Vindicated Warriors: Marine Raiders of 'MARSOC 7' reunited

In June of 2019, seven men from MARSOC Fox Company and one of the panel members from their 2008 court of inquiry (COI) were reunited—some for the first time in 12 years—during a fishing trip at Big Horn River in Montana. The trip was hosted and paid for by The Bar X Project, an organization that reunites combat-wounded Marines and Navy Corpsmen with their former units to promote healing and help them succeed in the civilian world.

Fox Company Marines (MSOC F) were accused of indiscriminately killing Afghan civilians in March of 2007, and that narrative was spread throughout the media as a result of a rush to judgment by several military leaders who were directly responsible for the expulsion of Fox Company from Afghanistan. This rush to judgment occurred without sufficient evidence, as later proven during the COI.

On March 10, 2007, before investigations were completed, then-Maj. Gen. Frank Kearney (U.S. Army) ordered Fox Company to leave Afghanistan. The Marines involved in the alleged war crime—the MARSOC 7 as they’ve been called—have since been cleared of any wrongdoing. However, the reputations and souls of Fox Company commander, Major Fred Galvin, and his Marines have been irreparably tarnished, and they are still tormented by the accusations cast on them well over a decade ago.

This trip was part of the healing process for the men involved, and The Bar X Project was able to film their time together.

As shown in the video below, MAJ Fred Galvin (USMC) and LTC Steve Morgan (Retired Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff – Intelligence at Marine Forces Command) were able to “recount the powerful story of what these Marines faced, they talk about the impact that Bar X had on these men who were reunited after nearly 12 years, and they speak to why programs like the Bar X are so important.”