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Marines honor two fallen Marines

by Lance Cpl. Stephen McGinnis

Marines with 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment paused to honor two men who gave their lives for the cost of freedom.

Sgt Maj. Joseph J. Leshinsky (left), a 44-year-old battalion sergeant major with 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, and Lt. Col. Harold R. Van Opdorp (right), a 39-year-old battalion commander from Stafford, Va., pay their last respects to Lance Cpl. Troy D. Nealey and Lance Cpl. Minhee Kim. The two Marines were killed in action while conducting combat operations and were memorialized by their fellow Marines Nov. 11. (photo by Lance Cpl. Stephen McGinnis)

The unit held a memorial service for Lance Cpl. Troy D. Nealey and Lance Cpl. Minhee Kim at Camp Baharia Nov 11.

Nealey was a 24-year-old rifleman from Eaton Rapids, Mich., and Kim was a 20-year-old rifleman from Ann Arbor, Mich. Both Marines were assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment.

Nealey was killed Oct. 29 and Kim was killed Nov. 1 while conducting combat operations in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq with Regimental Combat Team 5 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"Perhaps it is appropriate that we are here on 11 Nov., the day our nation comes together to honor the service and sacrifice of our veterans," said Lt. Col. Harold Van Opdorp, a 39-year-old battalion commander, from Stafford, Va. "We honor those who have worn the uniforms of our armed forces, for Lance Cpl. Nealey and Lance Cpl. Kim are two such patriots."

Marines who knew the fallen spoke of the great sacrifice the Marines made. They also acknowledged the standards the Marines set for all others to follow.

"I wished I had gotten to know the Marines better," said Capt. Michael Mayne, C Company, company commander. "I'm proud to call them my brother and to have known them at all."

Sgt. Bryce Sobol and others always knew they could rely on Nealey to accomplish any task to the best of his abilities.

"No matter what the task, I knew if Nealey was involved, it would get accomplished," Sobol said. "The whole time I served with him, he never once let me down."

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