Brady Gustafson

     On June 22, 2019, BZO published a post on Facebook recognizing the heroism of Marine Lance Corporal Brady Gustafson. It has become, by far, one of our most popular and widely reaching posts. This story is a result of that post, connecting us with Marines who were there that day. To Brady Gustafson, Will Rollins, Geoff Kamp, and the Marines of 2nd Platoon, Golf Company, 2/7. Thank you for your inspiring service, and letting this story be told. Semper Fidelis.

     Lance Corporal Brady A. Gustafson fought off nearly 100 Taliban fighters from the turret of an MRAP… after his leg was blown off.

     In July 2008, the 21 year old Marine manned his M240B in the MRAP turret. The vehicle took point of a mounted column patrolling through Shewan, Afghanistan. Suddenly, a complex ambush hit the column from all around, initiated by an RPG aimed at Gustafson’s MRAP. The RPG penetrated the vehicle’s hull and detonating inside. Flames shot up through the turret, searing his face. He stood to take aim at the surrounding muzzle flashes, but his right leg buckled beneath him in excruciating pain. Gustafson looked down and found his leg mangled beyond recognition, with bone exposed and his booted foot dangling by a shred of muscle.

     Despite the injury, Gustafson resumed shooting all around. As he fired, a Marine inside the MRAP applied a tourniquet to his leg. Gustafson finished a 200 round belt, loaded another, and returned to his war. An RPG struck the vehicle behind Gustafson, bursting it into flames. He shouted to the driver of the MRAP, who had just regained consciousness, to reverse direction. They pushed the flaming vehicle backward out of the kill zone, allowing the occupants to safely exit. Gustafson blew through another 200 rounds and reloaded once more before finally relenting to medical treatment and allowing another Marine to take over the turret. His fearless resolve and courageous initiative saved the column from destruction, and ensured not a single Marine was lost that day.

     For his actions, LCpl Gustafson received the Navy Cross. He left the Marine Corps the following year as a Corporal.

     Lance Corporal Geoff Kamp started up the MRAP and prepared to move out. His vehicle sat at the front of a mounted patrol, ready to head into Shewan, Afghanistan. Dubbed “Squad Lance Corporal,” Kamp’s squad from 2nd Platoon, Golf Company, 2/7, consisted of only junior enlisted, but no one cared. They were Marines. 

     Kamp drove through the gate, with three humvees and two Afghan National Police trucks trailing behind. At the outskirts of the village, Kamp noticed the ominous signs. The civilian inhabitants of Shewan were fleeing. He watched them run away from the approaching column, ducking behind walls and into buildings. The streets emptied quickly. 

     The column stopped. An interpreter questioned a man still nearby. 

     “When you get up there, you’re going to be attacked,” he said. 

     The decision was made to continue the patrol. Kamp fired up the MRAP once more and crept into the village. Suddenly, a series of deafening explosions rocked the MRAP. Before he had time to look around, Kamp was knocked unconscious.

     When he came to, he had no idea how long he’d been out. Smoke filled the inside of the vehicle. What was happening? He heard Brady above him pounding away with the M240. 

     “Give me more ammo!”

     Kamp turned toward the rear. Through the smoke, he saw Comstock handing up another can of machine gun ammunition. As Brady let loose once more, Comstock grabbed a tourniquet and wrapped it around Brady’s leg. Kamp realized most of Brady’s leg was just…gone. He wasn’t yet aware that an RPG penetrated the hull of the vehicle. The explosion that knocked him out, riddling his neck and head with shrapnel, had also shredded Brady’s leg below the knee. Kamp turned back toward the windshield. An insurgent carrying an RPG stepped into the road directly in front of the MRAP.

     “Brady! Shoot him! Shoot him!”

     The insurgent fired the rocket. It slammed head on into the glass inches away from Kamp’s face. The rocket failed to detonate, bouncing off the windshield and spinning wildly on the hood before shooting off into the village to the left. 

     They had to get out of there. Kamp threw the MRAP in reverse. He felt the vehicle hit something. The Marines in back told him it was a humvee, but to keep driving. The humvee took an RPG to the engine and was engulfed in flames. Kamp could push it out of the kill zone. After a few hundred yards, the humvee swerved off the road. The Marines inside evacuated and piled into the other vehicles. Kamp turned around the MRAP and floored the gas pedal. Running on three flat tires, it seemed to hardly move. He watched in disbelief as more RPGs streamed overhead, crisscrossing over the road. By the time the ambush ended, 7 rockets exploded in or on the MRAP. He couldn’t guess how much small arms and machine gun fire they had taken.

MRAP photos courtesy of Will Rollins.

     Sergeant Will Rollins sat back at base recuperating. Two days earlier, a roadside bomb sent his MRAP sprawling across the street, leaving him with a serious concussion and shrapnel in his leg. The incident left Rollins’ 1st Squad on post pending medical evaluation, and “Squad Lance Corporal” on patrol. Rollins watched them roll out the gate toward Shewan with the MRAP at the head of the column, Brady standing behind his machine gun in the turret. It felt like mere seconds passed before gunfire and explosions echoed back over the hills in the distance. 

     Rollins grabbed a radio and tuned in. Only broken traffic came through. He climbed stairs to the top of a building on their compound for better reception. The radio cleared somewhat, revealing sparse details of the attack beyond the horizon. Two humvees on fire…multiple Afghan National Police trucks destroyed…Gustafson was hit bad, as was the driver of the MRAP… He looked toward the sounds in the distance. Suddenly the MRAP appeared over the hill, limping down the road back to base. Even from a few clicks away, Rollins could see how badly it was damaged. He climbed back down and headed toward the gate to meet the MRAP when it came back through.

Other ambush photos courtesy of Will Rollins.

     When the vehicle rolled to a stop, Rollins opened the back hatch and jumped inside. Through the chaotic scene, Brady’s calm, pale face stood out. Rollins moved over top of him and began removing his gear. As he pulled off the flack jacket and started to pick Brady up, Brady stopped him.

     “Hey Sergeant Rollins, my leg is over there. Can you pick it up for me?”

     Rollins paused and looked down. He’d seen the blood coving the MRAP’s interior, but hadn’t realized the source.

     “Holy shit Brady! Your leg’s blown off!”

     “I know Sergeant.”

     Rollins looked back toward Brady’s face. Why was he so calm? He picked up Brady’s leg by the boot strings and handed it to another Marine. They put Brady on a stretcher and carried him to the conex box serving as the aid station. As the doctor began his work, Rollins stepped back from the stretcher. Brady still hadn’t said hardly a word since they got back. He’d barely made a sound. 

     “You good Brady? Can I get you anything?”

     “Do you have any pain medicine, Sergeant?”

     Rollins turned to the doctor. He shook his head without stopping his work. 

     “Sorry Brady, not yet. I’ve got to check you out completely.”

     Rollins looked back at the Marine, wishing he could help. Brady’s face remained the same. 

     “Well Sergeant, I’m good then.”

     Twenty minutes later, a chopper arrived to take Brady away. Rollins carried him to the LZ. When the bird came in, Rollins lay over him, protecting him from the whipping sand. As they lay face to face, Rollins noticed a smirk on Brady’s face.

     “Sergeant, can I tell you something?”

     “What’s that Brady?”

     “You’re pretty.”

     Rollins couldn’t believe this kid.

     “Shut your mouth Gustafson, or I swear to God, I’m gonna make you do star jumps all the way to the medevac bird.”

     “But my leg is blown off!”

     “I don’t care! Adapt and overcome!”

     The Marines shared a smile as Rollins loaded Brady onto the chopper. He wouldn’t hear from Brady again until the battalion returned home in December.

     Less than one month later, Rollins and the Marines of 2nd Platoon would join Marines from 1st Force Recon in an all-out fight with insurgents that would become known as the Battle of Shewan. Several hundred insurgents attacked the Marines at odds nearly 10 to 1. The Marines prevailed, leaving nearly 100 Taliban bodies on the field. The ambush that Brady Gustafson, Geoff Kamp, and the other Marines encountered proved just a glimpse of the enemy presence in the town.

     “What Brady did was shocking, but kind of expected,” Sergeant Rollins reflected. “If you told him to do something, he was going to do it. Part of me was surprised because this was his first firefight. Brady had this warrior inside of him that just got unleashed when these insurgents started shooting at him. But I really expected that of him, because he was told to get up there in that turret, and we all knew what it meant to be there. He knew what was expected of him manning that machine gun, and he did it.”