Darkhorse Wounded Marines Pushing to Achieve Greatness

CAN’T KEEP DARKHORSE DOWN: OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
Marines Official Site
By Pfc. Alvin Pujols, 1st Marine Division
March 13, 2015

Perseverance and pride fuels them to do great things. For Chischilly and Barron, the pride of belonging to the “Darkhorse” battalion and the reputation they uphold pushes them to achieve greatness.

2014 Marine Corps Trials - Day 1
Marines, veterans, and international allies compete a wheelchair basketball game during the Marine Corps Trials in various Paralympic events at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California March 4-12. Other events include: archery, cycling, field, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming and track.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- After taking the reins in Sangin District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, began a hard-fought battle. By the time their tour ended in April 2011, the Marines of the battalion suffered the highest casualty rate of any U.S. Marine unit during the past 10 years of Operation Enduring Freedom, losing 25 Marines and incurring 184 casualties.

The battalion has a legacy dating back to Belleau Wood in World War I and a long history of success in battle in every major American conflict since. Their insignia and their motto, “Get Some,” is based in a brotherhood unique to U.S. Marines. For two “Darkhorse” Marines in particular, that devotion went beyond the field of battle.

After stepping on a pressure-plate improvised explosive device during a patrol of the Kajaki Dam area in southwestern Afghanistan, Cpl. Marcus Chischilly, a team leader with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, lost his left leg above the knee, sustained nerve damage in his right hand and received shrapnel wounds across his body.

It took two years for Chischilly, a Phoenix native, to recover from the blast, but in those years, Chischilly never lost his positive attitude, he said. After leaving the wheelchair, Chischilly was able to adapt to the prosthetic leg that assisted him with his mobility.

During his recovery, Chischilly, along with the other patients at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, participated in different adaptive sports. One sport that called out to Chischilly and his fellow Marines was wheelchair basketball, a sport where he could easily draw parallels to his time as an infantry team leader.

“Wheelchair basketball challenged us as a team; we had to really be cognitive of our teammates,” said Chischilly. “We learned to hone the skill of managing ourselves in a wheelchair.”

Chischilly, a member of the Navajo Nation, began playing wheelchair basketball in the 2012 Marine Corps Trials, where he not only participated in wheelchair basketball, but also in swimming and track and field.
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Camp Pendleton Afghanistan Veteran Marine Trial Ends

Former Camp Pendleton Marine gets 11 years in prison for DUI crash that killed 3 fellow servicemen
Orange County Register
Sean Emery
January 30, 2015

Arguing that Hale's drinking was an attempt to self-medicate in order to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder from his experiences in heavy combat in Sangin, Afghanistan,

Jared Hale, a former Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant convicted of a drunken-driving crash that killed three of his fellow Marines, listens as he is sentenced at the West Justice Center in Westminster on Friday.
KEVIN SULLIVAN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A former Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant convicted of killing three other servicemen in a drunken-driving crash was sentenced Friday to more than a decade in prison, as an Orange County Superior Court judge denied his request for treatment rather than time behind bars.

Jared Hale, 27, told Judge Terri K. Flynn-Peister that for the rest of his life he will have to live with the loss of Sgt. Jeremiah Callahan, 23; Cpl. Christopher Arzola, 21; and Cpl. Jason Chleborad, 22, all of whom suffered fatal injuries in the 2012 crash in Dana Point.

"It's been a rough five years," Hale said, his voice unsteady with apparent emotion. "But there is just not much left of me, honestly."
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Orlando Rocks for Wounded Marine

Orlando Starts Rocking for Wounded Marine
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 11, 2015

I have an occupation, the job I do for money because everyone has bills to pay. Then I have my vocation, the job I do for a lot more than money. What I get back is priceless! I get to spend time with veterans. The Orlando Nam Knights and the Orlando DAV Chapter 16 have my heart but so do all the other groups I'm associated with.

The VFW Post 4287 and Semper Fidelis America are just too more of the groups I absolutely get inspired by everyday. No matter what they're doing, it is always a joy to go out and cover their events.

So many people go through their lives never knowing what it is like to be among people living their lives like everyone else most of the time but then going above and beyond in fellowship for unselfish reasons. If you ever want your faith in pure compassion restored, spend some time with veterans groups and then you'll see more people in it for others than in it for themselves.

On Saturday, January 17, 2015 Orlando will see this love in action!

3rd Annual Orlando Rocks Benefit - 2015 is next weekend at the VFW Post 4287 in Orlando. Semper Fidelis America, the VFW and a lot of other folks teamed up for a wounded Marine this year and Saturday it should be fabulous. The first year it was for a Green Beret. Last year it was for a Navy Seal.

✩ Orlando has been calling for more and we are putting on a Fundraiser entitled "ORLANDO ROCKS" and it is our 3rd Annual benefit hosted by VFW Post 4287 and Semper Fidelis America, Inc. to help Cpl. Adam Devine below by building a specialized home for him and his family, give his children the best a Daddy has to offer - given the circumstances. As you meet Adam, you too will see that he does not feel sorry for himself and will not allow others to either. He truly lives up to the motto of "Once a Marine, always a Marine". His story is not totally complete as he is still undergoing surgery - almost 3 years later. Yes folks, he is still receiving surgery for his injuries from almost 3 years ago. So please click on photo below to enter Gofundme site to make a donation, once on donation page scroll down to read his entire life story. God Bless America and all Veterans that help protect this great country!

Navy Mom Mary decided to do something more than just feel bad for the wounded coming home and she is the driving force behind all of these fundraisers. Mary was in the Army, her husband was in the Navy and her son is currently in the Navy.

Thank you to ALL who came and joined with us today for the FUN-RUN for Cpl. Adam Devine. When big hearts come together, it is proven that big things can happen.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday at the Wing House in Altamonte Springs FL on 436.

Orlando Nam Knights

Semper Fidelis America

VFW Post 4287

Navy Mom Mary

Wing House

Who is all this for?

Lance Corporal Adam Devine works out in physical therapy with daughter Amya on his back. A machine-gunner with the 3-7 Marines in Sangin, he stepped on a 7-10 pound pressure plate, causing an IED explosion. His battlefield comrades saved his life until he got to a hospital, where they completed that work. He lost both his legs.

Video interview with Lance Cpl. Adam Devine on his health via Skype
Sauk Valley News
Uploaded on Feb 29, 2012

Adam was wounded in action Dec. 28 by an improvised explosive device (IED) while on duty in the Sangin district in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. He lost both of his legs from above the knee.

He updates us on his health status and spirit, via Skype, from his hospital room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Here are a couple of the videos from the last two events.
Green Beret Josh Burnette

Published on Jan 14, 2013 On Saturday Semper Fidelis held a fundraiser for a Green Beret, double amputee at the VFW Post 4287 in Orlando. Mary Ingrassia arranged the event and all of her hard work paid off. Everyone had a great time and over $10,000 was raised for Josh's recovery. 

Published on Jan 19, 2014
Last night proved beyond a doubt that when people come together for a common cause, mountains are moved out of the way!
Last year, Mary Ingrassia heard about a Green Beret double amputee Josh Burnette and decided to do something to help him. Semper Fidelis America President John Murphy has always been about team work. Just ask any of the veterans groups in Central Florida and they will tell you how active he and his wife Teresa are. Doug Pattelena, Commander VFW Post 4287 also knows this. Because they worked together, Josh knew how much he was loved with a fabulous night of appreciation, fun and over $10,000 in donations for his future.
Durning the event Mary heard about another young combat wounded hero, Bo Reichenbach. Bo, a Navy SEAL, lost both of his legs in 2012 while serving in Afghanistan. It was his time to be star of the show at the VFW.
Even Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer sent a proclamation declaring Bo Reichenbach Day!

Stunning Pictures from Veterans Art Project Require No Words

A veteran photo project that shows what can’t always be spoken
The Washington Post
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff
December 5, 2014

Marine Cpl. Brad Ivanchan lost both his legs when he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Sangin, Afghanistan.
(Picture 13/Courtesy Devin Mitchell)

Wars end, soldiers return. Uniforms are folded and pictures placed on the mantle. And though new lives begin, veterans carry their service with them long after they return home.

For many, reintegration is coming to terms with those two halves: the veteran and the civilian made anew.

That bifurcated existence is the basis for the Veteran Art Project, a captivating visual experiment by a 27-year-old photographer who is exploring a part of the veteran’s experience that is sometimes difficult to articulate.

The idea is simple enough: Devin Mitchell, a junior at Arizona State University, finds a room, a mirror and a subject, and then takes two pictures. One is a picture of the subject in uniform, the other in civilian attire. Afterward, Mitchell uses Photoshop to combine the two.

The first of the project’s 63 numbered photos, which was taken this past August, shows a man staring into his bathroom mirror and adjusting his suit. Staring back is the same man, Lt. Ricky Ryba, in blue Navy fatigues. The resulting image transcends time and place.
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Silver Star for Navy Corpsman After Battle in Sangin

Silver Star for Doc who fought to save Marine
Navy hospital corpsman repelled machine gun fire in Sangin, Afghanistan
UT San Diego
By Gretel C. Kovach
SEPT. 19, 2014

During a ceremony at 5th Marines in Camp Pendleton, Jonathan Kong is awarded the Silver Star from Maj. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson. Kong was a Hospital Corpsman Second Class while serving in the U.S. Navy and assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marines when he was deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan.
Nelvin C. Cepeda / UT San Diego/Twitter

CAMP PENDLETON — When “Doc” Kong saw a Marine drop from a shot to the chest, he didn’t hesitate.

While shooting his rifle to suppress the enemy attack, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Kong rushed into the open under heavy machine gun fire to retrieve the Marine and administer life-saving medical care.

The former Navy hospital corpsman “courageously fought through an enemy ambush to save the life of a wounded Marine,” on June 13, 2011 in Sangin, Afghanistan, the Marine Corps announced.

For his heroic achievement, Kong was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest medal for valor in combat, during a ceremony Friday afternoon at Camp Pendleton.

In brief remarks on the 5th Marine Regiment parade deck, Kong told guests he didn’t feel he deserved the award.

“Honestly, these other corpsmen out here… I was with them in Afghanistan and I know for a fact if they were in my shoes they would have done the same thing. If I was the one laying on my back, someone else would be dragging me behind the wall,” he said.
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UK:Military Cross for "Bomb Magnet" blown up 15 times

Soldier bombed 15 TIMES describes risking his life to save others as 'occupational hazard'
UK Mirror
By Chris Hughes
Jul 11, 2014

Hero: Warrant Officer Class 1 Patrick Hyde

A British soldier blown up more than 15 times described risking his life to save others as “an occupational hazard” as he received his Military Cross.

Warrant Officer Class 1 Patrick Hyde – nicknamed The Bomb Magnet – said modestly: “I’m just fortunate enough that I’ve survived.”

Patrick, 38, was given his MC by Prince Charles in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Afterwards, the senior soldier – who is Regimental Sergeant Major of the 4th Battalion The Rifles – gave an insight into some of the horrific incidents he had been involved in.

He said: “There’s no lucky charms. When you operate in Sangin, as I have done, it becomes a bit of an occupational hazard up there.

"We’re trained to do what we do and it becomes second nature.

"You work together as a team and regardless of the threat there’s a job to be done at the end of it.”

Patrick, from Cheltenham, was awarded the medal in July last year for his part in an action in Taliban-infested Sangin, where more than 100 Brits have been killed.
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Sacramento Marine posthumously awarded Bronze Star for Sangin heroism

Sacramento Marine posthumously awarded Bronze Star
DIVIDS
1st Marine Division
Story by Cpl. Joseph Scanlan
May 31, 2013

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Marines with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, honored a fallen brother who fought and died with valor in 2011 in Sangin, Afghanistan.

Corporal Gurpreet Singh lived by the saying, “All gave some. Some gave all,” to the deepest sense of the phrase.

On May 30, Singh was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat “V” for valor posthumously for heroic service in Sangin district.

Singh, a rifleman, was raised in Punjab, India, until he was 10 years old when his family immigrated to Sacramento, Calif.

Growing up with a Sikhism background, Singh was proud of his heritage and was inspired by Sikh warrior gurus who risked their lives to fight against terrorism, said Manpreet Kaur, Singh’s sister.
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Darkhorse Marine documentary For the 25

Marine Veteran Of Darkhorse Battalion Makes Documentary ‘For The 25’ (Video)
KPBS
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
By Beth Ford Roth

Marine veteran Logan Stark was a member of Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, known as Darkhorse Battalion. Now a student on the G.I. Bill, Stark has made a documentary called "For the 25" - a tribute to the 25 Darkhorse Marines killed during their seven month deployment.

According to Stark's YouTube channel, the 48-minute film was made as part of the Professional Writing program at Michigan State University.

The 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines was deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan in September of 2010. The 3/5 endured the highest casualty rate of any Marine unit in the Afghanistan War. In addition to the 25 men killed, roughly 200 were injured.
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