United States Marine Noah M. Pier of Charlotte Killed in Action Tuesday in Afghanistan

Far removed from our daily lives and the safety of our neighborhood streets, on the other side of the world, our Marines continue to take part in a US led offensive against aggressor forces in Afghanistan. The news this morning brings the battle field to Charlotte's door step. A neighbor of your's and mine has become the latest fatality in the southern part of the country known as Afghanistan.






The US Department of Defense has confirmed the death of Lance Corporal Noah M. Pier, 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina. Lance Corporal Pier was killed on February 16, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.


Clicking on the above photo will take you to a 65 photo slide show of US Marines
in the Afghan city of Marjah. Photos by Andrea Bruce-The Washington Post

According to a Tuesday statement released by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), our Marine was killed by a hidden Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in city of Marjah Afghanistan.

Additional sources reported;"An ISAF service member was killed in an IED strike in southern Afghanistan today," a brief statement said. "This is an Operation Mushtarak-related casualty."

Noah Pier is the third Marine from Bravo Company, 1st battalion, 3rd regiment who has died from injuries incurred from a roadside bomb blast while in Marjah. The casualties of US and international forces in Afghanistan are on the rise as the US-led military operations launched against a Taliban bastion in the Marjah district of southern Helmand province continue.

Earlier on Tuesday, an ISAF press release said that two other US Marines had died on Monday, following IED strikes in the same area of southern Afghanistan.

Noah Pier was the tenth death announced by the coalition forces since the operation Mushtarak started.

Noah's death brings to 77 the number of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan so far, this year.

“Most of the IEDs we’ve found were concentrated on the routes of entry into the city, though we are still finding IEDs throughout the Marjah,” said Maj. Billy Moore, Executive Officer of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment which is also operating in the area.

Major Moore, also noted that the bombs deeper in the city are still very powerful and dangerous.
According to a Marine Corps spokesman Noah had served one previous tour in Iraq and had deployed to Afghanistan in November.

Lance Corporal Noah M. Pier has been awarded the Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

And we are a grateful nation of neighbors who proudly stand with his family and honor his service.

Additional Condolences from the Patriot Guard can be found here.

The Unknown Soldier

I’ve watched him from a distance, in passing and close up. I’ve stood behind him at the post office, sat across the aisle from him at church and our paths have crossed at the gas station and the grocery store as well.

Yet I don’t know him...

Over many years I’ve noticed the two flags that fly from the large flag pole in his back yard. And because of those flags and the regularity they fly, I know a little something about him just the same, for he flies our country’s flag daily and below it the Marine Corps Standard.



He is punctual I’ve discovered, and if I time my morning run just right I’ll pass by his home as he raises those flags.

So, this morning I make the effort to rise early and Madison my five year old Lab and I head out the door before the sun warms the pavement beneath our feet.

The air is brisk, and our pace is easy, down the long street around the corner and up to the top of the hill. It is a mile or so from my home where we finally stop and it is from this vantage point I can peer down the hill into his back yard.

The cold brushed aluminum flag pole now bare will soon spring to life, and right on time with purposeful steps the unknown solider walks out the door.

He is a man of some age, and so his walk is not as steady as I suspect it once was. On this morning as he’s done so many mornings before his hand reaches for halyard and he takes the brass clips in hand, then in one fluid movement the flag of our country is quickly hoisted to the top of the pole and unfurls in the chilly fall breeze.

He steps back and offers a proud salute and seconds later the Marine Corps Colors unfurl as well and with it another salute.

I watch as he turns heel smartly and walks towards the house but just before he disappears behind the door, he turns for one last look at the red white and blue that he proudly flies each day. And while he pauses, all time stands still.

Perhaps it is in this moment he reflects on his life, the friends and fellow Marines he left behind in some far away place and his war.

His war is unknown to me, but Korea I’d guess given his age, too young for World War II and too old for Viet Nam.

Korea, with names like Chosin, Inchon, and Hwachon with the 1st Marine Division or with the 5th Marines at outposts, nicknamed "Reno," "Vegas" and "Carson" where the marines held their ground despite heavy losses after Reno fell to the enemy. I don’t know him and Korea remains the often, forgotten war.


Koren War Memorial Washington, DC

The leaves rustle in the wind, they depart in droves from the trees, and then scatter about the ground. Madison sitting politely next to me nudges my hand with her cold, wet black nose. She' ready to go, but we stay just a little longer and watch the flags.

In my heart the gratefulness is palatable and I wonder aloud who is this veteran, what battles did he fight for my freedom, what stories does he tell, and what stories he does not?

He is an unknown soldier, who is always a marine, yet there are so many unknown soldiers who live their lives in quiet contemplation next to ours and I am so truly thankful for their service and sacrifices they have made for our country.

The flags of the United States of America and the United States Marine Corps snap smartly in the stiff autumn wind, for Corps and Country, these unknown soldiers are Semper Fi.