August 25, 2004

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Engel,
     Let me offer to you my most sincere and deep condolences on the loss of your son, Lance Corporal Mark E. Engel. I have had the privilege and honor to serve with your son as his Platoon Commander for a majority of the last two years and was leading the patrol in which he was mortally wounded on the 6th of July. I feel incredible pain in my heart at the loss of him and can only imagine what you must be going through at this difficult time. Since the morning after the patrol, the platoon had been in mourning for the loss of Mark's four comrades and praying for Mark to pull through his wounds. When we received the news of his passing the shock was so immense and painful. Though we all are aware of the reality, I believe we all still keep expecting and hoping that Mark will just pop out from behind a tent or step out of another LAV with that big grin of his and without any injuries. If I could make that happen, and God I wish I could, I would spare nothing to bring back Mark and those other fine young men. I know I can never begin to understand the suffering you must be going through, but I just want you to know how sorely missed and loved your son is by his fellow Marines, his brothers in arms, his family in the field.

     Mark, without a doubt, was the platoon "class clown". A day did not go by without his antics and jokes causing laughter to burst forth from his platoon. He was an extremely loud individual and I would often hear his voice from a couple of meters away as I approached the platoon from a distance. He always had a smile on his face and even though we often had to hog tie him to cut his hair, he had a great attitude. He also loved to argue and would debate someone over anything in the world whether he believed it or not. His extremely positive and larger than life personality warmed not just the platoon, but also the entire company and his loss has been greatly felt by many.

     Mark held the dual rolls of platoon mechanic and scout. His job was to keep his platoon's vehicle rolling and to also fight as a LAR scout basically a vehicle mounted infantryman or "grunt". Unlike many of the LAR mechanics, that made poor scouts, Mark stood out and was one of the first scouts in the platoon. He was such a reliable scout in fact he was made the scout radio operator and thus carried the 35 pounds on his back, I can guarantee. The radioman holds the important responsibility of maintaining communication between the scouts and the other three and Mark did an exceptionally fine job of this always.

     On April 8, 2004 he assisted in fighting off and scouting a hostile ambush of his platoon in the city of Al Kharma, Iraq. With small arms fire ricocheting off his vehicle and rocket propelled grenades exploding above and beside him he effectively returned fire and protected his vehicle during the hour long engagement.

     Again in the city of Al Kharma on April 14, 2004 Mark displayed particular bravery in the face of the enemy. His fire team was tasked with holding an important building that controlled a large portion of the battle space his unit was defending. With small arms fire ricocheting off the walls beside him and mortar rounds exploding around him Mark helped establish both a critical observation post and firing position for the platoon's snipers on top of the structure. From this position, Mark repeatedly identified and managed hostile targets maneuvering around his platoon with his weapon while constantly under fire for seven hours. While both returning fire and receiving fire he also relayed messages through these reports and with his spotting of fires numerous targets were able to be engaged accurately and effectively by the platoon's LAVs. Towards the end of the engagement he noticed that a large amount of fire was coming from a mosque near his platoon's position. Realizing that the ground units were having difficulty penetrating the thick walls of the mosque with their weapons, he requested an air strike which was approved and run. The resulting air strike was credited with the capture of the local Anti Coalition Force leader and six of his most trusted lieutenants. His actions though heroic at that instant were but several of many he took part in during his time here.

     I will never forget your son and how he died a hero upon the battlefield of Iraq serving his nation, his corps, and his fellow Marines. I know it is not much, but please know that if I or any of his fellow Marines of 2nd platoon may ever be of any assistance to you, ever, you need only ask and we will do whatever we can.

Semper Fidelis,
1st LT K. Knox Nunnaly