He left his rifle behind so it wouldn’t slow him down. Sprinted into the open fire. Took 6 bullets to his vest and one to the spine. And he still couldn’t save his friend.Fallujah. November 9, 2004.
Sergeant Lonny Wells, 29, was providing cover on a rooftop when a sniper’s bullet tore through his leg, striking his femoral artery. He fell in the open street. Blood pooling. Still moving — just barely.
Gunnery Sergeant Ryan Shane saw him go down.
He left his rifle behind. And he ran.
Six rounds slammed into his body armor. A seventh struck his spine.
Shane went down.
Navy Corpsman Joel Lambott rushed out next — wounded in the heel, forced back by the same fire that had already dropped two men.
Under covering fire, Marines finally recovered both of them.
Lonny Wells died from blood loss.
Ryan Shane survived — barely.
Years of surgeries followed. His 220-pound frame shrank to 150. He was medically discharged from the Corps he loved.
Nearly two years later, 50 veterans gathered at Camp Lejeune. Shane was awarded the Bronze Star with V Device.
He stepped to the podium.
The room went quiet.
“I’m finding it really hard to accept that my greatest achievement as a Marine also comes from my greatest failure.”
“I didn’t save Lonny that day.”
Sergeant Lonny D. Wells. Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. 29 years old. Killed in action, Al Anbar Province, Iraq. November 9, 2004.
He never came home.
And the man who ran into open fire to save him has carried that weight every single day since.