On January 18, 2012, CPL Christopher D. Bordoni was critically wounded during an attack by a suicide bomber while on patrol in the Kajaki region of Afghanistan. Chris is an 0311 Rifleman serving with Bravo Company in the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines. This was Chris' second tour of duty in Afghanistan; he was deployed in April of 2011 and was expected to come home in the beginning of February, 2012. Chris succumbed to his injuries on April 3, 2012.
This website was set up so you can learn about Chris, and leave your words of support for Chris and his family.
From the Family
Website Updates
- 04/09/2012 - Chris succumbed to his injuries on April 3, 2012. Links to the obituary and other articles added below.
- 03/22/2012 - Added new section to the website above this one with information and updates from family members.
- 03/21/2012 - There has been another event added in April in support of Chris Bordoni at The Haunt. Details are in the Events section below.
- 02/29/2012 - We have updated the Events and Benefits section with three upcoming benefits. We'd also like to send a HUGE thank you to all who were a part of the spaghetti dinner at the Eagle's club last Saturday.
- 02/22/2012 - Updated the information regarding the benefit at the Eagle's Club in Ithaca and added link to the Facebook page for the event.
- 02/13/2012 - We have added two new sections to the website. News/Press will provide links to known articles related to Chris Bordoni. Events and Benefits will list all known upcoming charity events to support Chris and his family. If you would like to submit information to the website, please email it to: info@supportchrisbordoni.com
- 02/07/2012 - Website is now accepting electronic payments for donations via PayPal. No PayPal account required to donate, click the donate button above for more information.
- 02/01/2012 - New website launched in support of Chris Bordoni. Donations via electronic payment coming soon. Look for more announcements and news here.
Events and Benefits
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Raffle Drawing for an AR-15 Rifle to Benefit Chris Bordoni in Ithaca, NY
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Ithaca Area Police Officers will hold a raffle for an AR-15 rifle on May 5, 2012 (need not be present to win). Tickets are being sold for $10.00 per ticket and all proceeds will go to CPL Christopher D. Bordoni's family.
Firearm provided by CAMO HUT, Trumansburg, NY. You must be 18 Years or older with positive ID to accept firearms. Firearms require Background NICS check at time of transfer.
Contact Jeff Cole for Tickets or More Information at 607.327.0929 or ipdcole@aol.com | Download Official Flyer for Event (PDF)
News/Press
- Motorcade to escort Cpl. Bordoni home to Ithaca for funeral (04/09/2012)
- Obituary for Cpl. Christopher David Bordoni (04/09/2012)
- Ithaca Marine's funeral will follow time-honored tradition (04/08/2012)
- Governor sets Tuesday as day to honor fallen Ithaca Marine (04/06/2012)
- Benefit event to help injured Tompkins Marine (02/22/2012)
- All-AF critical care, air evac team makes historic first flight (02/10/2012)
(This is the team that transported Chris and they refer to the mission of doing so in the last 4 paragraphs of the article) - Ithaca Neighbors Rallying Around Injured Marine (02/07/2012)
- Cayuga couple's grandson seriously hurt in suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan province (02/07/2012)
- Benefits to aid wounded Ithaca Marine (02/06/2012)
- Corps slow to release Kajaki attack details (01/27/2012)
- Southern Tier Soldier Injured In Afghanistan (01/24/2912)
- Marine from Ithaca wounded in Afghanistan (01/24/2012)
- Ithaca Marine hurt in Afghanistan bombing (01/23/2012)
Photos
Bravo's Deadly Mission
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In February, 2010, Chris and the rest of Bravo Company took part in Operation Mushtaraq to liberate the key city of Marjah. This was
the largest operation since the start of the Afghanistan war in 2001. Ben Anderson, filmmaker/journalist, was invited along with Bravo Company
and he made the film, Bravo's Deadly Mission, documenting their time in Marjah. Although hard to spot, Chris Bordoni can be seen in this documentary.
We were able to find clips of the documentary available online that make up almost the entire film (missing only a few minutes here and there). We've included the official film description as well as a great feature article, written by the filmmaker, that we encourage you to read; it's a great companion to the documentary, and does a good job explaining the time leading up to the mission. -
In February 2010, US Marines launched the biggest operation since the start of the war in Afghanistan: Operation Mushtaraq. Bravo's Deadly Mission covers hour-by-hour the entire operation to liberate the strategically vital town of Marjah in February and contains some of the most intense fighting footage ever caught on camera.
Filmed under extremely dangerous circumstances and in the toughest conditions imaginable, this Dispatches special is an extraordinary human story and an unflinching portrayal of war at first hand.
Operation Mushtaraq was massive news all over the world when it happened. But only one journalist was with the Marines inside Marjah. Ben Anderson spent two months with Bravo Company 1/6 Marines, eating, sleeping, running and sweating alongside them every step of the way.
The access he achieved and the 50 hours of battle footage he obtained is intimate and unprecedented and forms the basis of this extraordinary film. The result is unlike any other war documentary: personal, intense, incredibly close-up and dangerous.
Bravo Company was the first and only platoon dropped into the centre of Marjah. These young Marines found themselves in a maze of IEDs, bunkers, trenches and ambushes, set by very well-trained fighters.
The film features strong characters such as Captain Sparks, a Special Forces veteran of Falluja, Haditha and Afghanistan who's charged with seeing the young Marines in his charge through to the bitter end of the operation. Thoughtful and insightful, Sparks knows this is the most dangerous mission of his life. He knows they will lose men. He knows he takes responsibility when that happens.
Made by a BAFTA and Grierson award-winning team, the film returns to Marjah four months after the original invasion to find IEDs again being laid just 2km from the Marines' base, Taliban fighters, including snipers, still active and mobile, and a local population that is far from won over.
Bravo's Deadly Mission is a breathtaking film that shows just how dangerous and difficult the situation in southern Afghanistan has become, and how hard it will be to turn around.
The preceding was taken directly from the Channel 4 website -
Operation Mushtaraq – the Battle for Marjah – was the biggest military operation in Afghanistan since the initial invasion in 2001. It was also the first major attempt to carry out the new counter-insurgency policy written by Generals McChrystal and Petreaus, and approved by President Obama. The plan sounded simple enough; the US Marines would clear Marjah of Taliban fighters, hold on to every piece of land they cleared, build infrastructure to win over the local population and then transfer control to Afghan national security forces.
Because the emphasis was on the population, not the enemy, the operation was announced months before it started. So fighters in Marjah had five months to prepare, and vowed to inflict a bloody and humiliating defeat on the US Marines, and on Obama.
I'd been invited to join Bravo Company, 1/6 Marines, and was shocked when I met their Commanding Officer, Captain Ryan Sparks, who told me the plan. Bravo were going to get dropped right into the centre of Marjah at 3am, on a night when there would be no light from the moon. Rumours of booby traps, bunkers, trenches, thousands of IEDs and at least three anti-aircraft guns didn't help the sense of doom.
The day before D-day, as the Marines called it, Captain Sparks got everyone together for a pep talk. He had a reputation for getting his men pysched up, and I'd been told his speeches often ended with everyone screaming, raring to go. But this was a very sombre affair.
'I guarantee we will lose Marines,' he said, 'Don't think about the plan too much, it is what it is, just try to get some sleep.'
Sitting on the choppers in to Marjah on that first night felt like a modern day equivalent to approaching the beaches of Normandy. There was little or no conversation.
To my relief, the landing actually went smoothly. Bravo stepped off the choppers into icy muddy fields, and although Marines were slipping over, not to have been hit on the way in, or as we touched down, felt like a gift.
It wasn't until the sun rose that the Marines began to understand how serious the threat was. The Taliban are very street-smart, and had obviously worked out the Rules of Engagement now in place: as long as they weren't seen committing a hostile act they could move around freely. This meant the Marines had to watch as about 40 men and, the Marines were sure, weapons, were dropped off all around them. After almost an hour of this, there was nothing to do but walk forwards and see what happened.
Within a minute or two, they were attacked from 360 degrees. And their attackers knew what they were doing. 'Last year they attacked from 600 metres, these guys are getting as close as 150 metres, maybe closer,' said one Marine, 'And they are highly effective.'
We dived into a ditch and an RPG (rocket propelled grenade) whooshed over my head and exploded against the wall behind me. The Marine next to me, a medic on his first ever day of combat, was hit badly in the leg by shrapnel. His artery was slashed open and he was bleeding heavily.
I still don't understand how, but Bravo Company somehow fought their way out of that ditch. Although it took over 12 hours of combat, they eventually secured a relatively safe building in the centre of Marjah. The fighting on that day and during the days that followed was the most intense I've ever seen. Even Captain Sparks, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan said it was 'at least as intense as anything I saw in Haditha or Fallujah.' In Fallujah he had sometimes thrown a case of hand grenades every day.
Even after the initial phase of fighting died down (it never really came to an end) there was still a constant threat from IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and snipers, who had taken the Marines by surprise with their skills not just as marksmen, but also as masters of concealment (during the first few days, one sniper fired just four bullets but hit three Marines, and didn't reveal his position.) And the hard part of counter-insurgency – winning the hearts and minds of the local population – still lay ahead.
The preceding was written by Ben Anderson in a Reporter Feature originally published on the Channel 4 website on October 5, 2010. -
