Marjah, Afghanistan – The bomb waiting to kill Marines was hidden in undergrowth along a dusty lane meandering through fields of wheat, corn and marijuana.
A foot patrol from Weapons Co., 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, had spotted a wire in the brush earlier and backed off near the site. They called for the Explosives Ordinance Disposal team.
At this small outpost in what’s called the “IED belt of Marjah” in Helmand Province, in southern Afghanistan, 1st Lt. Brandon Currie rousted the two bomb specialists: Staff Sgt. Anthony Stankus, 25, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Staff Sgt. Jason Hayward, 27, of Jacksonville, N.C.