Marines who survived explosion in Iraq remain bound by friendship

Mark Beyers goes all out for the Fourth of July, with a bash that often draws a bunch of Marine buddies to his home in Wales.

But there's another date on the calendar that binds them together:

Aug. 26, the day in 2005 when he and five fellow Marines were injured by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Iraq. Beyers was the most grievously hurt, losing his right arm and right leg in the explosion, but he said it could have been worse.

"It's our 'alive day,' " Beyers said. "None of our guys died."

Sixteen years later, and thousands of miles from the war zone, Beyers and another member of their old unit, Will Maher, reunited last week.