The Lion of Fallujah

Major Doug Zembiec fell one year ago in a Baghdad firefight. He had volunteered himself out of a stateside deskjob for his fourth deployment in Iraq.

Son of an FBI agent, Doug Zembiec grew up in Albuquerqe, New Mexico. Classmates remember a champion against bullies and a champ on the wrestling mat, winning state titles for the school.

The charismatic Annapolis grad was a marine's marine and unapologetic warrior, "a military hybrid of modern tactics and ancient attitude."

The Arlington National Cemetery Association's tribute page to the Major archives this from the Washington Post coverage of the funeral.

About 40 enlisted men gathered under a tree, telling stories about their former commander. Some had flown in from as far away as California, prompting one officer to observe: Your men have to follow your orders; they don't have to go to your funeral.

The men knew firsthand how Zembiec, who lived outside Annapolis, had come to be known as the Lion of Fallujah. The story is one of their favorites. It was 2004, in the Jolan district of Fallujah, and Zembiec was a captain. They were on a rooftop, taking fire from AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. They tried to radio an Abrams tank below to open fire in the direction of the enemy. No good. Zembiec raced down the stairs and out to the street and climbed onto the tank. Gunnery Sergeant Pedro Marrufo, 29, who watched from the rooftop, remembers Zembiec getting a Marine inside the tank to open the hatch. Insurgents shot at Zembiec as he instructed the men in the tank where to fire.

Corporal Chad Borgmann, 28, who went to Zembiec's funeral from Camp Pendleton, California, said yesterday that boarding tanks during firefights and similar actions is typically the work of enlisted men. If a Lance Corporal falls, there are 40 to take his place. But there are fewer Captains, Borgmann said, and fewer still who always seemed to be out in front. "He let us know it was his privilege to lead us," Borgmann said, walking back to a car through the graves of Arlington before heading out to meet up with his Marine buddies at the Clarendon Grill.

It's worth noting that it was his guys, the men of Echo Company 2/1, who Doug Zembiec considered the real lions of Fallujah. He says as much in a battlefield interview with an embed reporter that appears in an NBC Nightly News tribute to the Major.

The other element worth noting in the NBC News tribute is the emotion Defense Secretary Gates displays in front of the Marine Corps Association during his remarks about Major Zembiec. It's a hopeful sign when those entrusted with the well-being of our troops are as overwhelmed as we by their selfless service and trust in our nation.