Attack on Camp Bastion “arguably the worst day in USMC aviation history since Tet in 1968”
Friday, September 28, 2012 at 11:56AM 
USMC Lance Cpl. Ethan Burk stands in front of a bullet-riddled concrete barrier scarred from the Sept. 14, 2012, night attack on Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Carrying a bullet-scarred rifle and wounded during the attack, Burk and another Marine maneuvered out of the kill zone to inform the British Army’s quick reaction force of the insurgents’ fighting position. (Photo and caption: U.S. Marine Corps; Sgt. James Mercure) The week of Sept. 11, 2012, saw the implosion of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy in the Mideast. The U.S. Consulate in Libya—technically U.S. soil—was attacked and the ambassador, two former Navy SEALs and a communications staffer were killed.
Like mushrooms after rain, protests arose at U.S. interests in North Africa and Asia. Even at locations where no one died, the property damage was extensive. What’s the taxpayer tab for that? We’ll probably never know.
By Sept. 14, we should have been on the highest alert possible when it came to our military assets.
Yet late that day, Taliban attacked Camp Bastion in Helmland Province, Afghanistan. By the time the camp was stabilized, two Marines, including the VMA-211 commanding officer, were dead. Nine other personnel had been wounded, including one contractor.
John D. Greshaam, writing for Defense Media Network, called the attack “arguably the worst day in USMC aviation history since the Tet Offensive of 1968.”
