| Photo by Cpl. Benjamin Crilly FORWARD OPERATING BASE INKERMAN, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Sgt. Juan A. Valdez, a squad leader for 81 mm Mortar Platoon, Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, passes out Jolly Ranchers to Afghan children during Operation Kalawal Sunrise in the Village of Faiscal within Sangin, Afghanistan, June 1. “I had gone into one of the buildings before and the owner told me that he had been approached by fighters,” said Valdez, who planned the operation and led the Marines in its execution. “The local was told to move out of his compound because the enemy was going to use the abandoned compounds to ambush Marines and lay improvised explosive devices.” Valdez graduated from West Roxbury High School in 2003 and enlisted in the Marine Corps the following year. Valdez, 26, was born in the Dominican Republic and was raised in Boston. |
