What Happened

Excerpts from a letter written to Juston's Mother from his Platoon commander, 1stLt L.B. Hardison, USMC. Written in Afghanistan on June 25, 2004.

On June 24, 2004 in Bari Khout, Afghanistan:
Juston and his men, (names deleted for privacy), were reconnoitering the area... Juston's team reached the observation point where they remained for a time. The observation point was on a ridgeline. Around three p.m. local time Juston and his men began descending from their observation point to the extraction site. While making their movement down they encountered an enemy ambush. They fought off their attackers for a while; heavy gunfire was exchanged in the valley... Juston and another Marine were lost...

In his death Juston saved the lives of many people. The enemy element he encountered was preparing to detonate an IED on a US convoy that was returning to base camp. By Juston engaging the enemy force they were unable to detonate the IED and we were able to find it. Many people could have been killed had Juston not fought those men yesterday.

Excerpts from a letter to Juston's Mother from Captain Christopher P O'Connor, USMC. Written in Afghanistan on June 30, 2004.

Juston's patrol came in contact with our enemy while the enemy was setting in an ambush that was planned for another group of US military forces. The actions of Juston and his fellow Marines disrupted this planned enemy attack from ever happening. I have no doubt that these brave and heroic actions denied the enemy their mission and helped save other friendly forces from harms way.