11-10-04 - A US Marine who graduated from Leonard, Texas saw action in his first 24 hours on the ground in Afghanistan. Private 1st Class Ted Barker shared his harrowing story with his mother via e-mail this week.

The 19-year-old graduated Leonard early last December so he could join the Marines. In the e-mail, Barker told his mother how he was stationed at guard duty early Monday morning near Jallalabad. He spotted a suspicious vehicle. Barkers says “the vehicle was driving parallel to our position without any headlights. I saw the passenger open fire through my night vision so I opened fire on the vehicle." Another Marine also defended their position – in the end, three people in the vehicle were killed. All three were suspected Al Qaida members who were on a suicide mission. There was an explosive device in their vehicle.