzalsky watched suspiciously as a man down the road peered at them. He was pointing at the Marines and holding a cell phone, raising the prospect he was a Taliban spotter.

Seconds later, the explosion hit. An insurgent had snuck up on them and hurled a grenade onto the roof, sparking a fight in which Marines inside the compound threw grenades over a wall back at the attacker.

Bisek and Buzalsky did not sustain any serious injuries, but the Marines learned later that their attacker died from shrapnel wounds.

“I was about to peek over, and that’s when it exploded,” said Bisek, adding his hearing still wasn’t right two weeks later. “For the longest time, I didn’t believe it was a grenade. It landed five feet from my face, and it didn’t do anything.”

The April 15 attack underscores the volatility that Marines will face this summer in Sangin, arguably the most notorious place they have fought during the war in Afghanistan. More than 50 have been killed there in less than two years, and at least 500 more have sustained catastrophic injuries, mainly from improvised explosive devices.
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