Prestigious journalism award being presented to Military Times for coverage of the ‘MARSOC 7’

SOFREP has been covering the story of the MARSOC 7 in-depth through a five-part series on the men of MARSOC Fox Company, who were falsely accused of killing innocent Afghan civilians in March of 2007, and the aftermath that still torments those brave Marines to this day.

This story was also covered last year, in a well-written series by Military Times that introduced details of the basic story to the public.

Military Times is now receiving deserved credit for being willing to address the matter when many other media outlets and journalists have not had the courage to do so. In fact, the writer of the Task Force Violent “Unforgiven” series, Andrew deGrandpre, is receiving a prestigious journalism award for his efforts. Take a moment to learn more about it and celebrate the success of deGrandpre’s series.

For his powerful series exposing how a team of elite combat Marines were wrongfully accused of war crimes and the truth buried for political expediency, Military Times senior editor Andrew deGrandpre has been awarded the prestigious Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation’s Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense.

“Task Force Violent: The unforgiven,” a five-part series, details the ordeal endured by the special operations Marines of Fox Company who bravely fought to survive an enemy suicide attack and ambush only to be accused of recklessly gunning down innocent Afghan civilians — and then betrayed by their superiors and the service they loved.

The firefight drew immediate attention from local journalists stringing for major wire services. In the days ahead, the story that developed left little doubt the men of Fox Company — they called themselves Task Force Violent — were rogue cowboys whose own leaders banned them from the war zone and sought to see them imprisoned. They were branded war criminals well before the facts were established.