Soldier of Fortune Sits Down with Dutch Badass Marco Kroon

by Heath Hansen

It’s a gray, cold, and windy autumn day as I arrive and step out of my vehicle. The snow is beginning to stick to the North Brabant earth under my feet as I approach the house. A man opens the door, shakes my hand, and welcomes me into his home. The place is adorned in military memorabilia from before World War II all the way to present day combat zones throughout the world. He gives me a tour, at one point stopping to show me his awards, including the rarely issued Military Order of William. It had not been awarded in more than half a century – and 54 year old Marco Kroon is the bearer. We sit down at his table, and start talking…

Kroon holds his grandfather’s medals, and photo of his grandfather. Credit: Heath Hansen.

Soldier of Fortune: Your military career started in The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps. What prompted you to join? When did your service in The Royal Netherlands Army begin?

Marco Kroon: I always knew, even as a very young boy, that I wanted to be a marine. It was not a question of WHAT I would do, but when WHEN I would do it. The film The Longest Day in particular inspired me enormously – or rather indoctrinated and enchanted me – haha! I must have seen the film a hundred times! How impressed I was by those men who ran onto the beach from a boat while under fire. Or those men who blindly jumped into the unknown with a parachute, in the dark, for the freedom of others. Those were the heroes I looked up to and respected at the time.

I graduated from training and became a Marine on August 7th, 1989.

After my second mission with the Marines (Iraq ‘91 and Cambodia ‘92) I felt that I wanted more than just following orders – I wanted to lead. And, because my time in service had been relatively short at this point, I chose to go to the Royal Military School, to become a non-commissioned officer. After completing a two year training course in 1996, I chose the armored infantry and was immediately deployed.

Inspired by the Green Berets

In Bosnia, I came into contact with the Army Special Forces, the “Green Berets” – Commandos. I really liked their work and their independence; they had the ability to think “outside the box,” and it sparked an interest in me. After my deployment to Bosnia, I decided to do the Commando training as a 29-year-old Sergeant, where I was eventually elected “Honor Graduate” of the training class. 

Soldier of Fortune: After becoming a member of the Korps Commandotroepen, you had several deployments, including one to Afghanistan in 2006, with Task Group Viper. Could you tell me about your mission there?

Marco Kroon: During my deployment with Task Group Viper, I led my men on dozens of high-risk operations. The most publicized of these was Operation CHITAQ, which occurred between July 12th and July 21st of 2006. The mission, in tandem with Australian SAS, was essentially to create freedom of movement in the Chora Valley. Much of the mission was conducted on foot, which meant that we basically had no armored assets and our only ammo and supplies were what we could carry on our backs.

Eventually, we encountered a Taliban IED cell that opened fire on us. We returned fire, but quickly realized this enemy element was well equipped and actively calling reinforcements during the fire-fight. As the engagement wore on, I kept comms with an air asset in the area. The pilot was updating me on the movement of the Taliban fighters, and informed me that my unit was quickly being surrounded. It was at this point that I realized the situation was pretty dire.

Surrounded by Taliban

Soldier of Fortune: You and your men were surrounded by Taliban fighters? You eventually had to request air support from a “Spooky” gunship. What was it like to call for fire, essentially on your own position, knowing that you and your men could be facing death at any moment?

Marco Kroon: When I finally made the decision to call for fire on our position, we had already been fighting the Taliban for half an hour or so. We were being attacked from three sides and the radio messages from the AC-130 were clear – more and more enemy were coming from the south, in an attempt to completely encircle us. So, I had no choice; we would have been overrun otherwise, but despite that, it was one of the most difficult military decisions I ever had to make.

I should also mention, at the beginning of our deployment, my men and I promised each other that we would never fall into the hands of the Taliban, or any terrorist organization – alive.

Soldier of Fortune: How long did this entire engagement last? Tell me about the scene the following morning – how many Taliban dead? Were any of your men killed or wounded during the engagement?

Marco Kroon: The ‘fog of war’ often causes our sense of time and space to blur and merge into one another unnoticed. To me, it seemed like hours, but in reality the “danger close” procedure itself must have taken about one to one-and-a-half-hours, with the beginning being incredibly intense. It was as if the sky had fallen when the 105mm, 40mm and 25mm Gatling started spitting. 

Man, I will never forget the first few minutes; I was really impressed for a moment, but fortunately I stayed alert. In order to ensure that I could abort the fire of the AC-130 in time, I decided to get a little higher above ground-level together with my JTAC during the enormous fire barrage. This was necessary so that we could see whether the hits were not landing too close to the locations of my own men. If I did not do that, there was a risk that I might intervene too late if something went wrong – I could not allow that. My men were not only my best friends, but were also, simply, my personal responsibility.

At dawn we had already entrenched ourselves in one of the captured compounds because it was clear that the Taliban would launch a massive counterattack. After repelling that attack with the support of a number of A-10s and Apaches, I was ordered to make a battle damage assessment to see if we had taken out our High Value Targets (HVT) and Medium Value Targets (MVT), which, of course, needed to be positively identified.

I must honestly admit that this was not a pleasant trip. With the sounds and chaos of the previous hours still fresh in my ears, the sight of the burning compounds, trees, and countless human remains hit me even harder. Some pieces of meat were no longer distinguishable between farm-animal and human. Everything was broken. 

It may sound strange, but I felt somewhat guilty; part of me felt like crying rather than celebrating that my men and I had survived. After a few minutes that feeling faded though, and the stories and images came back of the Taliban laughingly killing women and children and wanting to slit our throats.

Kroon (far-left) with platoon, before heading out on mission. Photo courtesy, Marco Kroon.

I can’t give the official numbers now, but open sources in Australia show that this engagement was one of the most intense operations ever for the Aussies, leaving Between 200 and 300 enemy KIA. That evening two AC-130 gunships went “Winchester” – meaning they were completely out of ammo – and returned to base. That says something about the firepower necessary to win that battle.

Strangely enough, we didn’t find any wounded fighters that morning. I think the Taliban took their wounded with them. But, realistically, we didn’t have the men, time, or orders to search all the compounds to see if they were hiding there. We had to quickly, smoothly, and surgically clear a number of complexes where, according to our information, HVT’s and MVT’s were present. The rest of the area would be cleared by regular units such as the US 10th Mountain Division.

Fortunately, we didn’t suffer nearly as much damage on our own side. A few of my men, including myself, had some minor hearing damage and abrasions and one had a bruised ego because he almost drowned in one of the narrow waterways. He attempted to cross to provide cover, but the water was deeper than he estimated, and with almost 40 kilos of equipment including the two heavy bulletproof plates, he didn’t float very well. Luckily he was pulled out of the water in time by his buddy, but was teased about it for a while afterwards, haha!

Our Australian colleagues from the SAS were just as lucky as we were. A few abrasions and grazes, a few hits on the plates, but luckily that was all the damage.

We were really lucky that night. There must have been a higher power watching over us. I was raised Christian (Roman Catholic). Even though I no longer go to church, I do believe that there is more than we think and know out there. I believe that my grandmother watched over me that night. She always told me she would protect me from heaven after her death. I hope she was right, so I can thank her one day for protecting my mates and me. 

Soldier of Fortune: It took three years of investigations, research, interviews, and reports before you received the Military Order of William. What was it like to be honored in this way? Do you still talk with the men you served with in Task Force Viper?

Marco Kroon: Yes, that’s right. It was a big surprise for me; I never saw it coming. And to be honest, I personally think to this day that we just did our job and should be happy that we are all still alive. But hey, things like this happen. It took some time to go from the shadows as a Special Forces operator, straight into the spotlight. Of course it is a great honor to be the first Knight of the Military Order of William after almost 55 years. 

After the medal presentation ceremony by the Queen, I gave each platoon member a special T-shirt with an image of the Military William Order on the chest and the text “Brothers in Arms,” on the back. That evening we all partied in that same shirt. Every few years we even have a reunion at my man-cave, in Noord Brabant. 

Accused and Acquitted

Soldier of Fortune: Soldier of Fortune readers will undoubtedly look you up and find reports of your arrest related to drugs, and illegal weapons (years after your actions in Afghanistan), and be curious about your side of the story. Ultimately, you were cleared of the most serious charges, and you remain in the military, but is there anything you want to mention in regards to the allegations?

Marco Kroon: Well, what can I say to that? I’m not here to exonerate myself or justify myself, but I can say that the media can build people up, and they can tear people down. And I dare say that they have been trying to do the latter with me for years. But, I can still look at myself in the mirror with dry eyes and feel that I have really been framed several times by both the public prosecutor’s office and the left-wing media in the Netherlands.

Of course I’m not a choir boy, and never was, but you don’t win a war with choir boys. After all the false accusations and countless negative newspaper reports in the media and on TV in recent years, I can still look at myself in the mirror with pride. 

Kroon in a soft-top, Mercedes-Benz tactical vehicle. Photo courtesy Marco Kroon. 

Soldier of Fortune: You’re still serving in the Royal Netherlands Army. What is your position now (and your rank), and how does it compare to leading special operators in combat engagements?

Marco Kroon: I am currently a major in the army. A higher rank than I ever thought I would be when I started as a Marine. 

Accepting the award was also the turning point and conclusion of my operational career as a soldier. I tried again in Mali in 2014, but then I also realized that the formal and informal responsibilities and obligations that I had built up in the meantime actually weighed too heavily on my soul and sense of responsibility, which also made me feel uncomfortable.

Helping Veterans

In the meantime, I had already built up several relationships with veterans whom I coached and guided in their difficult path to find their place in regular society again after their service.

I actually liked that, saw that I added value in the general interest of our veterans, and felt comfortable in that role. I also realized, as a 40 year old, worn out infantryman, I could certainly better serve my country in this way. My operational time was over, and fortunately I was at peace with that. So, that is also where my future lies now: veteran care in the broadest sense of the word. 

Soldier of Fortune: Your grandfather served in World War II. What did he do during the war?

My grandmother gifted me his military papers and logbook many years ago. I read through and examined them, and determined he was assigned to the Pioneer Engineers. During his military career, his unit performed a multitude of tasks, including combat missions in Africa, Italy and Normandy. He spent a total of four years in war – quite a lot.

Grandpa was always very quiet, and even though I don’t know much about him, I am very proud of him and his service. I have all his medals displayed in my home; I’m more proud of his medals and awards than my own. As a way to honor him, I agreed to a request to become an honorary patron of one of the Commonwealth cemeteries, here in the Netherlands.

Soldier of Fortune: As our conversation continued, it felt like I was hanging out with one of my veteran buddies, more than a stranger I’d just met. At one point, I realized Marco and I were just talking as friends, who had both done time in Iraq and Afghanistan, and were no longer in the middle of an interview. Thank you for welcoming Soldier of Fortune Magazine into your home and sharing your story with us! Stay safe out there, Major Kroon!