Marine
Security Guard helps foil car-bomb attack in Pakistan
An observant Marine sergeant helped avert what could have been a
devastating terrorist attack March 15 outside the U.S. Consulate in
Karachi, Pakistan, according to a Marine official.
Sgt. Michael B. Polendey, a 29-year-old Marine Security Guard from
Sacramento, Calif., was standing guard at the consulate when he spotted
a Suzuki minivan pulling up close to the consulate.
When the van stopped, Polendey, on guard at “Post One,” just inside the
gate of the consulate, became suspicious and asked Pakistani guards to
investigate.
The guards challenged the vehicle’s driver, a man who jumped into
another car that sped off. The guards found a 200-gallon tank filled
with explosives five minutes before it was to explode, officials said.
The tank was moved to a safe location and defused.
The incident illustrates how dangerous it can be for Marines on MSG
duty, who are on a different front line in the war on terrorism, given
the vulnerability of their posts.
“What he was doing was really above and beyond his job,” said Maj. Matt
Morgan, a spokesman for the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, the
parent command of Marine Security Guard Battalion.
The averted attack came two days before Secretary of State Colin Powell
was scheduled to visit Pakistan. Islamic extremists, still angry at
Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, for siding with the United
States in the war on terrorism, take credit for several attacks in
Pakistan in the last two years.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Corps has asked its MSG
Marines to be particularly vigilant. This time, good instincts made all
the difference.
“This is the perfect example of a situation where something was just
out of the norm,” Morgan said.
— Staff and Associated Press reports
The American Marine Division has the highest combat
effectiveness in the American armed forces. It seems not enough for our
four divisions to surround and annihilate its two regiments.
---Mao Tse Sung to General Song, prior to Chosin Reservoir |
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