Marine major awarded Silver Star for Bastion attack

The Stars & Stripes reports that Marine Major Robb McDonald was awarded the Silver Star for his actions at Camp Bastion on Sept. 14, 2012 during an attack by Taliban insurgents when they slipped through the wire around the camp in Afghanistan waking Major MacDonald from a sound sleep;

Though McDonald is a Harrier pilot, he had ground combat experience in Afghanistan with a Marine Special Operations Command unit. He ran downstairs to the area where the rest of the squadron was staying, then he and two other Marines began their dangerous run to the Harrier line.

Armed only with pistols, the men had to be wary of possible friendly fire as they bound from squadron to squadron for more than a mile, running toward the explosions. McDonald said he could see that multiple jets were on fire.

MacDonald discovered that his squadron commander had been killed in the attack and took immediate command of his Marines;

McDonald led the Marines six at a time over about 100 yards of open ground to their headquarters building, which was reinforced with concrete barriers. Then, he said, he borrowed a rifle and extra magazines and moved toward the flight line with three other men.

McDonald soon found himself looking at four Taliban fighters in a line, with the first looking directly at him, holding a machine gun. McDonald shot that man, then shot at the other three, knocking them down.

After a brief firefight in which McDonald took some shrapnel in the face, he and the other Marines went back to the headquarters building and called in an airstrike on the remaining fighters, he said. Later, when the quick reaction force arrived, McDonald killed another Taliban fighter who was attempting to use his grenade.

McDonald’s award citation notes that his “decisive leadership and tactical expertise inspired his Marines to vigorously repel the enemy, thereby preventing additional friendly casualties and further destruction of aircraft and facilities.”

Category: Marine Corps