Supporting The Person, Supporting The Mission Of Our Soldiers

By Doug Segrest

The canals that flow from the Helmand River, which snakes out of the mountains to the north through high plateaus and sandy deserts, is key to survival for the people of southern Afghanistan. But decades of war and neglect took their toll. In 2010, John Lehman was asked what only a Marine can be asked to do: Fix it.

So he put his career as an attorney in the private sector on hold in order to return to active duty 8,000 miles away from home.

Eight years later, Lehman recalled, “Helmand Province was probably the worst place on the planet at that moment. So they sent in the Marines.”

With combat operations in full-swing, Lehman’s team was tasked with restoring the half-century old, 500-mile canal system. He co-authored infrastructure plans, conducting extensive ground and air reconnaissance while working with British military units on construction. But to do so meant going deep into an unstable region to gain the support and confidence of the locals while being vulnerable to attacks by the Taliban.

“The canal system is critical for fresh water and irrigation — for life,” Lehman said. “But rehabilitating it put us in harm’s way six of seven days a week. We were always ‘outside the wire’ and never far from Taliban fighters.”

U.S. military leaders agreed, awarding him the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service against the enemy, citing “Major Lehman’s distinctive contributions, unrelenting perseverance, and steadfast devotion to duty.”

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