Lance Cpl. Nathan Chandler, a Logan, Ohio, native and

Lance Cpl. Nathan Chandler, a Logan, Ohio, native and machine gunner with 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, hunkers down behind a compound wall during a firefight with insurgents near the Bari Gul Bazaar, Nad Ali District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Dec. 4. Nearly 100 Marines and coalition allies engaged in a prolonged firefight with insurgents while patrolling the area to interdict Taliban movements and weapons caches and gather intelligence around the bazaar. The interdiction force landed by helicopter during the cover of night and began sweeping through the area with the help of Afghan forces and interpreters before engaging Taliban fighters in a firefight that lasted nearly four hours. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Paul Peterson/Released)