"It's time to change the game in Afghanistan, to force the Taliban to react to us, instead of us reacting to them." "I want you to understand, I picked you specifically to be the company that goes the furthest south in the battalion's AO." "I know that you will be able to overcome any challenge that you'll face." "Some days you'll have good days, and some days you'll have bad days." "But the same question I posed months ago, is what should really drive your action." "Is what I'm doing gonna move the Afghan people closer to their government or further away." "We are attacking to seize control of the population from the Taliban." "Because once we've secured the population, they no longer have a sea to swim in." "And the insurgents are gonna die on the vine." "Every interaction we have with the people is critical to our success." "They have to develop trust in us, we have to develop trust in them." "But make no mistake, we are experts in the application of violence." "When you move, move with a sense of purpose and aggression intent on finishing the enemy." "Your conscience should be clear and your honor should be clean." "Your measure's not found in how much time you have on this earth, but what you do with the time that you have." "Forty or 50 years from now, when you're sitting around with your grandchildren, they're gonna ask you what you did in the summer of decision in Afghanistan." "The world will remember what you do here this summer." "And believe me," "Echo Company is gonna change history, starting early tomorrow morning." "Keep on pushing." "Keep on pushing." "Keep on pushing." "You said CP." "Second, first and third." "So we need to get over here." "Let's go, keep moving." "Let's go, keep moving." "Come on." "Hey, keep moving." "Keep moving." "We can't..." "We can't stop." "Let's go." "Keep going, keep going, keep going." "Keep going." "Get on the firm." "Get on the firm." "And remember the rounds were hitting on the other side of that rock pile." "Incoming." "Got it." "Seventy-five meters." "Let's go." "They're hitting the top of that building." "Yeah, they're out west." "Try and see 'em, man." "If you see 'em, shoot 'em." "We don't know where they're shooting from." "They're shooting at us." "They're good at ghosting." "But we can't see them." "We can't see where they're shooting from." "Mark it." "Hey, give us some rounds." "Give us some rounds." "Is it loaded?" "Watch the right." "Cross the fucking tree line and get to me." "Let's go." "Let's clean the fuck out." " Sharpie!" " Come on, Sharp." "Come on, Sharp." "Let's go." "Come on, Sharp." "Come on, baby." "Sharpie?" "Sharpie?" "Hurry up!" "Hurry up!" "He's not quitting, he's not quitting with us." "We're going to need him." "Goddamn it, let's go." "Let's go." "Where's the litter?" "Where's the fucking litter?" "They're coming!" "This isn't it." "Grab him." "We gotta go." "Come on." "Go." "Sharpie." "Where am I carrying him?" "Grab a leg, grab a leg." "Grab one, grab one." "Let's go, we're taking him." "Watch your back." "Help me out." "Help me out." "Let's go." "Get him in there." "Watch your step." "Pick him up." "Pick him up." "Pick him up." "Move over to the side." "Here." "Yes, sir." "I've got those two squads coming up right now." "Let's go." "Y'all keep me informed of what's going on over there, 'cause they're coming in from the right, too." "Watch the right." "You look good." "You look good." "Welcome back, Son." "Maybe I can get one of these guys to take a picture." "How are you?" "Want the medicine?" "OxyContin." "Dilaudid." "Elavil, which I don't take anymore because it doesn't put me to sleep." "Trash." "Trash." "Neurontin." "Zofran." "Yep, I got it all." "Look at this." "There's not a single parking spot in this gigantic parking spot or any restaurant." "Look at Chuck E. Cheese." "Like, you can't even park at Chuck E. Cheese." "That's ridiculous." "It's unbelievable." "So you come home, and you're constantly stressed out because of all this crap." "It makes me wanna lose my freaking mind." "It's just like, my God," "I would rather be in Afghanistan where it's simple, and then when you come home, it's almost more difficult than doing that stuff, to be here dealing with all this shit." "Sorry about that." "I wanted to catch the light and that car was slow." "But I have a wonderful woman." "Come on, give me that sugar." "I came all the way over here with a broken hip." "Oh!" "Yeah, look, I'm leaning all the way over here." "Lean back, honey." "My broken hip." "There's something..." "Kiss me." "A little more." "Move your mouth a little bit and make it entertaining." "Give me a kiss." "One more and I'll leave you alone." "One on the cheek?" "Um, I love your cheeks." "You want your coat?" "You want your coat?" "No, because we're going right inside." "Can you get that?" "Can you do that?" "Yeah." "There you go." "That's all right." "It don't steer good at all." "I about ran into the door." "It better be fast." "I'm gonna go park the car, okay?" "Okay, we'll go inside." "It's not very fast." "We need to soup it up." "How you doing tonight, ma'am?" "I'll just show you a little bit it of it." "It goes all the way down my leg, but I'll show you a little bit." "It goes all the way to my butt crack, all the way down and I got a metal rod from my knee to my hip." "I got shot in Afghanistan about a month ago." "Yeah." "It came through my hip, broke my hip up real bad, took a piece of the bone out where my femur meets my hip." "Took that out, then tumbled, flipped through and my leg's broke right now." "It just ain't in the cast because it's got a metal bar from my knee to my hip holding it together, so it's not in a cast." "So it don't look bad, but it's torn up." "Oh, yeah, yeah." "Thank you." "It's okay." "It's okay." "It's all right." "I'm here and I'm home now." "Okay, ma'am." "Well, you have a good evening." "Thank you." "Oh, what's this?" "Okay, let me just check it out." "Is it a copier, scanner and everything?" "My mama's gonna give us one, but it's an old one." "This one looks like it does everything in the world." "Dude, that is really cool." "You can change, Face select." "I don't... know what that means, but it sounds, really cool." "Wow!" "Look at the zoom on it, Ashley." "Dude, check that out." "Dude..." "Come on, give me a little something, woman." "Give me a little..." "Oh, yeah, give me a little." "Come on." "Come on." "You're fabulous." "Get in the moment." "Ah, that's it." "You're wonderful." "I want you to pinch your shoulder towards the sky, just a little bit." "That's it." "Marvelous." "I love the electronics, man." "I love this." "Ooh, they got that new HALO here, too." "Do you think it's worth it?" "I can sit and let my leg do the thing and play it." "Here it is, Call of Duty 4." "We're going to patrol down this road, all right?" "If they wanna fight this morning, we'll go fight this morning." "Pick up, let's go." "I'm gonna go." "Look at this side." "Have a look at this side." "Hey!" "You stay right there!" "Keep watching that way." "Is anything in there?" "I don't know." "Most of the men accept the fact that they could die." "You really have to accept it in order to do our job." "You have to." "It's not really like you go out on patrol and you're..." "You know, you think about that." "I could die, but I'm not gonna worry about it." "I'm not gonna stress out about it." "I'm not even gonna think about it or care about it." "Except to the point of taking care of myself and making sure I'm not foolish and it happens for no reason." "But if I do everything right, and all my men do everything right," "I still could die." "So you just have to accept it." "Welcome to Cook Out." "Can I take your order, please?" "Just write it down so we can read it off." "Instead of everybody yelling overtop of each other." "We need a few minutes." "Take all the time you need." "Let me know when you're ready." "That stresses me out so bad for some reason." "Even with people, like, really, people talking over each other, it really bothers me, too." "I get really aggravated." "Or interrupting." "I don't know." "I don't know why." "It just bothers me real bad." "Try and see 'em, man." "If you see 'em, shoot 'em." "I wanna get the hush puppies with seasoned fries and a Dr Pepper." "Yeah, I want a BLT with a sweet tea." "A corn dog with fries and a small Dr Pepper." "And a quarter-pounder with cheese..." " Where's Spring?" " What?" "Sergeant Spring." "...with hush puppies and fries." "Watch the right!" "With a water and add a fancy vanilla shake to that." "And the last thing, the spicy chicken tray with fries and chili," "with a fancy vanilla shake also." "Now the people of Afghanistan have endured violence for decades." "They've been confronted with occupation by the Soviet Union and then by foreign al-Qaeda fighters who used Afghan land for their own purposes." "So, tonight," "I want the Afghan people to understand" "America seeks an end to this era of war and suffering." "Well, the Afghan people aren't watching television." "And we will seek a partnership and to forge a lasting friendship, in which America is your partner and never your patron." "Oh, yeah." "Oh, yeah." "Eight hours a day with this..." "On this machine." "Eight hours a day." "It's just wonderful." "We work together with the British troops, right?" "Yeah, we were." "Why don't we put them in Pakistan and then the Marine Corps pushes them up and then they meet and then they..." "That way..." "This goes way above our head." "You know?" "Way above my pay grade." "A lot of people don't even understand what's going on over there, or the whole big picture." "Nobody knows." "Even the guys over there fighting don't know." "I mean, we obviously believe in the cause while we're there." "We obviously believe in it with all our heart." "And all want to defend the country until we die." "We're America, no matter what, we're gonna be successful." "It's just how much time it's gonna take, money it's gonna cost, resources, lives..." "Stuff like that." "'Cause it does." "It costs a lot." "But our freedom is definitely worth it." "And the Afghan people deserve it, you know." "They just live in depression, in horrible lives." "I mean..." "And that's the thing." "That's the part of the culture is that the Taliban doesn't want electricity." "They don't want modernization." "They don't want any of that stuff because they think it's worldly or un-Godlike." "Like us, the infidels, you know." "That's how the Muslim radicals view it." "So they want to stay living in mud houses with straw roofs, and nothing to do but farm." "I mean, they don't have beds, they don't have..." "The majority, you know, live on dirt." "Half their livestock lives in the compound with them." "Like their chickens and cows." "Yeah, this is how these people live." "I mean, I can't imagine living like that." "They do, and they have like a village elder." "It's weird, like, you pretty much have to go talk to that village elder or it's disrespectful." "I mean, it's just..." "It's just unbelievable." "Lot of responsibility." "But I like it, yeah." "I have no problem with it." "You know, that medicine rocked me." "I don't think it's supposed to do that." "Roger, stand by for SITREP." "Roger, at this time we're approximately 500 meters north of the intersection at Machine Gun Hill." "We're talking with the individual, a local national, that was in the area when this happened here." "Tell him it's nice to see someone finally, get to talk to somebody." "Okay." "Um..." "Is there people left in this area or when the Taliban started fighting us the other day, did they all leave?" "Okay, yeah." "The Talibans, they are coming, and it's only two persons." "So the biggest problem they face is when..." "When any..." "Hey, tell them..." "Tell them to quit yelling." "Stop yelling." "Go take control of it." "So the biggest problem is when, just that when British or Americans come into the area, we start fighting with the Taliban and everybody has to leave their homes." " That's what he saying?" " Yeah." "He's saying that we had a problem with these guys." "They cannot go out of their home." "Hey, ask 'em what they're doing." "Ask 'em." "Ask 'em." "All right, if he's not shooting at us, then just watch him." "I don't know what they're shooting at." "Hey, get on the radio, Walsh." "Tell them the ANA fired a warning shot at somebody to the west." "How's your family doing?" "Yeah, it's fine." "It's good?" "Do you have any medical needs?" "Tell him we'll hold a shura, and well be able to talk with the people at a shura." "And we're gonna work on that." "We don't wanna take the people's homes away." "But there's real heavy fighting since we came in on the helicopter's the other day." "Everyone ran and left, and the Taliban's just fighting us pretty good." "Ask him if he would like some pain medicine." "Tell him it's not drug, not narcotic." "It just kinda helps." "I didn't understand." "What?" "Keep control of it." "You got it." "Some aspirin-type medicine." "It's real medicine, but it's not something that's gonna knock him out or anything." "It will take all that swelling out." "Let's talk a little bit about meds." "Like we had talked in the ward, every day you're healing more, you're getting better." "I don't wanna see you on long-term opioids and narcotics forever." "All right." "Yes, sir." "You're too young." "It messes people up, too." "It does." "Absolutely." "Too many side effects, too many issues." "As you heal, you know, you're gonna get stronger you're gonna get better and we need to start weaning some of these down." "You know, I don't want to compromise your quality in life," "I don't want to make you miserable, you know, but ultimately I would love to see you off of these meds." "Do you need to be off of them tomorrow?" "No." "That's not realistic, it's not gonna happen." "But I'm just thinking..." "I wanna plant the seed in the back of your head that long-term..." "Yeah, we need to get there, and you will get there as you get stronger and things heal." "The other thing is that along with narcotics and opioid therapy, there, um, comes dependence, tolerance, addiction and withdrawal." "So, and I'm sure you know that you're gonna go through withdrawal just like somebody on the street, you know, because your body has developed a tolerance and a dependence on these medications." "So we wanna get you fixed and give you a quality of life..." " Okay." " Okay, push." "One, two, three, four, five." "Good job." " That one hurt, didn't it?" " Yeah, it did." "You let me take it a little bit further, though." "Yeah." "The muscles in my knee, in the front of my knee, got too tight that time." "Are you up for any more?" "I'll let you call it." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Push." "Right there." "Okay." "A lot of people have gotten shot in the hip and probably close to the same manner, but everybody's body reacts a little different and heals a little different." "I just, fortunately, have already had my battles and peace on previous deployments and I was ready for it this time." "I knew what I was gonna deal with," "I knew what it was gonna be like when I got home." "It's not..." "I don't really have any issues with it." "Okay." "Okay." "That's not bad." "Yeah, I think we're getting there now." "Yeah." "It didn't take too long to warm up." "Uh-uh." "I don't know if I'll have some kind of chronic pain for the rest of my life." "It's just a..." "It's just a whole lot of wait and see and it's a whole lot of how my body heals." "The thing is, I don't know, the doctors don't know what the end state is gonna be." "Obviously, what we're working towards and this is the doctor's words as well." "You know, he asked me what was I looking at, what did I want to do." "And he said, "Do you wanna stay in?"" "I said, "Yes, absolutely." I'm definitely not gonna get out, you know." "That's the first thing." "I know I can still contribute to the Marine Corps and I might be going back to the front, which is what I want." "Except, no matter what, I'm gonna have some kind of a limp for the rest of my life." " Are you okay?" " Yeah." "One, two, three, four, five." "Well, I still think you'll have a good recovery eventually." "Yeah." "You will." "Okay, well, I'll try and do all that again this afternoon." "Okay, well, I've enjoyed working with you." "Okay." "Mmm." " Honey!" " Yeah?" "I need medicine." "Okay, I'm coming." "God, I'm never, ever, ever doing that again." "Ever." "Dude, that shit made me sick." "I guess just the pain over and over and over and over made me sick." "You want some cereal?" "Yeah." "Okay, did they wanna go back to their houses to grab things first and then later on, they wanna meet up with our commander and talk to him?" "I'm trying to hell him." "I'm trying to help him." "My worry about letting these guys in, is that they get to see where all of our Marines are, and then go and tell 'em, but I guess it's a risk we have to take." "I think we'll be all right." "I think they are just going to check their livestock and stuff like that so, we did have to shoot a couple of freaking goats today, though, 'cause they attacked some of the Marines." "So some of them will probably see that." "Oh, well." " He can come in?" " Yes, he can come in." "We put them there for safety for ourselves to protect us from the field when..." "We've been getting shot at from a long way away." "And we were protecting ourselves, that's why." "We're gonna pay you back for what we broke, but right now, there's nothing I can do." "I can't go back to this morning and fix everything." "Okay?" "'Cause it's already happened." "And I feel bad about it." "All right?" "And I apologize, but there's nothing we can do to reverse that except try and help you for the future." "Hey, will you find out if the CO's coming up here or not?" "Let him know that the guy who owns this house that we're living in is here right now." "And, sir, we'll pay for it." "I told him that everything they've broken, they will pay for all of them." "Yeah, tell him to keep his arms up." " All the way up?" " What?" "All the way up?" "What?" "On the crotch?" "Yeah, you gotta check everything." "Keep going." "Stay out of town for a couple of days, okay?" "Tell these guys, too." "Just tell them we want it to be safe before they come back." "Whoo!" "Let me get behind you." "Fire power down!" "Hey, I'm moving." "Don't shoot me." "Hey, are you guys able to return fire?" "Are you seeing where it's coming from?" "Heavy guns are shooting on the peninsula to the north on the east side of the canal." "What the fuck are they shooting?" "Way down there, as the fucking road turns..." "Hey!" "Tell the ANA to stay down!" "An airplane is coming to drop a bomb right across the way!" "Stay here and watch this." "Turn around!" "Ten seconds!" "Watch out!" "Bombs away!" "Watch out!" "...just a little bit northwest, about 400 meters from you, so get down." "Oh, fucking A." "Is everything good?" "That is the most badass shit ever." "Holy fuck!" "That was the power of God right there." "Is that what they were aiming for?" "Yeah, that's it." "I thought they would put it a little more to the right, but that will work." "I just love my pistol." "I'm so glad." "You know what?" "I just wanna hold it." "Hold it and caress it and not point it at anybody." "Okay." "Demonstration." "All right?" "So, you drop the mag, put the mag in." "Grab it." "Yank it and it's ready to fire." "That's all you need to ever know." "Now, to aim it." "See these three dots?" "You gotta line them up, okay?" "Hold it." "No, hold it right." "You hold it..." "No, you have to hold it right." "Look, hold it just like this." "Put one finger straight and off the trigger, and have a nice good grip on it." "Your thumb goes right there." "Or wherever it's comfortable." "Mine's more comfortable right there 'cause I don't have giant hands." "And your finger goes like that." "And you just hold it there, honey, and aim." "Just like that." "Try it." "What if you had to shoot it at somebody?" "I couldn't." "Yeah, you need to know how." "Put it all the way out?" "No, you can have it a little bent." "Look." "Just where it's comfortable." "Yeah." "All right, I got it." "Got it?" "Okay." "Mmm-hmm." "And then, when you pull the trigger, you just want to do a firm, firm squeeze." "Mmm-hmm." "Okay?" "Mmm-hmm." "So know you should know how to operate this weapon perfectly." "I do." "If you ever had to shoot somebody with it, you could." "Mmm-hmm." "Okay?" "Just remember, North Carolina is a Castle Law state." "If somebody breaks in, and you are threatened, you feel threatened, you can shoot them." "As long as they're not running away." "You can't shoot 'em in the back." "That's the law." "You can even shoot 'em through the door." "Bam!" "Steady trigger squeeze, they're dead." "What the hell?" "This is fucking awesome." "I'm getting in in a second, man." "Aw, that felt good." "Hello." "Welcome." "Thank you all for coming." "Uh, I'm the captain with the American forces that's come to help the Afghan and the Garmsir government." "And I'm very sorry over the last few days that there has been some fighting and some damage to your villages." "I know your families are concerned about safety." "I know this, so we're gonna help you provide it, but we're going to have to work together." "Yes, I know this." "Well, I know that this is going to be a long process for us to work together to help provide security and help take care of your villages." "But we're prepared to stay for a long period of time." "I don't understand what you're asking." "So he wants us to leave this area?" "Well..." "We're gonna be in the area, not necessarily in these houses or in this village, but we're gonna be in this area for quite some time." "I want your people to be able to come back, I do, very quickly." "They can come back, but we are going to be here also." "Call in and see what that was." "Hey..." "Please, listen." "Some of the bombs that we have found in some of the villages, we're putting them together and blowing them up." "Yes." "Uh, so I'm sorry that frightened you." "Yes, I know these things." "You, the people that live in the villages around here, are trapped in the middle." "I understand." "The people that have been here, forcing their hand on you and oppressing you and hurting you, that's why we're here to get them away from you, so that they don't do that to you anymore." "Over a period of time, I hope that our relationship, with me and you, our relationship can become stronger, because what I want is what you think is best for you." "Not what I think is best for you, but what you think is best for you." "After you move back into your homes, we will not enter your house without your permission, unless we are being attacked from that house." "You have to help me with that to keep the Taliban out of these areas so that we don't have the fights." "And I hope that over time you will accept me as one of your village leaders, and what I want you to understand," "I share the same hardship that you do." "We're in the same position." "We are in the same boat floating the river, and where it takes you, it also takes me." "Aw, that's so cute." "Oh, yeah, that's beautiful." "Yeah, see, this is a completely different class of neighborhood than that other one." "The houses are, too." "You know, we need to tell them that we really, really, really love the house and really want to rent it, and my situation, that I got to get into a house." "It's perfect." "This house is absolutely perfect." "I wanna see the other one, too, but I really like this." "And it's available." "This is a big bedroom." "Look at it." "Dude, this place is huge." "Look at your closet, dude." "That's a big old closet." "Wow!" "It looks like the closet at our other house." "Okay, yeah, this is a perfect uh, computer room, right here." "Clear." "Insurgent shit." "Hey, Timmy." "What's up?" "Hey, come here real quick." "Doesn't look that old." "That's why we're here, man." "Hey, pull back." "Pull back." "Let's go back." "Secure these doors while we pull back." "I got it." "I got it." "I got it." "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I just got something shooting up my leg." "We haven't..." "Be careful." "...started any surgery or anything." "We're gonna try and let it heal by itself." "Hey, man." "Look, see how my butt's kind of gone, dude?" "Yeah." "Well, that's kind of where it started." "And then it goes down my leg." "And you say this was a firefight?" "I mean, we had been fighting like..." "That looks painful, man." "We had been fighting for months and months, but, just at the very end," "I made it all the way to the very end, dude." "That was gonna be..." "I had one more..." "I had about one more mission the very next day, then I would've been done, man." "I'd have been safe." "It's all the way up." "There." "Are you all right?" "I'm doing pretty bad, to be honest." "I can tell." "All right." "I feel like I'm gonna be sick." "You gonna throw up?" "I might." "Okay, I'm gonna put this in." "Just need a minute." "Are you okay?" "Are you ready?" "Dude, I'm like out of it." "Do you just want to sit here?" "Mmm-mmm." " I hear explosions." " Are they..." "Tell them we're getting shot at from that wall." "That wall." "The tree line." "Hey!" "Hey, hey, hey, those rounds are coming on the left side of the wall." "Firing the rounds..." "Hey, that's also indirect, yeah." "Yeah, but they can't come down the road." "Get that mark and shoot the middle of the wall." "They're shooting from there and directly down the road." "Roger, that is deep and they need to drop 2-0-0." "When I was 18 years old, all I wanted to do was kill people, you know." "They used to ask me when I came into the Marine Corps," ""Why did you come into the Marine Corps?"" ""Why did you come into the Marine Corps Infantry?"" "And I always told them, "Because I wanna kill people."" "And they always said, "That's the best answer I've ever heard."" "That's all they want, that's all they ever wanted." "And, you know, I thought for a long time that was cool." "That's really what I wanted." "And, you know, that's really the way I felt." "You know, in my first two deployments," "I was kinda one of them guys that didn't really have any fear whatsoever." "You know, I was ready to go do it," "I wanted to go fight, I wanted to go kill the enemy, and be, you know, a roughneck, and cuss and spit tobacco and come home and do it again." "I did that." "I was just a young cowboy." "And then this last time, you know," "I had more concern about it, you know, like," ""I'm all for it, let's go do it."" "But, you know, I've already done it, I've already done it, and it's not everything you think it's going to be." "And it's hard and it's tough, and it changes people, and here I am going to do it again." "All right, hold on." "God, you're fighting me." "I'm not." "I'm leaning on the desk." "Sitting here, being still." "There we go." "But I've got to do it." "I've got to fight to get home to my wife and to my family." "And also for my men and for our country." "So, you know, still ready to go do it, but I've got a 26-year-old head on me this time instead of an 18-year-old head on me." "You know, I just kind of grew up." "I never done one of those." "This..." "Slides right over." "Just push it down to hold." "That's it." "Oh, the crew!" "Hey, man, how you doing?" "Good to see you, stud." "Thank you, sir, thank you." "Good to see you." "Good to see you." "You're moving around again." "Oh, yeah." "I got dressed somehow." " I like this." " Look at that." "My wife did it." "It's a clip-on." "How you doing, sir?" "It's good to see you in good spirit." "Are you allowed to drink?" "Or are you doped up so much..." "OxyContin, morphine, everything." "It helps a lot, but it keeps me loopy." "What they got it?" "A big cast or something?" "No, it's a metal titanium rod that goes..." "That went..." "Since my hip's broken." "My hip's broken, it took the bone out where it meets..." "Where it meets my hip." "So, like the bullet first hit, like, ripped my butt off." "And it went through..." "It's not funny." "And then it went through my hip right here." "Broke my hip on the edge, so this is really messed up right here." "It's nasty." "And then it hit there and took that out and tumbled somehow and came straight through my leg and came out right here." "So it snapped my leg." "It was ridiculous." "It was ridiculous." "When we have time maybe later, I'll tell the whole story." "Well, thank you." "Please be seated." "Good afternoon." "I'm Chaplain Terry Roberts." "I'm the battalion chaplain." "Today, we are here to celebrate and honor the lives of our fallen heroes." "We may be asking ourselves," ""Why did this happen?"" ""Why did some return safely while others did not?"" "Excuse me." "We may be looking for answers to the unexplainable." "Sometimes, there just isn't a right answer." "Sometimes, there just isn't the right word to say." "Some of us lost a fellow Marine, a brother-in-arms." "Some of us have lost a friend, a cousin a nephew or an uncle." "Some of us have lost a husband, a father, a brother, a grandson, or a son." "We all share in this great loss, in different ways." "We cannot undo what is done, but how do we move on from here?" "But move on we must." "In Afghanistan..." "Excuse me." "In Afghanistan, I carried with..." "Excuse me." "Excuse me." "In Afghanistan, I carried with me a Betsy..." "A Betsy Ross-style colonial flag." "This flag bore a circle of 13 stars and 13 stripes." "Now when I look at the flag with the 13 stripes," "I will always think of our 13 fallen heroes as they now stand together forever, all eternity, in an unbroken circle." "Always, forever flying together as Old Glory paints the breeze." "Thank you." "Once that happened, everything started on the west side as well." "Looks like it was a coordinated effort." "And then, they opened up from the west." "Out copy." "They took some fire from building 8-7." "I wanna check what that was." "What's up, kiddo?" "We don't talk, we go." "Hey, Trey, start making your way to that fucking compound wall." "You got any trace?" "Let's go." "Let's go." " What direction did..." " The guys that we shot, which way did they run?" "They ran away?" "How did they run if they were shot in the knee?" "We shot three people here today." "Where did they go?" "I'm going to ask this question one more time." "One more time." "If you do not answer this question, there is going to be big fucking problems." "You understand me?" "Who was digging?" "I'm tired and I just want to leave you alone, okay?" "I just want to leave you and your family alone." "But I cannot do that until I find these men that we just shot." "Do you think we're fucking stupid?" "The next time you talk, you're going to regret it." "I think you forget who you deal with," "I think you forget who you fucking dealing with." "I don't want to get involved with you guys," "I don't want to get involved with them." "I just wanna live my simple life." "We want to help you." "All right?" "Look at me." "Look." "I am telling you from the bottom of my heart, we are here to help Afghanistan and you." "If you are here to help us, then why are you doing this to us?" "The children's lives are too valuable to lose to these people with no souls." "So why don't you help us?" "What's up, man?" "How you doing?" "All right, man." "You come back from Fallujah?" "Uh, yeah, kinda worse for wear." "I got an appointment." "Come and stop by some day." "I will." "Let's see." "Ortho." "I don't know." "I'll be glad that one day this stuff is going to be over." "That's for sure." "You know?" "I'm thankful for..." "Though I did get shot, and that I only have all the injuries I have." "I didn't get shot in the chest or a vital..." "You know, a place that you'd die from." "So I don't wanna just whine too much." "It's definitely a mess." "I'll be glad when it's over." "Feel this here?" "This is the extra bone I warned you was going to happen, okay?" "How much or how little, impossible to say." "It's going to be a couple months before it really matures enough to say how much it's going to happen, but you're gonna have some for sure." "I've been looking at it in the mirror." "The incision is getting pretty good." "You sore back here on your butt anymore?" "Okay." "No, sir." "In time, as your knee motion starts to come around, this may really bug you." "I may have to cut it out." "That's where it hurts." "It burned for a long time to the touch." "I could barely touch it, and it would shoot pain." "Like when I first left last time, it'd shoot pain down through my body." "And then, I just kept working it and rubbing it, and it, like, hid itself down inside." "You know what I mean?" "Mmm-hmm." "You got that dynamic brace that bends ya?" "Yes, sir." "Yes, we bring it everywhere we go." "Everywhere." "Constantly?" "That's bad." "God almighty." "So, when are we looking at coming back?" "Remember, you're not going to be yourself again." "I'm not going to be able to basically say you're a Devil Dog again for about a year." "Yeah." "It's going to be six months before you really feel like this leg is your leg again." "Mmm-hmm." "A year before you're really, you know, wanting to strap on an M4 and go back to killing people." "All right." "Okay?" "Yes, sir." "I understand." "Good." "I'll be a few minutes." "Okay." "No worries." "He said you're doing great." "You're doing great." "Feel better?" "A big relief, huh?" "About a year." "I know." "You've known that the whole time." "Gotta to remember that you are blessed that it's a year." "You have your leg." "I know." "Was this your first time using the cane?" "Yeah." "You'll find your way around." "I'm sure I'll get my balance back." "I about fell twice." "I'm sure I'll get my balance back as I work with it." "We gotta get his muscles stronger." "All right, let's go." "Let's go, Ramirez." "Get the fuck up here." "I'm not the goddamn point man." "Let's go." "Get up here and get security on this building." "Ask him, does he know an individual that has been running around the area carrying a lot of stuff?" "Tell them we are sorry about the trouble we caused you." "We just needed to check real quick as we're going through, because we know there is bad guys in the area." "Tell them again I said I'm sorry." "Let's go." "Thank you." "Sorry about the trouble." "Keep pushing." "Push up, Dobson." "Let's fucking go." "You cannot leave two Marines moving by themselves." "Where's Tren's team?" "Come here, motherfucker, get your team up here!" "They took off out of that building." "They took off out of this building?" "That's the building they took off out of." "They went in that way." "All right, let's go." "Let's go." "Keep pushing." "Tie-in with the rest of the squad." "Keep pushing north." "Come on, guys, we gotta get out of here." "All right, look, we got reported that a guy in bulky shit dropped off all the fucking, uh..." "A bag full of shit and had shit all stuffed in his clothes." "He disappeared and came back and didn't have shit." "Then two guys took off running to the northwest." "Then how did he get on this side?" "He was on the west side..." "No." "Dobson, I need you to go up there and check the fucking bag, get the tarp, talk to these guys, and find out what the fuck is going on." "God damn it." "Do you think I'm lying about it when I tell you I'm getting sick?" "No." "Just leave me alone." "I'm so tired of arguing with you over stupid shit." "I know, but you insist." "You better leave me alone." "I was not mean to you." "A little bit." "Okay?" "All I said was I didn't want you telling the doctor that we need to switch it to something else." "I didn't want you messing me up and not letting me get my medicine." "Which I know you won't do, but you even told that other doctor." "I mean, I know you were just jumping..." "I know you were just conversating and talking." "Tell what doctor what?" "To Dr. James." "About me switching medicines to something else." "You said that I even told that other doctor something." "You told Dr. James that." "I didn't want you to tell the pain doctor that and make them mess me all up." "Tell the pain doctor what?" "What did I tell them?" "To switch my medicine." "You didn't tell him." "I didn't anybody to switch your medicine." "I didn't say a word to Dr. James." "What are you talking about?" "You're fucking flying off the handle at me." "No, I told you that and you just, once again, you don't listen to a damn thing I ever say." "No, no." "I heard you, and I listened to you." "I was in the room a damn four, five hours." "The doctor reiterated the fact today that I'm not ever gonna be able to walk or run no more again." "He told Ms. Marshall that you were supposed to be off your cane today, by the way." "Okay, never fucking mind." "Never mind." "Oh, Lord, grant me the strength not to shoot myself." "Get this machine gun set up somewhere." "Ramirez, talk to me." "We gotta get over there." "Hey, I'm gonna push across and we are gonna check out what's going on." "And then I need you guys to suppress for us to get the machine gun up." "Hey, it's directly up that wall from the south on the west side of the canal." "Straight down." "Well, there's a ditch right here." "You sure you saw a fucking bag drop?" "I saw a guy over here with something on his back." "But he dropped the bag?" "Yeah." "Tell her to fucking mind, Joe, we will have no problem." "Mind, woman." "He's gonna shoot you in the fucking face." "Don't shoot me..." "He came over here and stopped behind the tree, so you can't see him." "Okay." "And then he came back." "Tell me to shut up one more goddamn time, Missy." "I've fucking had it." "You fucking hear me?" "Tell me one more fucking time." "Watch what I..." "Shut up!" "What was it?" "Hold your position and push right." "I heard something bang." "What was that?" "Yo, that's coming from the southeast." "Hey, Tren, is that mortars coming down or what is that?" "Hey, talk to him and tell him the route is not clear." "Roger." "You can't move." "You need to hold your position." "We haven't swept that road." "They're shooting from the left side of that wall." "I see 'em." "We gotta get the machine gun there." "Hey, Ramirez..." "Flank right." "Hey, watch the flank." "Hey, we got fire from the southeast." "Go, go, go." "Shit." "Hey, where is it coming from?" "Coming on your right." "On your right!" "Move to your right." "Hey!" "You gotta get your rounds up." "It's coming from the southeast." "They are in that opening." "Let's switch positions." "Come on, let's go." "Let's go, come on." "Get down." "Hey, get down, get down, get down." "Get down, get down, get down." "Is everybody good?" "Bowen, you good?" "Bowen!" "Ambush!" "What the fuck was that?" "It's a fucking IED." "I told you guys do not fucking cross right here." "What the fuck!" "Hey!" "Stop, get down!" "Eleanor?" "Eleanor?" "You okay?" "Eleanor?" "Eleanor?" "Wait, wait, wait, wait." "Are you okay, Eleanor?" "Hey, Lieutenant, Eleanor's hit." "What's that?" "Eleanor's all fucked in the side of the face." "Where?" "Right here." "Jesus!" "Fuck!" "I think he's okay." "Hey, I think it's just his hearing." "It's just a concussion." "Stay down!" "Stay down!" "Stay down!" "Go get 'em." "Get your whole team up there." "Go." "Let's go." "Bowen!" "Cobra coming in!" "Cobra's coming in!" "Get down in the fucking trench!" "Where's the shit?" "I don't know." "It's right up here." "Jesus Christ." "It's pretty close." "The last one, I was 10 feet away." "Yeah." "I..." "All right, everybody cover your fucking ears." "He was right on it." "The lieutenant was like..." "Guys, cover your ears." "Trey, get the fuck down." "Everybody, keep your heads down." "Look out, look out." "Everybody, get your heads down." "Hey, we're clear!" "Yeah, let's go." "Get down!" "Stay down." "Stay down!" "Let's go." "Up, up, up, up." "Let's go." "Make sure we maintain security to the fucking south." "This is where they'd like to hit us, at the retrograde." "We got one KIA." "Who got hit?" "We got ANA wasted." "We got one down." "Two Charlie, or two Bravo, two Charlie." "One and one?" "I tell you, one is dead, one is wounded." "The one that's dead..." "Looks fucking like half blown apart." "First truck is going to cover us, push up to where this IED was just blown, cover us that way." "The wounded ANA needs to get on one of those other vehicles now." "Okay." "I'll grab him." "Hey, let's go, we need to hurry up." "I know you guys are sweeping, but we are exposed." "I'm not trying to rush you guys." "Hey, stay in the fucking lane." "I got you." "Hey, let's get his body." "Let's go." "Hey, walk the path." "Ready?" "One, two, three." "It's been a road." "He gets so mad." "Like, it just..." "He turns into a different person almost." "It's like I don't even see my husband." "It was almost like somebody had taken over him, like, I'd look in his eyes and it wouldn't even be him." "They were just soulless almost." "I don't know if that makes any sense, but he doesn't really become anybody but just rage." "It's just rage." "How long has he been home?" "Did you say a month or so?" "He got shot, October 23rd." "And has he completed his service, or gonna go back later when he heals?" "Actually, he was worried they were gonna kick him out, but they actually made a law now if you get injured in combat, they can't kick you out." "So, he's not dead." "Well, good and bad." "Good for him, maybe, bad for me." "That's right, that's a soldier." "Yes, it's a soldier." "That's a real soldier." "Well, we really do appreciate that." "Okay." "Anything else we can do for you tonight?" "Thank you so much." "All right." "I'm sorry you had to wait." "I don't know what keeps us together." "I don't know." "Something." "We love each other." "I guess if we could get through that, we can get through anything." "We've been to hell and back." "I knew how bad my injury was." "I know how bad it is and how hard it is for me to walk, and for months I've tried." "I've walked without a cane a couple of feet, and fallen and gotten back up, and tried it again and fallen and gotten back up." "And I'm only gonna be able to get to so good." "It's not like I could ever go back to Machine Gun Hill and be able to move around and jump around and fly around and move like that." "That's just not gonna happen." "There's no way in hell that I could go out there and do that again." "That's over." "Being a grunt's over." "That's the only thing I really wanna be." "You think something's funny, young lady?" "You wanna little kiss?" "A little, little, little..." "Kiss?" "I wanna put my hat on." "My hair's all fucked up." "That's a good MySpace picture right there." "You wanna play a game?" "Huh?" "See where the shoot is?" "Hell, yeah, it would on that one." "That would not have been good." "Let's try again." "Who wants to play for real?" "Not me." "Let's play Spin of Death." "Whoo!" "Oh, man, right in the kisser." "There's one right, you know." "Yep, one more time." "This one is for Ashley." "Oh, got your ass!" "Got you, bitch!" "I did, Joe, look." "It's right there." "When we lay down in the bed at night," "I put one in the chamber, like that, and I put it on the right side of my body, tucked in between the mattress with the pistol grip hanging out." "I put it in the perfect spot." "All I have to do is this." "Run my hand along the edge until I feel it, and I pull it out, all I got to do is flip it off safe and I'm ready." "Done." "Okay, get in the position." "Mmm." "This is the starting position we start in." "Later on, I get aggravated and start freaking the fuck out and push you off of me into the wall." "That comes later." "I love you." "I love you." "You ready to say our prayers?" "Now I lay me down to sleep," "I pray the Lord my soul to keep." "If I die before I wake," "I pray the Lord my soul to take." "I almost died." "I know." "You know that?" "I almost died." "I know." "Oh, I got fucking hit." "I went, "Hey, man." "I'm fucking hit, dude."" "And I was like, "Fuck, dude, I'm fucked up."" "And meanwhile, those rounds were still zipping by real, real, close." "I was so worried I was gonna get shot again." "I was just going to try and move to a better spot and get down." "Where's that coming from?" "It hurt pretty bad." "I just looked to the sky." "Looked up to the sky and wondered whether I was gonna live or not." "I just remember looking at the clouds, thinking," ""Breathe." "You gotta breathe." ""Keep it slow." "Don't start freaking out."" "I was just laying and looking at the sky." "I just told myself, I was like, "Well, you're going home."" ""Don't worry about it." "You're going home."" ""Keep breathing, breathe slow."" ""Breathe."" "* Shot in the hip and left for dead *" "* In come the iron birds from overhead *" "* I overheard that Sharp as dead as night *" "* It looks like rain even when there's sun *" "* Maybe it's just the blood from the wound *" "* That fills my face and stains my hands *" "* Is it mine?" "*" "* When we were handsome and brave *" "* Staying up all through the night *" "* Back to back in a bed of dirt *" "* We did lay *" "* To be young and in love *" "* But only make it halfway home *" "* That's what it's like when you've been to hell and back *" "* It's what it's like if you live *" "* Through hell and back *" "* Handing out lies and taking names *" "* Looking at volunteers for pretty graves *" "* I haven't seen a lemonade stand for years or days *" "* Two-by-two in the tire tracks *" "* Walking long and deserted paths *" "* Praying there's no dirty blast today *" "* When we were handsome and brave *" "* Staying up all through the night *" "* Back to back in a bed of dirt *" "* We did lay *" "* To be young and in love *" "* But only make it halfway home *" "* That's what it's like when you've been to hell and back *" "* It's what it's like if you live *" "* Through hell and back *"