'"Cpl. Scott Bunker: "You are never alone."'
'"Bunker was trying to recover another Marine’s body from a house May 8 during Operation Matador. He and others in the company knew enemy gunners probably were still in the building, but they went anyway.
"In quick succession, Bunker was hit with three bullets and shrapnel that took out his right eye. He doesn’t remember much, except that Lance Cpl. Nicholas Erdy dragged him to safety. Three days later, Erdy was killed.
'Bunker said the toughest thing about the war wasn’t his fear of combat or being killed.
"It’s so much harder knowing one of your friends died."
'Gunnery Sgt. Larry Bowman was wounded on the same day as Bunker. Shrapnel from a grenade sliced through his left calf. By the time he realized it, his leg had given out and his pants were soaked with blood....
'He said he remembers being calm. He said he thought, "I need to give myself first-aid." Then he thought, "I’ve got 40 other Marines to worry about."
"I was still the platoon sergeant," he said. "All these things were going through my mind. I knew I was bleeding profusely, but I knew I couldn’t freak out..."
'Bunker is still on active duty. He’s tried to deal with his grief by talking with the families of those who died, telling funny stories about their loved ones.
Today, though, he will rejoin his unit.'
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