Lance Cpl. Joshua Vance, a team leader with Marines Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, engages enemy positions with his M203 grenade launcher during a six-hour firefight with Taliban insurgents here Aug. 13. Vance is from Raleigh, N.C.

Sgt. Jonathon Delgado, a squad leader with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, looks back for a casualty evacuation helicopter in the middle of a six-hour firefight with Taliban insurgents here Aug. 13. Delgado is from Kissimmee, Fla.

Lance Cpl. Joshua Vance, a team leader with Marines Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, engages enemy positions with his M203 grenade launcher during a six-hour firefight with Taliban insurgents here Aug. 13. Vance is from Raleigh, N.C.

Lance Cpl. Timothy Daughtry, a saw gunner with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, takes a quick rest after a seven-hour firefight with Taliban insurgents Aug. 13. Daughtry is from Polk County, Fla.

Rounds from a high-mobility artillery rocket system and a B-1 bomber detonate on insurgent positions in support of the Marines on the ground with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, here Aug. 13.

Lance Cpl. Wesley Nokes, a saw gunner with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, directs fire to the enemy compound across a large, muddy field just after Taliban insurgents ambushed the Marines’ patrol here Aug. 13. The firefight lasted six hours and was the longest here since July 4.

Marines with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, suppress enemy positions to protect the landing zone for a casualty evacuation helicopter in the middle of a six-hour firefight with Taliban insurgents here Aug. 1.

Marines with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, mark a landing zone for a casualty evacuation helicopter in the middle of a six-hour firefight with Taliban insurgents here Aug. 13.

Pfc. Steven Wasko, a rifleman with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, stays alert as rounds from a high-mobility artillery rocket system impact on insurgent positions here Aug. 13.

1st Lt. Josh Faucett, a joint terminal attack controller with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, reaches quickly for his radio handset to call for fire support just after Taliban insurgents ambushed their patrol, Aug. 13. The fight lasted six hours and was the longest since July 4 here. Faucett is from Elwood, Ind.

1st Lt. Josh Faucett, a joint terminal attack controller with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, calls for close air support on insurgent positions during a seven-hour firefight with Taliban insurgents here, Aug. 13. Faucett is from Elwood, Ind.

Lance Cpl. Josh Vance, a team leader with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, radios to his squad leader just after clearing a compound during a six-hour firefight with Taliban insurgents here, Aug. 13. Vance is from Raleigh, N.C.

Staff Sgt. James Simmons, a platoon sergeant with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, takes a quick pause during a seven-hour firefight as an U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber drops a 500-pound bomb on insurgent positions here, Aug. 13. Simmons is from Winter Park, Fla.

All photos by 1st Lt. Kurt Stahl