Dustin Stroble
Student
From Cody, Wyoming
Marine, Sergeant
Infantry Squad leader
Ramadi, Iraq 9/08-4/09
Marjah, Afghanistan 7/10-11/10
Words Provided 2013
Dustin received injuries to the face, neck, shoulder, and hand on November 8, 2010 when struck by enemy gunfire
Written Statement
From Cody, Wyoming
Marine, Sergeant
Infantry Squad leader
Ramadi, Iraq 9/08-4/09
Marjah, Afghanistan 7/10-11/10
Words Provided 2013
Dustin received injuries to the face, neck, shoulder, and hand on November 8, 2010 when struck by enemy gunfire
Written Statement
Ever since I was young I always wanted to be a Marine. For some reason the Marines had always stuck out to me and I cannot remember why. It did not matter if I was watching The Green Berets, or Black Hawk Down, the Marine Corps is what I wanted and it is what I got.
Fast forward to April, 2010, I had just signed my re-enlistment papers with a guarantee that I would deploy with 2nd Battalion 9th Marines to Marjah, Afghanistan. Since coming to 2/9 in 2008, I had spent a great deal of time with the same Marines; they were my brothers. I could not let them go to war without me.
November 8, 2010, while conducting an extended patrol in Marjah, Afghanistan, I was struck multiple times by enemy PKM medium machine gun fire. My face, neck, hand and shoulder were torn apart from the burst. Dying is not something that many people experience and live to talk about it. I will never forget what dying feels like because I see the scars every day on my face and I feel it in my shoulder.
Everything happens for a reason.
Fast forward to April, 2010, I had just signed my re-enlistment papers with a guarantee that I would deploy with 2nd Battalion 9th Marines to Marjah, Afghanistan. Since coming to 2/9 in 2008, I had spent a great deal of time with the same Marines; they were my brothers. I could not let them go to war without me.
November 8, 2010, while conducting an extended patrol in Marjah, Afghanistan, I was struck multiple times by enemy PKM medium machine gun fire. My face, neck, hand and shoulder were torn apart from the burst. Dying is not something that many people experience and live to talk about it. I will never forget what dying feels like because I see the scars every day on my face and I feel it in my shoulder.
Everything happens for a reason.