Fallen Squad Leader Sgt. Joseph Garrison Lives On

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Published May 28, 2018 4:30 am
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CAMP DWYER, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan — I heard the final rifle volley and saw the winding procession of somber Marines, yet I’m sure Sgt. Joseph Garrison was there. Though I never shook his hand or looked him in the eye, his presence was as obvious as the occasional tear upon their stony faces.

One by one, the Marines knelt in front of the former Fox Company squad leader’s meticulously arranged memorial display. A Catholic bowed his head, crossed himself and clasped dog tags that hung from Garrison’s upright rifle. Later, Sgt. Maj. Bryan Zickefoose, the Regimental Combat Team 1 sergeant major, saluted to a slow, six-count silent cadence and carefully placed the RCT-1 challenge coin inside one of the empty combat boots at the rifle’s base. For about an hour, a tide of Marines seemed to ceaselessly flow forward to pay their final respects to the 27-year-old native of Clarion County, Pa.

Garrison’s squad was among the first to say goodbye. When I found them afterward, they were huddled between a row of bunkers and domed brown tents. Hardly anyone was speaking, and I immediately felt out of place with two bulky industry-standard cameras strapped around my neck.

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