Marine Scout Sniper Alexander Lemons on Iraq, Hidden Wounds, and the Real Cost of War | Combat Story
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 130 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Former U.S. Marine Scout Sniper Alexander Lemons joins AJ to talk about Iraq, the confusion and chaos of the initial invasion, and the hidden damage war leaves behind.
A Bronze Star recipient and co-author of War Body: A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare, Alex brings a raw, thoughtful perspective to combat, leadership, toxic exposure, and life after service.
In this episode of Combat Story, AJ and Alex unpack Alex's path into the Marines, what it felt like to enter war as a young infantryman, and how those early experiences shaped the questions that would later become War Body. This is Part 1 of a 2-part conversation, focused on his early life, Iraq, and the foundation of his story. Part 2 goes deeper into his path as a sniper, the long-tail health fight, and what veterans, leaders, and civilians should understand about the unseen costs of modern war.
A note for listeners: this episode was filmed in December 2025 and has a slightly different feel than the usual Combat Story format. It plays more like a true conversation between AJ and Alex than a traditional interview, which gives it a more personal and reflective tone.
🎙️ Guest Information — Alexander Lemons
Alexander Lemons is a former U.S. Marine Scout Sniper and Bronze Star recipient who served multiple combat deployments during the Iraq War, including Nasiriyah and Fallujah. He is the co-author of War Body: A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare, a powerful look at the hidden physical and psychological costs of combat and what war leaves behind long after the shooting stops.
📖 War Body:
https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324066330
📰 Featured Article:
https://www.hcn.org/issues/57-2/a-veteran-transforms-a-legacy-of-violence-into-a-campaign-for-restoration/
🎙️ Host Information — AJ Pasciuti
AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans share honest, unfiltered stories of service, leadership, and life after combat.
🔗 Find AJ Online:
📕 Book (Darkhorse): https://www.amazon.com/Darkhorse-Harnessing-Hidden-Potential-Life/dp/1400254973
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/
📘 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/
🔗 Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/
🎧 Featured Combat Story Episodes with AJ
👉 Combat Story Podcast – Part 1 (USMC Sniper & Force Recon)
- Battle of Fallujah | Shooting w/ Chris Kyle | American Sniper | AJ Pasciuti
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4QI-5sNeCs
👉 Combat Story Podcast – Part 2 (Sniper vs Sniper Battle)
- Killing the Enemy's Most Lethal Sniper | Force Recon | AJ Pasciuti
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Ggly1TGAU
📺 Additional Features & Media
👉 Urban Valor Podcast Feature:
https://urbanvalor.com/episode/marine-snipers-eliminate-enemy-sniper-reclaim-stolen-us-sniper-rifle/
👉 DVIDS – Infantry Marine Course Feature:
https://www.nationalguard.mil/Leadership/Joint-Staff/Comptroller/Innovation/?dvpTag=imc&videoid=790758
Chapters
00:00 Incoming artillery in Iraq
02:40 Introducing Marine Sniper Alexander Lemons
07:15 Joining the Marines after 9/11
18:30 Iraq invasion and early combat experiences
32:40 Lessons from combat leadership
51:00 The hidden physical cost of war
1:20:00 The chaos of modern warfare
2:09:00 War Body and life after the Marine Corps
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | But he's hammering the gas and I just see these little splotches of white lightning landing |
| 0:09.3 | behind him and the sound hasn't hit yet. |
| 0:12.3 | And so all of a sudden bang, bang, bang, and now we're just like, get the fuck down. |
| 0:16.9 | And we're next to these big dirt clods that are like football size and engine sizes. I'm on the ground like hugging the earth and now I get it |
| 0:24.4 | But the dirt clods are shaking and the ground is shaking and then all of a sudden it ceasefire |
| 0:29.3 | I understood this shit was real. I like took it seriously, but that really broke the ice in the worst fucking way |
| 0:37.2 | And I knew this is not a children's game, but people get hurt. |
| 0:42.3 | Welcome to combat story. |
| 0:44.3 | I'm AJ Peschutie, a retired Marine, Force Recon, Scout Sniper, and Marine Gunner, |
| 0:49.3 | with 21 years of service, multiple combat tours, and a lifetime of lessons learned in the arena itself. |
| 0:55.0 | On this show, I sit down with warriors from every front line to uncover what combat truly |
| 1:00.0 | feels like and how it shapes the way we see life, each other, and ourselves. |
| 1:05.0 | This is Combat Story. |
| 1:07.0 | Today on Combat Story, we're joined by Alexander Lemons, a former U.S. Marine Scout sniper |
| 1:12.1 | who served multiple tours in the Iraq War, including time in Fallujah and Nazaria. |
| 1:17.4 | Alex is the co-author alongside environmental historian Joshua Howe of Warbody, a marine sniper |
| 1:23.2 | and the hidden violence of modern warfare. |
| 1:25.7 | It's a different kind of war story, one that looks beyond the obvious violence of bullets and bombs |
| 1:30.3 | and goes into what the authors call the slower, less visible damage, |
| 1:34.3 | toxic exposures from things like burn pits, fuel, heavy metals, |
| 1:38.3 | and even lead from firing thousands of rounds, |
| 1:41.3 | and how that intersects with long-term realities of post-traumatic stress and the traumatic brain injury. |
... |
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