By: Shawn Snow
Then-Gunnery Sgt. Jarad Stout was sleeping in the early morning hours of Nov. 20, 2015, when the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, was attacked by gunmen affiliated with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. The armed militants were holding about 170 people hostage, including a dozen Americans.
But when the Marine Raider, who was serving as a liaison to the U.S. embassy at the time, received word of an “active shooter,” he and his team were “out the door in five minutes.” Stout had very little initial information regarding the attack, but he devised a plan and led his team, braving grenades and small arms fire, to help rescue hostages.