MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- For his grace under fire, Lance Cpl. Christopher S. Adlesperger’s heroic story will be forever written in the Marine Corps’ history books. If only he could be here to read it himself.
Maj. General John M. Paxton, Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division, presented Adlesperger’s parents with a Navy Cross Medal, awarded posthumously to Adlesperger during a ceremony here April 13.
During the fight for Fallujah on Nov. 10, 2004, then-Pfc. Adlesperger, a Marine rifleman with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and his squad rushed through the doorway of a house and straight into the mouth of hell - a multitude of entrenched insurgents rained small arms and indirect fire upon the Leathernecks.
The Marine leading the charge was killed instantly by an insurgent’s machine gun. The platoon corpsman was also wounded and incapable of offering medical aid to the rest of Adlesperger’s squad, who were all either injured or pinned down by the relentless ambush. Adlesperger’s skin was seared from fiery fragmentation.
However, Adlesperger, from Albuquerqe, N.M., was not the type to be pushed around. Quitting was never an option for Adlesperger, said Sgt. Justin C. Hannah, a 22-year-old squad leader with 3/5’s Company K. Cpl. Carlos E. Batista, who described the battle as “the biggest firefight I was ever in,” remembered his heroics.
Adlesperger responded to the enemy attack with rifle fire, suppressing the insurgents’ fire on the injured Marines, according to the citation.
“Everyone else was wounded around him, so he was the only one putting it down,” said Batista, a Company K squad leader with 3/5. The Marines were fighting to take the last insurgent stronghold in the Jolan district of Fallujah, one the bloodiest districts of the city, said Hannah.
Pinned down and virtually alone, Adlesperger had to immediately take action, or else more Marines would perish.
“He was aggressive, he had no fear, and he didn’t think about himself, he thought about the Marines around him,” said Batista, a 21-year-old from San Fransisco. Disregarding his own injured and exhausted state, Adlesperger unflinchingly rose up and returned fire on the enemy.
According to the official Marine Corps account, he single-handedly cleared insurgents from the stairs and then the rooftop. Adlesperger was frequently exposed to enemy attacks while moving injured Marines to the safety of the roof, where they received medical attention. Through a lethal mix of fire and close combat, a quickly-maneuvering Adlesperger then forced the enemy into a position where adjacent Marines could engage and destroy them.
Eleven insurgents fell under Adlesperger’s rifle by the time the fight was over. Shortly after the battle, Adlesperger received a meritorious promotion to lance corporal. He died in combat a month later on Dec. 9, 2004.
Paxton told Adlesperger’s parents that his actions forged an example for future Marines to come.
“I just want Annette and Gary to know that Christopher, besides being a great man, besides being a great Marine, has now just joined another elite fraternity, because his accomplishments and his valor and his dedication are so significant,” Paxton said.
It was a tearful, solemn day for Adlesperger’s family, but they kept in good spirits when talking about their son afterwards. “When he joined the Marine Corps, he said he wanted his life to mean something,” said his mother, Annette Griego. Adlesperger’s platoon commander at the time, 1st Lt. Michael C. Cragholm, plans to ensure Adlesperger’s actions carry on to a new generation.
“I graduated 188 new Marines today,” said Cragholm, now a series commander at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. “Every one of them knows (him) by name.”
Like Cragholm, Paxton assured Adlesperger’s parents that their son’s legacy will continue to shape the future of the Marine Corps.