"Dear hussars and ISAF Team 7." "This is it." "Is the task important?" "Is it still relevant for us Danes?" "These are obvious questions that you may be asking yourselves." "Your predecessors in HeImand have pushed forward   and made a huge effort in aid of a civilian population   that has lived under miserable conditions." "Forthis, several of our colleagues have paid a high price." "It's your duty to continue unhesitatingIy in their footsteps   now that your government has charted its political course." " Yes." " When are you going to JutIand?" "To Jutland?" "That will be on ..." "Thursday." " And the exercise will last for ...?" " Ten days." "That's it, I think." "It hasn't really dawned upon me that you're actually going." "It doesn't strike you until the goodbyes." "I've spent months trying to figure it out, and I gave up." "I just don't get it." "You could say it's like football." "You learn so and so much through practice   but you learn more by playing matches." " You also enjoy the comradeship." " Of course." "That's part of it." " lt's a challenge and an adventure ..." " And that's what hurts!" " An adventure?" "I can't ..." " But I want the experience." "What's up?" "Did you get home, or what?" "No ..." "I'm here now." "Thanks for calling." "Bye." "What a trendy hairstyle, Kim!" "Not bad at all." " Is that our own logo?" " No." "It says "Spearhead."" "The Asian guy with the T-shirt ..." " He's the medic in my group." " Okay?" "." " What does he do?" " Patches us up, if necessary." " Does he go on patrol with you?" " Oh, I see." "Yes, he does." " l think I'II head upstairs." " Okay." "See you, Mom." " Goodbye." " Behave yourself." "I want you to make sure   that you pay attention to your surroundings." "Even if you think it's safe and sound." "Forget about yourself and what you look like." " l'm going to miss you." " l'll miss you, too." " l love you." " l know." " See you." " Take care." "See you." "Bye, Dad." " See you." " l'll hold you to that, Mads." " Promise?" " l promise." "welcome." "welcome." " Did you have a good trip?" " lt was a bit long." "We haven't been bored in armadillo." "400 shells were fired yesterday." " lt was fairly ..." " 400?" "A Taliban mortar fired on us, and we sent off 260 120 mm   and 120 105 mm." "Air support and Apaches were called in." "It wasn't boring." "The taliban are much more on their toes than I had thought." "They are just 800 m away from armadillo and on the ball." " So we'll confront them fairly soon." " lt's good there's work for us." "You can count on some action." "I promise it'll be interesting." "Six months without women." " You're awfully cheerful." " After a long night." " You have M%Ms?" " Hands off." "It's my dinner." " Your dinner?" " What's your problem?" "Mini wears size 3 in jackets." "Is that why his helmet says "King of the Green Zone"?" "welcome." "Grab some water." "I have a few pointers." "Gun line is shooting." "That's why it's so noisy." "If you hear what sounds like a rocket, it's the launchers firing." "It's fired at any time of the day." "There was one." "That's normal." "Here are the shower containers." "That's the Green Zone." "Observe as much as possible." "When there's combat, you're obviously more exposed   so don't just stand there staring." ""Walk-ins" stop just over there and call for an interpreter." "It doesn't take long to figure out if they're dicking around   or if it's something useful." " You had some questions." " Yes." "How far north from armadillo can we go   before the Taliban get active?" "About 800-1000 m north of Armadillo." "From up here we can draw a line almost up to the HeImand River." "This area here is basically ours." "His objective is to move south and isolate us so we can't get out   and to diminish our influence on the locals." "That's what he wants to do." "Our patrolling forces him to meet us here and fight in this narrow pass." "These people are former mujahedeen and used to fight the Russians   in the exact same area, so they're used to fighting a superiorforce." "They're not afraid." "Ten men might attack forty." "Being outnumbered doesn't stop them." "Not at all." " They've got big balls" " That's for sure." "Did you treat the ones who were killed and wounded in December?" "unfortunately me and J were the ones who found the dead on 12.19." "We were first on the spot." "I grabbed a detector and started sweeping." "As we went around the vehicle, the fucking beam from my headlamp   caught this guy right in his face." "He was staring, but dead, of course." "I closed his eyes and covered up his face." "And the last guy ..." "There wasn't much left of him." "I collected body parts for six hours." "Everything." "Fingers, a hand in a glove, a knee joint, a heart lying around ..." "It's hard to describe what it looks like in a place like that." "You also have to keep an eye on yourself." "You're not wacko, just because you laugh at some irrelevant stuff." "You need normality, 'cause this is so meaningless that you can't grasp it." " Susanne spea{y:i}king." " Hi, it's Mads." "Hi, Mads." "I was hoping it was you." " How are you?" " Fine, How about you?" "That's much more interesting." " l'm fine." "We're in armadillo." " Okay." " What's Dad up to?" " He sitting right here." "I'll let you talk to him." " Hi, Mads." " Hi, Dad." "How are you?" "We're fine, Mads." "But yesterday your mother had a fright   when the phone rang in the middle of the night." "I didn't hear it, but she did." "It scared the daylights out of her." "Yourfirst thought is that something terrible has happened." "But it was a business call from India about something they're printing   and they forgot about the time difference." "Since we left Denmark, the enemy's objective hasn't changed." "The taliban's objective is to destabilize security in HeImand   and undermine the locals' trust in the lSAF forces." "It's important to get into Haftaran and Athakhan   to establish contact with the people." "When you eat yourfieId rations   and there's something you don't like   l suggest you save it and bring it on patrol." "Give it to the children as a sign of goodwill." "rules of engagement." "Remember that self defense can apply prior to being fired upon." "Such as by confirmed weapons or people moving into a position to fire." "Yes." "Go get ready." "Listen up." "Line up, so 6-5 can take our picture before ourfirst patrol." "I don't have anything." "I can see why the wadis are dangerous." "They can easily hide an IED." "The thought is sickening." "We're most likely to go around it   so it wouId be stupid to put one here." "905, I saw a man run through the fence on the eastern side   of the row of bushes that run from north to south." "welcome to Nam." " Hey, interpreter!" " follow me." "Come." "HayatuIIah, hurry." "Don't let them onto the poppy field." "This way." "Not in the field." "I will show you." "9-0 here." "civilians are showing us the route around the field." "salaam aleikum." "How are you?" "alright?" " Read your book." " Are you reading?" "Yes." " lt's a madrassa." " Are you studying the Koran?" " Have things been calm?" " How is the situation in the area?" " calm?" " No, where is it safe?" " Are the taliban in the area?" " They've taken the whole area." "How could you not know?" "They're everywhere." "tell us if you see anything." "So we can get them out of the area." "We cannot cooperate with you." "You come with all your weapons, and then you leave." "We're staying here, and then the taliban will come after us." "But if you don't cooperate, we cannot secure the area   and then we can't build a school for your kids." "You have guns, they have guns." "If I talk, they'II cut my throat." " First patrol reporting!" " Look at my back!" "Look cool, man!" "Just a sec." "First patrol reporting." "It didn't feel like anything." "Not really." "I probably will, when we get into the shooting." "But this is also part of it." "It's not all fighting." "Right, we're also here to help these poor people." "It's like going to the fun fair without trying the rollercoasters." "alright, Iet's start the debriefing." "The patrol itself." "How did it go?" "Individual skills really sucked." "seriously." "How many fell to their knees on short stops?" "So, eight men out of 50." "Do we agree that this has to be improved?" "Get into the habit now." "Get your fat ass down on its knees   because at some point if you don't, then pow!" "So kneel, damn it!" "Right." "Anything else?" "I think I ought to say what I got out of this patrol." "And it wasn't a Iot." "Rememberthis is an agricultural area." "The peasants have just sown their wheat." "And we're ploughing it down." "I couId only say that our security out there was to trample their fields down." "Nothing's happening out there yet." "The good old classic." "The coolest thing about porn is the story line." "I'd Iike doctors like that, if I go to hospital." "strangely enough it helped him!" "It's weird, don't you think?" "You voIunteerto sleep on a tiny cot   and eat crap food for six months." " l know there's more to it." " l'm doing it forthe team spirit." " Team spirit and adventure." " Yeah." " How do your parents feel about it?" " They're not overjoyed." "My parents were like:" ""Don't go on missions." " "So I decided to go to Kosovo, and on my first day at the garrison   l still thought I was going to Kosovo." "But at the meeting we were told that Kosovo wasn't an option." "Here it's all 'Afghan'." "I called my mother afterwards   and told her I was going to Afghanistan after all." "She cried her eyes out." "Fucking hell, Rasmus." "What time is it?" " 41 minutes past." " What's this?" "A little muIIah?" " Are those animals?" "Two foxes?" " They sure aren't hedgehogs." "What the hell was that?" " Was that mortars?" " call in and find out." "You know what's going on?" "Over." "I have a good idea." "I'll just check it out." "It's probably the person digging from before that we engaged." "Over." "It's cool they bombed the idiot." "Too bad we can't see him." "You'II be an easy target now." " lt's doing a recce." " Nice." "It's our eyes out there." "It's cool that it can check out suspicious things in a compound." "Right." "I'd Iike to see some action now." "I don't know what my first reaction will be." "We haven't got a chance to know what it's like, when we haven't tried it." "And the thought of these 'foreign fighters', you know." "I can imagine that the first contact will be rather spicy." "He could be TaIiban." "Just like anyone of the 7 billion people out there." " Too bad we can't tell them apart." " The only difference is the weapon." "He could be hiding it under his clothes." "But it's clever." "Imagine we could do the same." "Do you think anyone is watching us?" " Someone's always watching us." " Right." "There's bound to be someone in these compounds   who is on the Taliban side and keeps an eye on us." "What are you seeing?" "What does he want?" "What now, billy Bob?" "Hang on a sec." " Who?" " This guy." " ls it the informer?" " No, he's lighting a cigarette." "They don't always do that." "There's been an uproar on the net about the 40 Pakistanis   who are said to be entrenched   but their presence hasn't been verified. lt could be a spook or real." "We're going on a domination patrol   which is a matter of preventing him from moving freely   and denying him the upper hand or being master of the domain." "We've got your back." "Any updates?" "Over." " Enemy forces have been sent out." "Roger that." "Who are you?" "British?" "Canadian?" " Danish." " Danish?" " Are you Jewish or Christian?" " Jewish?" "No." "We're Christian." "Why are you here?" "Look what you've done to our soil." "Look!" "You shot it up." "You killed our cow." " And you've wounded our family." " Why did you do that?" " The taliban are way over there." " They have lots of big weapons." "And they'lI shoot you." "903 Victor, October-fest CarIsberg." "Over." "Roger." "When the civilians are gone, they'II open fire." "Correct?" "Get down!" "I have impact." "Scan the area!" " Did you see where it came from?" " Signaler, Iet's go." "What was that?" "90, any report on that smoke?" "Was it incoming?" " What did you say?" " The taliban are ready to attack." " lt's jammed." " Shit." " Cover us, so 6 can get up here." " This crap isn't working." "Hurry, Mini." "Allahu Akbar," " Signaler, into the water." "They're behind the two compounds in a hollow." " Two shooters." " Krag, ready to go over the top?" "Between the two compounds in the hollow." "Ready?" " Over there!" "Can you see them?" " No." " They're in the hollow." " Yes." "Between the two compounds." "Red smoke. 500 m." " Get ready to fire the recoilless gun." " Firing!" "Reload, reload ...!" "Everybody out!" "Way to go!" " Super." " well done." "It's a nice big hole." " What do you think, guys?" " That's what I call a gun slit." "We can see the whole terrain." "He was near the ditch." " The taliban are ready to fire." " careful!" "Stay down!" "The taliban have reported they can see five of us." " Signaler, let's move away." " l'm coming." "Hit the deck!" " 5, get down!" " Hey!" "Isn't it over?" "." "No!" "Get down!" "Whisky reports, "Get down."" " The people standing could get shot." " Whisky sees ninjas everywhere." "Yes, the guy's a bundle of nerves." "Did you see those guys running?" "Where ...?" "I've got them." "It's just some kids." "2-5." "Roger." "Out." "That was an annoying message." "The locals asked the Taliban not to shoot   so they can evacuate the wounded women and children." "Not good." " That's gross." " ls that a wounded or a dead person?" "If they really are cowards, they might be carrying weapons out." " The thought did cross my mind." " lt's a good excuse to stare at us." "And they can move weapons to a new position, when we're on our way back." "Maybe it's just a civilian casualty." " That guy's got balls." " l hate those damn Taliban." "You can't tell who's who, and the dicks shoot from civilian compounds." " There's not much we can do." " No, but it's messy." " What's up, SignaIer?" " well done." "Your baptism of fire." " lt was a good start for beginners." " l was about to say that." " lt was a good start for beginners." " Everybody out, everybody home." "Mini?" "How much 12.7 ammo did you fire?" " A Iot." " You're damn right." "This is a bit heavy." "When I got into the barn, the chickens attacked me." "When is the bread done?" "Why do we have to do this shit?" "Ranger." "Look at this, Mads." "Even if you have a gun, I'd still win." " lt depends on how far away you are." " Here." "Let's see who draws first." "You have to release yours, I just have to swing this." "From down there?" " Can I carry it ...?" " No." "Then I'd be like this." "Kim, you can lift it with one hand, right?" "Or do you need two hands?" " Ready?" " Gotcha." "Three shots to the chest." " Quite cool ..." " lt doesn't get much betterthan that." " See you later, Mads." " Send my regards." "alright, Mads?" " l'll close off those streets." " Fine." "Mini, over there with Kim." " Why are you with them?" " He's American." " Why are you with them?" " He's red, too." "Get out of the military." "Leave." " Leave?" " Yes." "Go home." "Do you have a home?" "I don't owe you any money, if that's what you're saying." "He has funny eyes." "He is sIant-eyed." "They look puffy." "He took it in the ass." "I regret your losses, but you all know   that we have to walk in the fields." "How should we know?" "is it our fault, maybe?" "Last yearthey bombarded our house." "I swear by God I don't even have any clothes to wear." "And my sons cannot help me." "Then we must leave our villages." "What can we do?" "What can we do?" "It's not you or the Taliban that gets killed." "We are the ones who get killed." "The civilians get killed." "We sit in our homes and get bombed." "The taliban shoot, and then they run away." "They escape." "We're sorry, but we try to move the war up north." "That would be good for us, forthis ruins everything." "You can't." "People fight, because they're poor." "including the taliban." " Come on, you faggots." " Look who's talking." "You planted bombs, you ape!" "So far we know that a civilian car approached the gas station   on Highway 1 towards the desert, the route we usually take home." "The car hit something and detonated." "There was an explosion." "Our formation is vehicle 1 in front.." "primarily observe from the rifleman's position." "We'll see how bad it is when we get there." "Okay?" "." "flip your night vision down and keep a lookout behind." "On our way back from there I heard a huge explosion." "I couldn't believe it." "I ran back down   and 7-5 and 3-5 ran right into me, so I went flying." "Everybody was running all over the place." "Then I heard, "There's blood everywhere. 2-5 is down."" "I said, "Forfuck's sake, 5." "You should keep your head down."" "Then he said, "l know." "How about a dance?" l cracked up." ""This isn't a good time." Then I gave him emotional first aid." "He had a huge gash here." "Turned out to be a fractured skull." "Damn." " No fucking fun." " I'll say." "I heard a massive boom, and everything was sand and dust   for a few seconds." "I tried to feel if my teeth were broken with my tongue   and I tried to wiggle my fingers." "I couldn't tell if my teeth were okay   because I had so much gravel, sand and blood in my mouth." "I only felt splinters and stones." "I didn't know what was what." "I tried ..." "I don't remember clearly   but I Iooked down and saw two trickles of blood." "It wasn't until I was in the helicopter   that I started to get really uncomfortable." "That's when I had time to think about it." ""What do I Iook like now?" "will I ever recover?" "."" ""will I talk funny forthe rest of my Iife?" AII those questions." "I have to go back to armadillo and stand in front of them all   and say, "You can't get rid of me that easily."" " 2-5 {y:i}here." " Raven has something." "Three men are walking south." "62.7, 31.4." "Can alpha 1-7 see them running?" "Get the coordinates." " They're splitting up." " 64.5, 32.0." "Aim at the place that's been used as a firing point." "Do they have to assemble the gun first or what?" "9-0." "Pancake." " alright!" " About bloody time." " Do you want everyone to meet up?" " Yes ... 2nd platoon, at the vehicles." "There he is!" "Our man." " alright?" " You bet." "I'm in great shape." " Hi, guys." " You smell good, too." " But you don't." " hello!" " Nice to see you." " Hey, man." "I'm sick of hugging sweaty guys by now." "Who else?" "Jesus Christ." "Hey, guys." "Are we all here?" "Hey, man." " l'm glad you grew that beard again." " l thought you might feel that way." " Here's group leader 1." " well, for the time being." "It's fucking great to see you guys." "Any questions?" "Great." "Let's go." "Signaler, the locals say the taliban bugged out north and south   when they saw us arrive." "SignaIer, will you cover me if I run out in the field?" " probably not." " This is damn depressing." "AII dressed up and no one to blow." "This won't do." " Wanna bet?" " Nothing will happen." "Nothing will happen?" "It's no fun betting when we agree." "daniel, how about stripping and running naked across the field?" " That might kick things up a notch." " His pink body will scare them off." "Shut the fuck up." "The other day ..." "My house was bombed." "My cow was killed, and two calves." "They didn't die, they were wounded." "A cow was killed." "Two calves were injured." "Our guard dog was also blown to bits." "Look." "The animals were tied up in here." "There are 19 of us." "The cow gave us milk." " Now we have nothing, no money." " We can compensate you for it." "hello." "How are you?" "Can you come to the camp this evening ortonight?" "It's very difficult." "People get killed." "They're afraid." "But it's important that we collaborate." "So we can make peace here." "God willing, we can bring peace to this place." "rebuild the country ..." "exactly, but we'II see." "God will provide." "We ... the country is exhausted." "2-1, can we move forward, or do we wait?" " Having a nice time?" " We don't have to cuddle up." "unless you want to." "I have a hole in my pants." "I can use my finger if you Iike?" " You missed." "A bit further up." " No thanks." "Christ, this is boring." "Their cow was killed by mortars the day before yesterday." " You can see where." " That doesn't look recent." " lt's been like that for a while." " We saw where he buried the cow." "We can sense that the taliban are intimidating people in the area." "The locals say we're here to kill animals and people." " And the taliban take advantage ..." " Of what's going on." "obviously." "Okay, we need to move forward, boys." " The aerial sees two men in Sierra 5." " We're at Sierra 5." " should we take it and crush them?" " daniel?" "New plan." "Two guys in Sierra 5." "Right there!" " Do you want explosives?" " Let's wait and see." "There's still that hole in the wall." "The hole straight ahead." "Proceed." "I got it here." "Get in front." "There's something here." "There's a civilian." "Forward." "There's no one here." "Civilians in the compound." "We will continue searching." "There's no one here." "salaam aleikum." "901, 5 is searched." "Out." "Fuck, I'm tired of this shit." "They're laughing at us, and we waste time blasting into these compounds." "And they're already gone." "Awaste of time." " Mortar, another 15 ts." " Ready ...!" "Everybody ready ... shoot!" "She had abdominal injuries." "And a fractured skull." "I'm the one who says:" "That's your target." "I did what we had planned." "There's nothing to do about it." "It's ..." "I almost said 'split milk'." "Harsh words, but that's what it is." "It can't be undone, and you shouldn't blame yourself." "We live in a world, where you watch the news   with thousands of people, who die all the time ..." "So it doesn't bother me if a girl dies." "It's just because you're close to it." "I just think ..." "We came down here, and it wasn't done on purpose." "We did exactly what we're supposed to do, and we would do it again." "That's the way it is." "I'm very tired." "My house was burnt down, and that's why I'm here." "My mother died, and so did my little child." "We were away." "only my mother and the little one stayed at home." "I told my mother to come along, but she didn't want to." "You have to tell us which things were destroyed." "quilts, matresses, curtains, plates and lots of otherthings in my house." "May God forgive your mother." "She has become a martyr." "Mini, observe for the fucking platoon." "A situation is reported   but they move forward anyway." "Let's get the fuck out of here!" "Wait!" "Oh no ...!" "Say something, man!" "Is everyone okay?" "Over." "Negative, negative." "Condition critical." "He can talk, but has difficulty breathing." "Over." "Copy that." "Get him to my position quickly." "I'll get ready here." "Fuck ...!" "Here we go." "3-4 here." "The helicopter will be here in two minutes." "Copy." "We'll start moving him to pick-up point." "Over." "We've sent our call signs minus four men   who're picking up the Iast bits." "We have a vehicle to secure us and expect to arrive in ten." "Over." "His condition is stable, but his left leg was amputated at the thigh   and his right leg below the knee." "He was wounded in the groin   and in the abdomen, but there was no internal bleeding." "They think he'II survive, but he was seriously wounded." "They've found our weak points and are making the most of them." "Yes, we're good at attacking and moving forward   but we're held back because of those damn lEDs we can't find." "It's all fucked up." "When you think about it, you wouldn't feel guilty about   shooting those assholes." "I'd feel worse shooting a stray dog." "Right." "On our way back from patrol we were told   that three men from Romeo 1-5 hit an led on Highway 1." "At that point, they were category B, which is seriously wounded." "When we got back here, we were told all three were dead." "I think everyone was hoping   that we would go down in history as the first team not to lose a man." "Then they showed pictures of those three handsome young men   who were smiling, and whose eyes were shining." "They looked happy." "I can't take much more of this, Mads." " It'{y:i}s rea{y:i}lly, really hard." " Yes." "please be careful." "Come home soon." "I will." "Anothertwo months to go." "Let's commemorate ourthree fellow men   and honor them and show our respect with a minute of silence." "The men are getting tired." "Wahir, where we were doing well   is now infiltrated by the taliban." "They know exactly how many we are in the camp   and when we're up to something or not." "We'll have to see   if ambushing them will work." "Is anyone too upset to go?" " l'd Iike to stay home." " Me, too." "Mads, are you okay?" "You don't mind going?" "well, if you need me, I'Il come along." "Great." "Go get the job done." "You know what to do, so be careful." "Give them hell in the morning." "That's the whole point." "See you tomorrow." "Safe journey." "One group of enemy forces reported ready." "Over." "Several civilians are heading your way." "On the right-hand side of the men in the back." "Women and children are leaving the zone." "There are several combat indicators." "More families are leaving the zone." "There's no mistaking that." "Okay, the Iast Icom says they've spotted our patrol and will ambush it." "I have a possible digger about 200-250 m north of me   at a compound." "Request warning shot." "Over." "Copy." "Stand by." " It's a damn kill zone out there." " Fine with me, as long as they shoot." "AII those on the right, return to the trees." "3, retreat to the compound wall." " What did you do so far?" "." " l gave him morphine in the thigh." "And I gave him Fentanyl." "His pulse was fine." " Can he have a drink?" " Yes." "Where the hell are those bastards?" " Give me a fucking TaIiban, man." " Forward!" "Let's go, move forward." " Fuck, they almost got me!" " Cover forfuck's sake!" "Cover!" "I can't hear you." "We're in the open field." "Where are you?" "You're on my right in the open field." " Hold yourfire!" " 3, you're shooting at the trees." " l'm on the other side, you idiot." " The Taliba{y:i}n a{y:i}re in the ditch." "What the fuck is he talking about?" "The taliban are in the ditch in front of you." " Right in front of us!" " daniel!" " Can you get him with a grenade?" " Yes." "Fire in the hole!" "Now we neutralize them." "Kim, over here!" " You're walking towards each other." " Frederik was hit!" " There's another one here." " Frederik was hit in the leg." " Who?" " Frederik." "He's lying out here." " Who was hit?" " Frederik." "He's lying out here." " Kim ...!" "Go help Frederik." " Hold yourfire!" " Here we are, Frederik." " ls that guy dead, or what?" "Frederik, if you can limp, then let's get overto that building." " Super." " Where to ...?" " Where to?" " To your right." "Stay here." "I'll take him." "Hey!" "There's one more here!" "And two more over there!" " Easy, easy ..." " They have to fucking die!" " He's already on his way." " Good job!" " There are three dead overthere." " Move on, daniel!" "They fired from the corner overthere." "As soon as we've cleaned up, we ... 5, I've got a hand-grenade." " l need you to check my arm." " What the hell ...?" "Your arm?" "Look at this ..." " lt was stuck in my soft armor." " Your soft armor?" "." " Where precisely?" " Look, it's ..." " And through here." "And there." " Shit." " Damn, that was crazy!" " Hole is cleaned!" "Fucking pigs, man!" " alright?" " Yes." "Good." "Keep your hand still." "Try holding it upwards." " 30 seconds ..." " 30 seconds." " Damn, that was crazy." " There are five dead in the ditch." "Five dead taliban right there?" "This feels completely surreal." " Where are those assholes?" " l shot this one in the head." " Damn, it stinks." " Shut up." " Let go of it." " There's one more." " Wait a sec." "You cover me!" " Of course." "This will be messy." "Oh, you went commando, you sick bastard." " Are those hand guns or magazines?" " He had a pistol apparently." "They already stink." "Kim, if you've tried slaughtering animals, this is no big deal." "That's a bit much, isn't it?" "No guns." "It's a good thing they aren't any heavier." "What are you packing, buddy?" "Okay, get ready to move forward." "How many shots did you fire?" "You really went at it." " Don't they deserve to die?" " Sure. I don't feel sorry forthem." " The water in the stream was red." " You yelled: "There's no one there."" "And we yelled: "Yes, there is!" Then you figured it out." "It was a ricochet." "It nicked me and was stopped there." "I have the bullet in my pocket." " 40 seconds." " Pancake!" "Way to go!" " welcome." "We have sodas." " Sounds good." "Great job." "That was fucking awesome." " Four of them with a fucking grenade." " lt was nice." "Fuck, that was great." "This is something we'II never forget." "That was some of the best fucking soldiering I've ever seen." "You did a damn good job." "They didn't have any id or cell phones on them." "I had to pull one of them by the head from under a log." " He was stuck underneath it." " Yuck." "AII the dead Afghans." "Mini, your eyes were huge." "You just stood there staring at them." "The worst thing was with 3." ""They are in the creek."" "I didn't believe them, but emptied a magazine down the creek." ""They're still there!" "No, there's nobody there."" "Hand grenade!" "I came up, there were four of them lying there, rattling." "Then 5 wanted to be in on it, so he emptied a magazine under the log." " Then SignaIer and I found one more." " Yeah, he said so." " Not much fun forthose TaIibobs." " They were in a bad spot." "OIby, you say four on the first side?" "plus two more on the other side." " No, only one." " There were two." "Wasn't there one farther along?" "When we turned the corner   l'm sure we fired at two of them." " l searched the whole lot." "You went back?" "Okay." "Well, no one crawled away after we were there." "Good afternoon." "Everyone's back from the Green Zone." "It was a hectic morning." "I think we all agree on that." "The wounded are doing alright." "I have a fresh update on them." " Both were operated on." " Louder!" "One of them in the shoulder, the other in the leg." "Grejs says he's sorry he won't be coming back." "He's going back to Denmark for rehabilitation." "That's all we know." "You did a good job and showed guts, 2nd platoon." "Today was a close shave." "Anything else?" "Have a nice day." " War booty!" " Loots of war!" "Let's start the debriefing." "I want to get through it quickly, and get to the point." "Today we can establish that we didn't fire at each other." "There were many instances, where we were in doubt   and mistakes have happened." "I had my doubts that the enemy was only 3 m away." "I hear you hollering that he's close by, and I say "No!"" "In the end I was so irritated that I emptied a magazine down the stream." "I thought that would be enough, but you said no   and that's when we threw a grenade." "Afterwards Signaler and I   found four men groaning heavily in the ditch, feeling rather bad." "We liquidated them in the most humane way possible." "5 joined in and fired a magazine under a little bridge   and we cleaned the area and found the shooter lan mentioned." " He was hit and moaning." " He was trying to crawl." " We shot him 30-40 times." " We finished them off." " Thanks!" " That was it." "It was fucking awesome." "Not while it was happening   but when we got back." "Now we've been at war." "Now we've tried it." "I neverfelt that way on patrol before." "normally it's just boring." "But this time I thought   there was a real risk of being boxed in." "I neverthought that before." "We outnumber them   and have cool weapons, so they can't touch us." "But here they could." "But I'd still like to try it again." "One more time." "I wouldn't." "Think about it!" "When yourtour is over, you'II feel so much better about it." " Yes." " lt's true." "Making a difference is a cool feeling." "Having been up shit creek will feel great once you're back home." "Imagine if ourtour was just a load of crap with nothing going on   and only boring patrols." " lt would be a lame way to go home." " Right." "We're gonna see Frederiks' leg." "He has to show us." " What's up?" " Turn around." "Way to go, man!" " Good to see you, Grejs." " You, too." " So, are you hooked up with Brits?" " They are all bloody Afghans." " Even some TaIiban." " Really?" "actually, one came in with eyes covered and his hands tied yesterday." " lf you go back inside, we'II come in." "See you inside." " Hi." " Good to see you." " AweII-placed shot afterwards." " Brilliant." "The bullet entered here and was sticking out of my ass." " They had to dig it out." " cool." "I totally forgot about the pain because the chopperfIew like this." "I don't know if you heard, but OIby got four with a grenade." " They were moaning." " l don't know how many it killed." "But three of them were lying in a pile." "You could only see an ear and the left side of the head of one of them." "The rest was hanging off him." "Two of them were underneath him." "I thought, "What the fuck?" They were on top of each other." "Another was under a log, and another was farther away." " He was crawling on the ground." " No, he wasn't." "So we hit the jackpot in that ditch." "Okay, guys." "Bye." "I've got two things for you." "You definitely get the Horse." " Thanks a lot." " You deserve it." "You fought with us and with special Forces." "Super ..." "Damn fine job." "Listen up." "I was questioned by the MPs this evening." "apparently someone called home and told their parents   that we liquidated wounded people   and piled up the dead, to take pictures of ourselves as heroes." "And that I personally returned and killed some wounded Talibans." "People have also said that we laughed about this during our debriefing." "The parents ... or this mother has contacted operational Command   and asked if that is how we deal with things here." "What bothers me the most right now   is the question of loyalty." "I have to know   if anyone here believes that this is what happened." "Does anyone honestly believe that?" "Yes ...?" "If I had listened to our debriefing and the sequence of events   l would have thought it was extremely ... delicate." "I couId understand if outsiders, who weren't there got that impression." "We were still on a high afterwards." "You have to take that into consideration." "It was an extreme experience, so we used extreme words." "If the press makes a case of this, and people think we're psychos   well, let them think so." "They weren't there, they didn't see it." "They weren't there, but we know what happened." "Let them talk." "They weren't there." "If they make a case out of this, we'II be suspended   and then we'II be blowing bubbles, and that's it until we go home." "And we'II go down in military history, apart from those who knew us   as the guys who fucked up." "Anyone who's named in this case   including myself, daniel and Signaler   can look forward to a Iong session with the whole military circus." "I can't say:" ""You weren't there, man" to that." "I believe that Signaler and Daniel had the balls to do the right thing   at the right time." "To proceed the way they did with two wounded, one near miss   and three men with holes in their uniform and so on ..." "To walk up and shoot ..." "Had I seen movement, I would have fired, too." "And it only took Daniel or SignaIer to point under the log and say:" ""One here, one there."" "That was enough for me to flip to automatic and shoot." "I didn't feel like sticking my head down to someone with a gun." "And yes, it was touch and go." "But in my world you do what you do." "If you have the strength not to shoot   because you realise that the movement is not that of a weapon   but a surrender or whatever ..." "If you have the strength to realise this   you don't shoot, of course, but had I been there   l would also have fired, and I did fire, because I wasn't sure." "That was enough for me." "I think it's hard for people at home to understand how ..." " How the decision is made?" " How you can just take a life." "You have to be here to understand it." "This place is whacked, after all." "It's a fucked-up country." "No doubt about it." "People who understand the war itself   and how you and I and others feel about being here   and making a difference, those people will understand us." "Outsiders might sneer and say that we're insane   or that we did something terrible." "I know I did the right thing." "I know we all did the right thing." "In case you don't know, I was questioned by MPs this morning   regarding our case with the snitch." "So far it's 'a matter of rumor'   which they'II try to quash at battalion level." "So if you hear anything, then dismiss it as a rumor   because that's what it is." "So it's just a lot of hot air." "It may come back to haunt us   but it is a Iot of hot air without any truth in it." "alright?" "That's it." "Good day." "I have a few things to say today." "First of all   l'd Iike to award silver and gold Horses for our recent engagement." "The first two are Joe and OIby." "Joe and OIby did something that others might feel differently about." "These guys did it." "Five TaIiban were firing at the platoon." "Our guys stormed them with a hand grenade and neutralized them." "This takes courage, and I'm proud of you." "I'm awarding you the gold Horse, and you both deserve it." "We'II see if it leads to more." "Damn fine job." "congratulations." "well deserved." "And one for you, Joe." "congratulations." "You deserve it." "Give them a hand." "What does it say ...?" "Smith is a part-time transvestite   and a fuII-time idiot." "Deep thoughts ..." " Not a Iot of deep stuff here." " The deepest was painted over." "The guys were a bit pissed about that." "Of course there was a lot of shit   but there's also stuff which ..." "Which was quite cool to read." "And it wouId be cool to see your own stuff, if you came back." ""In the North I know the fairest land." "My people, my home, my native land."" ""Denmark." That was quite poetic." "WELCOME HOME Thanks for your efforts ..."