Face of Defense: Marine Recalls Camp Bastion Attack

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By Marine Corps Sgt. James MercureRegional Command Southwest
AFGHANISTAN, Sept. 27, 2012 – “There wasblood down my leg after I got shot,” recalled Marine Corps Lance Cpl. EthanBurk, who was present during the Sept. 14 insurgent night attack on CampBastion here in Helmand province.
Burk, a hazardous materials managementcoordinator with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16, 3rd Marine AircraftWing (Forward), was on his way to work when he heard the first rocket-propelledgrenade explode behind him.
Avoiding the giant fireball from theexplosion, he had driven straight into an ambush of heavily armed insurgentsfiring at his four-wheeled tractor, which had no armor to stop the barrage ofbullets striking all around him.
“I could see the muzzle flashes from thecorner of the compound,” said Burk, a Milford, Texas native. “That’s when Irealized they were all aiming at me. I felt something hit my arm, but I thoughtI had just banged it on something. Then I rolled out of the [tractor] andducked. When I reached for my rifle they started shooting at me again, andthat’s when I realized they had a lot more firepower than I did because theywere firing too fast for just regular AK-47s.”
Maneuvering behind a barrier, Burk couldonly see and judge the insurgents’ movements in the darkness by their muzzleflashes. So he pressed on, trying to use the flight line’s light to see wherethe insurgents had holed up so he could get the drop on them.
After moving to a covered position, oneof his friends and the only other Marine in the area, Lance Cpl. Kevin Sommers,a cryogenics technician, jumped over a barrier and almost landed on top ofBurk. The two Marines waited for the insurgents to try and flank them. Whenthey didn’t, the pair climbed over concrete barriers to get better firingpoints at the enemy.
“Once we realized they weren’t comingafter us, we jumped over the T-walls and cleared out the area behind thebarriers. At that point the British [quick reaction force] showed up, and the[helicopters] were shooting from their main guns at the insurgents fightingposition right overhead,” Burk said. “We flagged the soldiers down with a lightand yelled ‘Marines, Marines, Marines’ to let them know the situation. The guyin charge of the British QRF told us to go get my arm checked out because hesaw the blood on my uniform.”
After Burk and Sommers checked in foraccountability, Burk went to a corpsman and found out he had been shot in theelbow by one of the insurgent’s machine gun rounds.
“After I had it X-rayed, they found twopieces of the bullet still lodged in my arm and they had to surgically removeit,” Burk explained. “After the whole ordeal, they asked if I wanted to go homebecause I was injured, and I told them I just got here, why would I want to gohome?”