THE MARINE WHO TOOK SNIPER ROUNDS FOR HIS BROTHER
November 9, 2004, Second Battle of Fallujah. A Marine was hit by enemy sniper fire and went down in the open.
Gunnery Sgt. Ryan P. Shane had been an infantryman since he was 18, and when he saw his brother fall, there was only one decision to make. He sprinted into the kill zone, rounds sparking off the pavement around him as he ran straight toward the downed Marine.
Shane grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him toward cover, while the sniper kept firing. Then Shane went down too.
The radio erupted with calls of “men down.” The Marines unleashed everything they had on the sniper’s position and rushed out to pull both men to safety. Shane was severely wounded but survived.
Lonny, the Marine Shane had run out to save, did not make it, despite everything his brother did for him.
The moment was captured in a series of photographs that day. Images that show what it means to put your brother before yourself, even when you know the cost. Shane’s actions showed the courage that defined every Marine who fought in Fallujah. Men who placed their brothers above everything, including their own lives.
Uncommon valor was a very common virtue in Fallujah.
A brotherhood that no one else could ever understand.