The Trijicon ACOG on an M16 rifle is to GWOT Marines what the M1 Garand is to WWII Marines: iconic. In fact, Trijicon has a quote by General James Mattis on the company website that reads, “The ACOG® mounted on the M16 service rifle has proven to be the biggest improvement in lethality for the Marine infantryman since the introduction of the M1 Garand in World War Two.”
Having trained to engage targets out to 500 yards with iron sights, Marines equipped with 4x scopes and Bullet Drop Compensator reticles became even more deadly. However, at the outbreak of the Iraq War, Marines were woefully under equipped. Some even had to purchase spare magazines privately because the arms rooms didn’t have enough to go around. Luckily for Sgt. Todd B. Bowers, his father gifted him an ACOG two days before he left for Iraq.
Bowers, assigned to the 4th Civil Affairs Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, mounted the scope on his issued M16A2 rifle. On September 17, 2004, Bowers and his unit conducted a patrol outside of Fallujah. The Marines engaged a force of enemy snipers and a firefight ensued. During the exchange of fire, Bowers’ ACOG was struck by an enemy bullet and fragmentation peppered the left side of his face. “It was about a four-hour firefight,” Bowers recounted in a Marine Corps new article. “Bullets were flying everywhere, and as I returned fire, it felt like my weapon blew up.”
A corpsman attended to Bowers, removing the fragmentation and applying pressure to his face. Although the corpsman began to call for a MEDEVAC, Bowers refused to be evacuated and rejoined the fight. “Luckily, I had my ballistic goggles on to protect my eyes, without them I probably would not be able to see out of my left eye,” Bowers said. “I didn’t realize how lucky I was till later that day when I sat down to think about it.” The 7.62x54R bullet, likely from a Dragunov SVD rifle, remained lodged in the ACOG that his father gave him.
John, the elder Bowers, served as a sergeant of Marines himself. He gifted his son the ACOG to ensure that Todd went into combat with a useful piece of gear. “The ACOG was the best purchase I have ever made in my life,” John later told his son over the phone. In return for his father’s lifesaving gift, Todd gave his father the Purple Heart that he was awarded for his wounds in Iraq.
“I always told my dad that he essentially gave me the gift of life twice,” Bowers said in a Trijicon community post, “and to this day he still carries that Purple Heart in his pocket. It’s been to Hadrian’s Wall, the United Kingdom, New York City, Turkey, Greece, Sicily…all over the world.” Bowers remained in the Marine Corps, later deployed to Afghanistan, and is now a father himself. He still keeps the ACOG on his mantel as a reminder of how it saved his life.