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Marine Continues Fight After Recovery From Wound Photo by: Cpl. Tom Sloan
CAMP HURRICANE POINT, AR RAMADI, Iraq -- Lance Cpl. Joseph J. Tellez, a rifleman with 4th Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, shows off the 7.62 mm round that an enemy sniper shot him with June 7. The 21-year-old from Ceres, Calif., was conducting security and stability operations in the Al Anbar capital in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom when the sniper shot him. The round hit Tellez a few inches below his left shoulder, passed through his body and exited an inch below his left nipple. The 2002 Ceres High School graduate returned to full duty a month later to fight terror on the urban battlefield.
"I was shot," Tellez said, adding, "and he shot me in the back."
The round hit Teller hard, but it didn't bring the 6-foot, 230-pound warrior down.
"I felt a sharp pain, but I stayed on my feet," he said. "I quickly checked myself over and saw that blood and all kinds of muscle and fatty tissue dripping on my trousers like a water faucet. I remained calm, though, and my breathing was normal."
After his quick self-assessment, Tellez countered the sniper's attack as he ran for cover.
"I flipped him off," he said, smiling at the fact that he shot the sniper the bird and not with rounds from his M-16 A4. "I didn't know where he was so I couldn't shoot at him. I didn't want him to have the satisfaction of killing a Marine."
Tellez is a three-time veteran of OIF, and this is the first time he's been wounded. His battle scar is currently a quarter-sized, inch-deep, dried-out bullet hole in his chest. He even has the 7.62 mm round that made it.
?I was wearing my medical kit on my Flak Jacket, and the round stuck into it,? he said. ?I?m going to drill a hole in the round and make a necklace out of it.?
Getting shot came as no surprise to Tellez.
?I knew there was a risk of getting killed in the infantry,? he said. ?I?m real patriotic, though, and joined the Marines so I could fight terrorism and protect my family.?
