Marine Corps Stories: The Squad Leader

Rocky terrain meant nothing to these intrepid souls. Without an infantryman or woman in sight, these POGs traversed the landscape. Squad Leader Sergeant Brenna Sharpe kept her Marines in tight positions in order to obtain their objective.

“Alright. Eat your MREs,” Brenna said. She had soft features. Her brown hair matted under her helmet spoke of the miles they had trekked away from their vehicle. She had hazel eyes that seemed like they could drive right through thick armor plates. She summoned her two corporals Diego Gauss and Lamar Volpe.

“Diego, Lamar. You see that entryway? The skipper wants us to secure it to find a cache of weapons, money, and other materials. Go!”

“Aye, Sergeant,” the two said.

Then, gunfire broke out. Brenna trained her rifle on the first enemy. She fired her weapon and the rounds entered dead center into the assailant's head and chest.

“Capturing hearts and minds I see, Sergeant,” Lance Corporal Tiffany Dehavan said.

“Get down, Tiffany!” A rocket propelled grenade launched at the two of them whizzed by their heads like a high-powered fastball. It exploded just a few yards away from them.

Tiffany then trained her eye on the launcher. She aimed and fired, missing once but then hitting the enemy in the shoulder, then in the head. The other Marines felt the heat of the combat scene. Thick and unrelenting though the fight had started out, these Devil Dogs laid down cover fire for their sergeant who ventured near the cave to obtain her two corporals. Brenna swiftly covered ground like an astronaut on a training mission. But without the comfort of this being for training purposes, Brenna felt fear envelop her like a wet, cold blanket. For a moment, her mind flew into a frenzy of thoughts, but somehow, she remained focused on her task. As rounds kept tinging around her, she kept her weapon on the opposition. She closed in as her lance corporals and PFCs provided cover fire.

When she came close to the two corporals, she noticed that they were alive but injured. Gauss and Volpe had sustained rounds to their leg and shoulder, respectively. The cache still laid in the cave. Sergeant Sharpe showed no concern about that. She reached her Marines. She figured that Gauss was about 5’8” one hundred eighty pounds and Volpe was 5’11” and about two hundred pounds. In an instant, she put Corporal Gauss in a fireman’s carry and dragged Corporal Volpe by the scruff of his cammies. Every ounce of strength that she had left in her, she poured out onto those rocks. PFC Hector Veracruz rushed over to the sergeant and helped to carry Volpe away from the harshest part of the battle. With her hands free and her rifle at the ready, Brenna sent shots at the enemy. Measured and precise, each shot either hit the head or the upper body of the various threats around them. Next, a grenade spilled in front of Brenna and her Marines. Without so much as flicking sweat from her brow, Brenna kicked the grenade back over to the enemy like a soccer ball and watched him become obliterated. Twelve Marines looked on in awe and wonder at the sergeant’s resolve. With the knowledge that that piece of armament would have killed or maimed Brenna and her Leathernecks, they found a renewed sense of protecting one another. Brenna made it to the location with the other Marines.

“Doc! We need you right about now!” Navy Corpsman Kim Wong administered help to Gauss and Volpe. The two of them hissed with pain only when they moved. Kim extracted the rounds that had entered the Marines’ bodies. As she patched up both of them, an attacker withdrew his pistol and aimed it squarely at Kim. Brenna fired her rifle directly at the assaulter. He fell to the dirt like a tree falling in the woods. No one heard anything else because he failed to get off even one shot.

“Okay, let me regain my concentration. Thanks Brenna. Goddamnit, thanks.”

Brenna shrugged. “It’s what we’re here for, Doc.” Finally a spooky silence hovered over the mini battlefield. No more of the enemy presented themselves.

“Well, then,” Breanna said. “We’ve got a cache to recover. But not before we get these two Devils back to base.”

“Aye sergeant,” The Marines said.

“As for you two,” Brenna turned to Gauss and Volpe. “You both will be fine. Doc did her finest work on the both of you in a moment’s notice.”

“You’re getting the Medal of Honor, Sergeant Sharpe. Whether it’s nine months or nine years from now, you’ll get it,” Volpe said wincing.

“I’m not worried about that. I want to make sure that my Marines get the best care available to them. That includes you, Lamar,” Brenna said. "I know one thing, y'all are getting the Purple Heart for damn sure."

“Thank you, Brenna.”

The Marines returned to the vehicle and headed back to the rear. Dirty, some bloody, some who hadn’t slept for twenty hours seemed to all be content with the fact that their sergeant was selfish enough to save their lives.