1/5 celebrates Texas hero’s life, service

Photo By Sgt. Benjamin Crilly | PATROL BASE FAHEEM, Helmand province, Afghanistan - Marines of 3rd Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, pay their final respects to Cpl. Gurpreet Singh and Lance Cpl. John F. Farias at the pass and review during a joint memorial service at Patrol Base Faheem, July 8. The Marines of 1/5 paid tribute to the lives, services and sacrifices of the two heroes who were killed in action while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the Northern Sangin Green Zone. Farias, 20, was from New Braunfels, Texas, and graduated from Canyon High School in 2009 before enlisting in the Marine Corps.  

PATROL BASE FAHEEM, HELMAND PROVINCE,, AFGHANISTAN

07.08.2011

Story by Cpl. Benjamin Crilly 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

PATROL BASE FAHEEM, Helmand province, Afghanistan - Marines and sailors from Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, celebrated the life and service of Lance Cpl. John F. Farias with a joint memorial service at Patrol Base Faheem, Sangin, Afghanistan, July 8.

Farias was killed in action June 28 while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Sangin. Marines and sailors from across the battalion’s area of operations remembered the fallen hero along with Cpl. Gurpreet Singh, a team leader and assistant patrol leader for 3rd Plt.

Farias, 20, is the son of Felix and Penny Farias and was from New Braunfels, Texas. He attended Canyon High School where he played football and started at defensive end during all four years, in addition to playing on the varsity team his junior and senior years. Farias power lifted all four years of high school and went to a regional competition his senior year. After graduating in 2009, Farias enlisted in the Marine Corps and became a machine gunner before being assigned to 1/5.

“Farias was a well rounded Marine. He was well liked and very reliable,” said 1st Lt. Travis R. Topolski, the 3rd Platoon commander, from Destin, Fla. “He taught me that making the best of the situation and complaining coupled with a constant positive attitude goes a long ways and is contagious.”

His upbeat attitude and personality was hard to suppress. When the violence in the area picked up and life got stressful he lifted the Marine’s morale and made them laugh.

“One of my most recent and best memories of Johnny happened a few short weeks ago,” said Cpl. Nathaniel W. Mullet, a team leader for 3rd Plt., from Chardon, Ohio. “Everyone was exhausted and sick of being shot at after a long firefight that day. Johnny just smiled and said ‘We carry all this gear, we might as well get shot at.’ No matter how bad things got, Johnny would look us straight in the eye, give us that big goofy grin and tell us to keep every moment like it was our last.”

Many Marines in the unit have fond memories of Farias, a man they could easily call friend.

“I first met John when I checked into 1/5 last fall. He was the first person I really got to know in the platoon and we became fast friends,” said Lance Cpl. Christopher M. Miles, also a machine gunner for 3rd Plt. “I racked up more good memories with Farias than I can count.”

Farias made it clear to his fellow Marines that if something should happen to him, he did not want them to mourn his passing but celebrate his life.

“I know everyone here misses him as much as I do, and would do anything to bring him back. But we can’t bring him back,” said Miles, from Oak Ridge, Tenn. “So we honor and remember not how he fell, but how he lived.”

Farias’s personal awards include the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Ribbon.

• Date Taken: 07.08.2011
• Date Posted: 07.14.2011 07:05
• Story ID: 73712
• Location: PATROL BASE FAHEEM, HELMAND PROVINCE,, AF