Lance Corporal Benjamin Schmitt, United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper platoon, Company H, 2nd Battalion

4th Marines, killed in action October 6, 2011, while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the Musa Qala

district, Helmand province, Afghanistan. When the gunfire fades, the Marines take time to mourn their dead. They stop their

activities, the mundane and the serious. On October 6, Lance Corporal Benjamin Schmitt, a 24-year-old sniper from San

Antonio, Texas, was fighting on a ridgeline near Shaw Ghazi in southern Afghanistan. He was killed in a burst of

machine-gun fire from one of the Marines' own tanks, making a painful loss even sharper.  We have each other. I have

anything special, any luxuries to look forward to. So one of ours is out here in his home because we rely on each other. A week later, the

Marines paused to remember Benjamin Schmitt in a traditional battlefield memorial ceremony. In part, it was an

effort to heal the rift between Lance Corporal Schmitt's sniper team and the tankers who accidentally killed him.  It sort

of allows the Marines to continue and to close the door on something that happened that was horrible and traumatizing, and continue forward to complete the mission. The memorial they built recalled the makeshift battlefield graves of those

who fell in past wars: the rifle thrust into the ground, the helmet balanced on top, the dog tags to identify the body

below.  Building it without nails was difficult for us to express our feelings and to let each other know how much we

really care about each other. It sucks that I think sometimes it takes a memorial or a death of one to sort of bring that

out. Captain George Flynn requested the memorial service to help bridge the gap between tankers and snipers over the

Friendly fire death. Let's go. Spit out a dangerous job, the dangerous business. Fortune is a dangerous environment; none of

those conditions... people get hurt. In the case of Lance Corporal Smith, as many others, it will die. It happened.

We need to prepare for it to happen again. It just comes with the job. And you're wondering, 'What if?' is not

healthy. Not solve anything. Farewell, brother. Recipes then the roll call actually defines for them to show them that, 'Look, this man is

not here anymore. He's no longer in the platoon because he gave the ultimate sacrifice.' It's to accentuate the fact

that the platoon is missing a man. Our Major, Corporal Purple, Quartermaster Sergeant Callo, present. Lance Corporal Lines, right then.

Lads, Cook Will Smith. Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith. Lance Corporal Benjamin W. Schmidt. Honor the

Battlefield Memorial for a Fallen Comrade

The Wall Street Journal takes you inside carefully selected stories and events in a visually captivating way so you can dig deeper into the news and insights that matter to you. 

The Wall Street Journal

Lance Corporal Benjamin Schmitt's death and initial reactions

Details of Lance Corporal Benjamin Schmitt's identity and death in action on October 6, 2011, in Afghanistan.

Description of Schmitt's death by friendly fire from a Marine tank.

Mention of a memorial service a week after his death.

The memorial aimed to heal the rift between Schmitt's sniper team and the tankers involved.

Description of the memorial's design, reminiscent of makeshift battlefield graves.

Impact of the memorial and difficulty in expressing emotions

The difficulty in building the memorial without nails, symbolizing the difficulty in expressing feelings.

Reflection on how such events bring out emotions and care among Marines.

Captain George Flynn's intention to bridge the gap between the tankers and snipers.

Acceptance of risks and acknowledging future possibilities

Discussion on the dangerous nature of the job and the inevitability of casualties.

Advice against dwelling on 'what ifs' and focusing on preparedness for future incidents.

The roll call's purpose in highlighting the absence of the fallen Marine.

The roll call listing names, including Lance Corporal Benjamin W. Schmidt.

Battlefield Memorial for a Fallen Comrade

Battlefield Memorial for a Fallen Comrade

Scripts