Sniper Alex Lemons: Friendly Fire, the Battle of An Najaf, and the War Still in Veterans' Bodies (Part 2)

Alex Lemons survived the Battle of An Najaf without a scratch from the enemy — and nearly died from friendly fire instead, when a young Marine mistook him for an insurgent and put six rounds past him from fifteen yards away.

This is Part 2 with Alex Lemons, a former Marine Scout Sniper, Iraq War veteran, and co-author of Warbody with environmental historian Joshua Howe. We pick up in Najaf and Fallujah in 2004, follow Alex through two more deployments including a year advising Iraqi and Polish forces under General Petraeus, and then get into why he and Josh wrote the book: the case that concussions, PTSD, and toxic exposure — lead, burn pits, contaminated water at Camp Lejeune — compound on each other in ways the military has never fully accounted for, and what that means for how we treat veterans of every generation who've served since.

This one's long, and it's worth sitting with. Especially if you've served, or you're close to someone who has.

Subscribe and follow Combat Story wherever you listen.

Guest Information — Alexander Lemons

Alexander Lemons is a former U.S. Marine Scout Sniper and Bronze Star recipient who served multiple combat deployments during the Iraq War, including Nasiriyah and Fallujah. He is the co-author of War Body: A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare, a powerful look at the hidden physical and psychological costs of combat and what war leaves behind long after the shooting stops.

War Body: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324066330
Featured Article: https://www.hcn.org/issues/57-2/a-veteran-transforms-a-legacy-of-violence-into-a-campaign-for-restoration/

Host Information — AJ Pasciuti

AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans share honest, unfiltered stories of service, leadership, and life after combat.

Find AJ online:
Book (Darkhorse): https://ajpasciuti.com/darkhorse
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/
Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/

Chapters
0:00 – One round, twelve inches from his face
2:37 – Chasing a flyer into the sniper platoon
13:14 – A guerrilla war nobody upstairs would admit to
17:29 – Sniper school, and the partner he lost before he ever deployed
48:38 – Into the Battle of An Najaf
58:36 – The 1,600-yard shot, and the tank he had to call in
1:12:17 – Losing Sergeant Rochas — then almost losing himself to his own side
1:22:45 – Two stories through a roof: the injury that started the clock
1:26:16 – A second deployment, and leadership that nearly got them killed
1:41:19 – Walking away from the Corps to advise generals in Iraq
1:50:26 – Coming home to a Marine Corps — and a body — that didn't fit anymore
2:00:24 – The anorexia, and the lead he didn't know he was wearing
2:44:37 – Three forces: concussions, PTSD, and toxicants
3:19:47 – "The war is continuing in everybody's body"