Brad Kasal - Nominated for the MOH, could be first Marine to get it since 'nam

Please, if you have nothing positive or nice to say about Kasal, do not post at all. This post is not about Bush, or WMDs - it is about a man who put his life on the line for his country, and will probably be rewarded with our nations greatest military honor because of it. Thank you in advance.


What a guy Kasal is. It really lets you know how brave some of our boys are to hear stories like this. I would hope if I were put in his position I would show the courage he displayed.

During his three tours of duty in Iraq and Kuwait, Kasal has been wounded multiple times, including being shot seven times, peppered with grenade fragments on several occasions, and wounded by shrapnel during the Iraqi invasion in 2003 and again last August during the Marines’ deadly street fights against Iraqi insurgents in the Sunni Triangle.

According to highly placed Marine Corps sources, Kasal and another Marine who was killed in action at Fallujah, may become the first Marine Corps recipients of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. Kasal declined any comment on the report and Capt. Daniel J. McSweeney, a spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., said the Corps’ policy is to not comment on such matters before they happen. The other potential recipient is the late Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who was killed after using his wounded body to shield his comrades from an exploding hand grenade thrown by an insurgent.

“We were moving down the street, clearing buildings,” Kasal recounted. “A Marine came out wounded from a building and said there were three more wounded Marines trapped in there with a bunch of bad guys (insurgents). As we entered, we noticed several dead Iraqis on the floor and one of our wounded.”

Kasal said there was no question of what to do. “If I was a general I would still think my job was to get the wounded Marines out of there,” he said. “So we went in to get them.”

As soon as he entered the two-story stucco and brick building, Kasal found himself in mortal combat. It was fighting to the death, and there was no quarter expected or given, Kasal said.

“An Iraqi pointed an AK-47 at me and I moved back. He fired and missed. I shot and killed him. I put my barrel up against his chest and pulled the trigger over and over until he went down. Then I looked around the wall and put two into his forehead to make sure he was dead.”

While Kasal and a young Pfc. Alexander Nicoll were taking out the insurgent behind the wall, another one with an AK hiding on the stairs to the second floor began firing at the Marines on full automatic. “That’s when I went down, along with one of my Marines (Nicoll). Then I noticed the hand grenade.”

It was a green pineapple grenade, Kasal said. It flew into the room out of nowhere and landed near the two downed men. Kasal now believes that other Marines who were watching their back left the room for reasons he still doesn’t know and an insurgent was able to somehow get behind him.

Kasal said his first instinct was to protect the young Marine lying bloody beside him. He covered the young man with his body and took the full brunt of shrapnel to his back when the grenade exploded. Kasal’s body armor and helmet protected his vital organs but the shrapnel penetrated the exposed portions of his shoulders, back, and legs, causing him to bleed profusely.

“I took my pressure bandage and put it on his leg,” Kasal remembered. “Then I tried to put Nicoll’s pressure bandage on a wound on his chest but it is very hard to get a flak jacket off a wounded man and I was bleeding and fading in and out.”

Nicoll survived the grenade blast and his previous bullet wounds but lost his right leg. “An artery was cut and they had to amputate his leg,” Kasal said. “I have seen him and talked to him several times since we got back to the States. He is doing OK.”

The grenade blast stunned Kasal. He floated in and out of consciousness. But in the back of his mind a voice kept telling him he had to stay alert or the Iraqis were going to come back and finish him and Nicoll off. “They weren’t going to let us live if they knew we were alive. It was kill or be killed,” he said.

Kasal wrestled his 9mm automatic out of its holster and lay on the floor waiting for help. It was thirty or forty minutes before other Marines arrived.

“That’s when I got shot in the butt,” Kasal recalled. “It was the shootout at the OK Corral – point-blank range. I was lying there shooting and somebody shot me through both cheeks. It smarted a bit.”

Pictured in the middle Middle

For some reason I can not edit my post without deleting it all, so I will put the link here:

free Republic

wow thats an incredible story, and its just simply wild that they were able to get photos too. Go army photographers! Really impressive, the whole thing, I wouldn't've thought body armour would protect from a grenade, this shows how much of a difference that sort of stuff can make.

Yeah - that body armor really does make a difference, especially with the shrapnel. A lot of guys are still going to have to have amputated limbs, but I would imagine the fatality rate is very low.

What really strikes me about this guy is that he has been hurt so many times and gone back for more.

To sum up his position:

“I believe in leading from the front,” Kasal explained. “It eases their [young Marines] minds and concerns to see me up their with them. That is where I belong.”

Grenades tend to explode up wards so hitting the ground means you avoid some (but not all) of the blast. If for some reason you are walking down the street and someone throws a grenade (it happens in some countries) the best thing you can do is hit the ground, not run away.

Still that guy has balls the size of watermelons doing that sort of thing. Bin Laden may think the US is weak because the people wont die for a cause, but this shows that not only are they equally brave enough to put their lives on the line but they will try to remain alive and save others. Killing yourself in a mindless suicide attack isn't really that brave, but this guy goes well above and beyond the call of duty.

Though grenades do explode upwards, the kevlar can still take the shrapnal it produces - as the artical points out, none oh his vital organs were touched because of it.

Rifle fire is a different thing though. I believe (though I am not sure) that most rifle rounds can only be stoped by the vests that have the metal plates behind them.

These are articles I like to read, but you never really see them in the press. I guess reading about a Marine getting the MOH or the Navy Cross, or a Special Forces officer getting a DSC in Afghanistan isn't as exciting as reading/seeing naked butt pyramids.

Great job!

Originally posted by Monsoon1965
I guess reading about a Marine getting the MOH or the Navy Cross, or a Special Forces officer getting a DSC in Afghanistan isn't as exciting as reading/seeing naked butt pyramids.

You know I am a little surprised no one hears about this stuff. I wouldn't have even known about the guy except my dad called me up and told me to check out the story about him.

You would figure that big media would have at least said something about the guy, even if it was not a main story.

I am also surprised that it has been that long since the MOH was given to a marine.

Regardless of my feelings about the Iraq war in general, it certainly sounds to me like the guy earned it.

I for one tip my hat to this brave marine. I dont know if I would have the gumption to jump on a grenade if the situation arose and frankly I doubt I would.

Also I'd like to offer a word of praise to the people behind the advances in modern body armor. Thanks to them I just might consider absorbing a grenade if I knew I would survive. I'm no hero as you might notice but this guy definitely is and he stands out as an example for the rest of us.

Originally posted by xmotex
Regardless of my feelings about the Iraq war in general, it certainly sounds to me like the guy earned it.

Exactly, if you are for or against the war, it is irrelavent.

This guy put it all on the table for his fellow men. He deserves to be recognized.

Regardless of your politics or feelings on the war, it is hard not to feel pride in a country that produces such military folks.

I am proud to have been afiliated with the military because of people like this.

Hats off, a salute, and here's hoping the medals are passed out.

Bravo Zulu!