THE TENSION: Combat Camera: 1/5 Marines Light It Up as Sun Sets on Insurgents in Helmand Province, Afghanistan

Marines with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, run for cover during a firefight in Nawa District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 2. The Marines were attacked while conducting a security patrol in the area. They suffered no casualties after exchanging fire with enemy insurgents for nearly two hours. (Photo by Lance Cpl. John McCall, Regimental Combat Team 3.)

Lance Cpl. Roy Aeschilmann with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, returns fire during a fire fight in Nawa District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 2. Aeschilmann is a 24-year-old rifleman from Tucker, Ga. The Marines were attacked while conducting a security patrol in the area. They suffered no casualties after exchanging fire with enemy insurgents for nearly two hours. (Photo by Lance Cpl. John McCall, Regimental Combat Team 3.)

Sgt. Matthew Duquette with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, checks his squad to see if anyone is injured during a firefight in Nawa District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 2. Duquette is a 23-year-old squad leader from Warrenville, Ill. The Marines were attacked while conducting a security patrol in the area. They suffered no casualties after exchanging fire with enemy insurgents for nearly two hours. (Photo by Lance Cpl. John McCall, Regimental Combat Team 3.)

Marines with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, take cover in a trench after receiving indirect fire during a patrol in Nawa District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 2. Marines were attacked while conducting a security patrol in the area. They suffered no casualties after exchanging fire with enemy insurgents for almost two hours. (Photo by Lance Cpl. John McCall, Regimental Combat Team 3.)

Pfc. Travis Preciado with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, runs for cover during a firefight in Nawa District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 2. Preciado is a 21-year-old rifleman from Oregon City, Ore. The Marines were attacked while conducting a security patrol in the area. They suffered no casualties after exchanging fire with enemy insurgents for nearly two hours. (Photo by Lance Cpl. John McCall, Regimental Combat Team 3.)

Pfc. Travis Preciado with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, returns fire during a fire fight in Nawa District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 2. Preciado is a 21-year-old rifleman from Oregon City, Ore. The Marines were attacked while conducting a security patrol in the area. They suffered no casualties after exchanging fire with enemy insurgents for nearly two hours. (Photo by Lance Cpl. John McCall, Regimental Combat Team 3.)

Lance Cpl. Roy Aeschilmann with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, returns fire during a fire fight in Nawa district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 2. Aeschilmann is a 24-year-old rifleman from Tucker, Ga. The Marines were attacked while conducting a security patrol in the area. They suffered no casualties after exchanging fire with enemy insurgents for nearly two hours. (Photo by Lance Cpl. John McCall, Regimental Combat Team 3.)

Marines with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, run for cover during a fire fight in Nawa District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 2. Marines were attacked while conducting a security patrol in the area. They suffered no casualties after exchanging fire with enemy insurgents for nearly two hours. (Photo by Lance Cpl. John McCall, Regimental Combat Team 3.)

Dispatches from the Front:

NAWA DISTRICT, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 13, 2009 -- "I could hear the bullets flying over my head," said Lance Cpl. Michael Estrada, 20, a team leader from Los Angeles. "They were impacting right in front of us."

Marines with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, were engaged in a firefight, Oct. 2.

Marines conducting a security patrol were attacked by enemy insurgents hiding on the outskirts of a nearby village.

"We were patrolling through an area that is known to be used by the enemy," said Sgt. Matthew Duquette, 23, a squad leader from Warrenville, Ill. "We were moving across this small field on our way back [to the patrol base], and we started taking fire."

Caught in an open field, Marines rushed for what little cover they could find, attained positive identification of the enemy, and began returning fire.

"They were firing at us from a few different positions; most of it was coming out of a small village directly in front us," Duquette explained. "Once we identified their positions, we returned fire. We knew where they were so we had no reason to leave."

"You could see a few guys poking their heads out along with the muzzles of their rifles," Estrada recalled.

With the sun beginning to set, the enemy continued to harass the Marines from various positions. The insurgents put themselves between the bright sun and the Marines in a failed attempt to stifle them.

"They try to use the sun to their advantage," Estrada explained. "The enemy will attack a lot when the sun sets or when it rises since it is hard to see anything with the sun in your eyes."

After nearly 90 minutes, Marines radioed for an air strike to take out the remaining enemy fighters.

"The shots kept coming so air support was called in for us," Duquette said. "I'm glad the plane came when it did because it seemed like the enemy's shots started getting a lot more accurate as the fight went on. Once we had support from the air, the enemy retreated and stopped firing."

The gunfire ceased after two aircraft made their gun runs, laying down fire on the insurgent positions.

After the fight, the Marines found hundreds of enemy bullet casings in many different buildings in the area. Fortunately, the Marines had suffered no casualties during the fight.

(Report by Lance Cpl. John McCall, Regimental Combat Team 3.)