"[dramatic music plays] [dramatic music plays] [dramatic music plays]" "That'sgonnabe pretty upsetting for him." "No one's ever dared to go in there." "You think that's gonna cause a ruckus?" "[dramatic sounds] [baby crying] [speaking foreign language]" "[speaking foreign language]" "Careful." "Getoverhere!" "Mike Boettcher:" "What is that?" "R.P.G." "Camera Man:" "R.P.G.?" "Ohmygod." "Thatthingis straightout  of China, like, yesterday." "Yeah." "Mike:" "How could they get out of China?" "Yeah." "Thatthing's brand spanking new." "I'mdownhere,on Objective Richmond, and, uh, first platoon can't get to the first series of building." "They keep finding more ammunition." "They keep finding more mortar fuses." "They keep finding more stuff." "Idon'tknowwhatitis ." "It's a rifle." "Bolt action of some sort." "Mike:" "What does that look like?" "SixtosevenR.P.G.'s, probably eight mortars, a couple box of fuses..." "Definitelyanindicatorthat we caught them by surprise." "Break." "[suspenseful sounds]" "Hey,Zee?" "What'sup?" "Givemeeyesonthat  bridge at your eleven." "[explosions] [rapid gunfire]" "Getdownaroundherenow!" "Get something in front of you!" "Fuck!" "[gunfire continues]" "Roger." "We'reshooting." "We've got contact up on the hill for our fucking -- [explosion] [voice over radio]" "Break,break,break,break." "Holding six, moving three six." "Yeah." "Roger." "Whereare you  getting fire from?" "What target?" "[indistinct radio chatter] [explosions continue]" "Igotshot..." "Bostic'sshot!" "[muted voices] [dramatic sounds]" "[airport announcement]" "Mike:" "My name is Mike Boettcher." "For the past thirty-four years, my job has given me a front row seat to history." "As a war correspondent, it's taken me to some of the worst places on the planet." "[dramatic music plays]" "Everything that I have achieved in my career has come at a high price." "It cost me my relationship with my family and my son." "I've missed Christmases, birthdays, graduations... [chuckles]" "You name it." "So when it was time for me to re-embed with U.S. Troops in" "Afghanistan, my son, Carlos, decided he was coming, with or without my permission." "He said, "I need to know why you chose your work over us." As much as I wanted to say no, I realized this could be my last chance to reconnect with my son." "So off we went... together, father and son." "The only trick was... we had to come out of there alive." "[dramatic sounds]" "[rock music plays] [helicopter whirs]" "[helicopter passing]" "Looksliketheyattachedtwo different wires to try and make an I.D., maybe stretch out the wire so they could get further away from us, when they detonate, gives themself a better chance to get away." "Forpower?" "Where does it go to?" "Rightintothehouse." "Well,I know,uh ,Iknowin his house." "I can see that." "I meant, when it goes in here." "Where is it getting the power from?" "[inaudible response]" "Hey,Gould,Gould!" "[indistinct radio chatter]" "[natives chattering]" "Camera Man:" "What were you saying again?" "[radio chatter]" "He'snextto thevehicle." "Why?" "Soyou'reagoodluck charm?" "Whoa!" "Whoa!" "Sonof abitch!" "Yeah,stillwarm, still warm." "Yeah,wegotabunchof these that we were just shot at by the enemy from that hillside." "This is a Dishka round, uh, little over twelve millimeter diameter, round, very deadly when it hits you." "[dramatic music plays] [gunfire]" "Chris Fields:" "And then watch me." "Hey, I'll either go up, left, right, or back." "[gunfire]" "He'sstilltoolow !" "Oh,nice." "Goodshot." "Onepersoninjured." "Theyarereporting everything's okay right now." "Good." "It'snotgonnabeokay ." "They don't, they don't know what's about to hit 'em." "[radio chatter]" "Rogerthat." "Ineedtogo  tothe left of that." "There's a rat drill on the left side of that." "Give me, uh, three shots rightthere for right now, so we're gonna you right on her." "[gunfire] [jet passes overhead]" "Yeah!" "Goodhit!" "[dramatic music plays] [explosion]" "Whoa,baby!" "[explosion]" "Two-zero-seven,dark knightfour-two." "It's good bombs, good bombs." "There'sa false bravado involved." "They see us." "They've been watching us for awhile." "They're moving in position." "They don't think we can harm them." "Uh, they just haven't fought us yet." "[dramatic music plays]" "Howclosewerethose bullets coming to you?" "You were close enough to hear the bzzzz go by, huh?" "Gunfirebuzzeswhenit's close enough to you." "It sounds like a bee passing over your shoulder, and that's when we knew that things were serious." "[country song plays] [country song plays] [country song plays] [helicopter whirs]" "SteveLutsky, Colonel Lutsky." "Lutsky was this character who was larger than life." "He lived to be out front." "[soldiers chanting]" "Colonel Steve Lutsky:" "I expect these guys to risk their lives to get the mission done." "I mean, mission comes first." "I can't ask them to do something that I wouldn't do myself." "Now, that's not saying that I'mlooking for a fight, but I can't sit in a truck and say," ""Hey, I want you to go risk your life."" "Itwasafighttostayalive when you were with Steve Lutsky, because he was going to be at that pointy end of the spear." "And sure enough, we were." "Tagtwo,tagone ,over." "They saw three, uh, possible insurgents." "They went us to head southwest along the ridge." "Over." "[voice over radio]" "Theywereregressing straight south from that location." "Staying in that low land ridge, they're probably hiding somewhere out there, behind the rock the rock line, break." "Theproblemwas,the Taliban found us before we found them." "[clattering] [soldiers yelling]" "[heartbeat sounds]" "I'muphere [unintelligible]!" "[dramatic sounds]" "Theproblemis ,he hadno idea where they were firing from." "The Soviets call them "Ghosts," and they were." "I mean, you couldn't..." "They were there." "They were somewhere, and they were shooting at us." "You couldn't see them." "[soldiers yelling indistinctly] [heavy breathing] [gunfire]" "Yeah." "Snipers firing from us, in the tree line over there." "Snipers firing at us from the tree line just over there, behind some cover, but not much." "[dramatic sounds]" "Theywantus to go up ." "Okay,okay." "[indistinct yelling]" "Okay,I 'mgoing." "Here we go." "[dramatic music plays] [rocks sliding]" "Shit." "[breathing heavily] [gunfire]" "Carlos!" "Carlos!" "[grunts]" "Carlos!" "Ihadno ideaifhe was alive or not." "I wasn't a reporter then." "I was being a pop." "[solemn music plays]" "And the one thing I could not let happen was... was to let my son die." "Mike:" "Carlos!" "Carlos!" "Carlos!" "[breathing heavily] [gunfire]" "Carlos!" "Mike:" "What the hell were you thinking?" "I told you, don't leave my side." "This is a damn war zone, Carlos." "You okay?" "Well, you were covering me, as well, right?" "Roger." "Yes." "To the best of my ability, I was." "Ithoughtyoudid pretty goodat covering me." "[chuckles]" "Thanks." "Hey,bytheway , their aim sucks." "Okay,ambushesalongthe  road are one of many reasons construction's taken so long, with mountainside..." "Fuck." "I fucked up." "[background chatter]" "Ambushes along the road are one of many reasons construction's taken so long, with the mountainside providing no cover, and insurgents offering no quarter." "Allright." "Thatwas good." "Anysuggestions?" "We'regettingreadyto clearthat ridge line." "Uh, at least one of them got hit." "Uh, we saw him go down, so we're gonna check for bullet trails and, uh, see if we can find him." "A.W.T. has nothing on him right now." "[dramatic percussion]" "Youallright?" "Thesearethefirsthouses that they would bring him to." "Mike:" "The guy who's wounded?" "Yeah." "[background chatter]" "Hearanyof theshooting?" "[speaking arabic]" "Translator:" "Yeah, we heard the fighting." "Oneofthemwas wounded, so you may have them come down and cometo your house for help." "I understand, Polesh and Wally, that you're going to help them." "Did they come to your house?" "[speaking arabic]" "Translator:" "He says you can search, uh, the houses." "Oh,theyalreadyare ." "They're up there searching right now." "[speaking arabic] [dramatic sounds]" "Watchyourhead." "Whatthehellisthis ?" "I,I don'tthinkyou 're Taliban, but I think you turn the other way when Taliban come through." "Wehadto arrestthe  insurgents and tell them they're not welcome here." "'Cause I want your children to be safe." "I want you to be safe too." "[speaking arabic] [voice over radio]" "Ineedaroger." "Yeah,we'rein routeatthis  time." "A, uh, actually developed this situation for what we need, we need to know when you think we should come in from the south, and do it right past, past the way, north." "Over." "Sixfour,roger." "That'llbesix-four-six." "[radio chatter continues] [explosions] [screaming]" "Go,go,go ,go !" "[baby crying]" "TheAmericanconveywas  traveling this direction." "The other way, civilian vehicles." "They slowed down when the convey passed." "So did a suicide bomber, and inside his car, he has six hundred pounds of high explosives." "[dramatic music plays]" "Rhyss Heeter:" "After we realized what happened, we pushed out of the blast zone." "I got out of the truck." "We realized it was a "vee-bid."" "[explosions]" "There was a lady off to the side, next to a, uh, kalat, and uh, she was screaming that her kids were dead." "I started calling for the medic over the radio, and we just started treating them, did everything we could." "Mike:" "Private Richter, how long you been in the Army?" "Paxton Richter:" "Uh, exactly a year, sir." "That was the first actual, uh, trauma casualty I'd... in my care, sir." "[solemn music plays]" "And,uh,it didn't need to happen." "[helicopters overhead] [music continues] [music continues] [muted voices] [engine whirring]" "One-oh-oneoversixty, pulse seventy-two." "One two saturation was one hundred percent." "Ilookedat theeyesofthe medics, and you could see it." "They weren't gonna let him die." "[melancholy music continues]" "Thenameof thechild?" "We were more concerned about saving his leg than getting his name." "Thefamilyhasa patient over here." "How'shedoing?" "Doingokay." "He 's supposed to be going, hopefully, to the O.R. today." "Goingbackto theO.R. today?" "I'mveryhappythat he kept his leg." "We go out of our way to make sure people like Sadich don't get hurt." "Mike:" "In the end, does it change Afghanistan?" "Probably not, but it saved that kid's life, and maybe that kid will change Afghanistan someday." "Getwell." "We 'llseeyou ." "I got a son, Jake, who's ten years old." "Mike:" "Can you imagine?" "No." "Mike:" "Did it sink into you that you had saved a child's life?" "Itdid,butuh, that's, that's what I'm here." "That's why all these guys that are out here do what they do." "It's 'cause they just wanna help." "Afterwards,ground unit came up by and thanked us, and that was probably the biggest reward, uh, that I've ever had, is having the ground unit come by and say thank you." "Thisall-womancrewwho put  any men I've known to shame." "I call it, you know, the band of sisters and a little brother." "Wejustconsiderourselves just soldiers, like, like everyone else, and to us, it's really not a big deal." "Thecountdownto hugsand  kisses, and this is Chloe." "She's so cute!" "I'm a mom." "I understand how every other mom feels, and if I was in her shoes, that I'd want those people to help my son or daughter out as much as possible." "[dramatic sounds] [speaking arabic]" "Kidsaretheonesthat  usually give all the good information." "Taliban do the same thing, from what we've experienced." "They'll usually go tell the kids where they put in an I.E.D. The kids seem to be the, uh, the best guys to utilize for references." "[speaking arabic]" "Italkedto somekids here on scene." "They confirm Taliban had placed an I.E.D." "here about, uh, forty-eight hours ago." "Thevillagesarethe ones that actually came to us, and, and A.U.P. and reportedthis I.E.D." "In my mind, I mean, that's a very positive step." "Seems like they're starting to kind of, you know, support the government a little bit more." "[dramatic percussion] [indistinct background chatter]" "Naw,I lovedoingthis." "Mike:" "Really?" "Yep." "Why?" "'Causerightnow,myjob is to help protect these guys, make sure they don't get hurt." "[ominous sounds] [ominous sounds] [ominous sounds]" "Yep,gotthepressureplate." "Hey,theyfoundthe  pressure plate." "Pressureplateson  both sides and a power source for each pressure plate." "Yep." "Wirerunningofftothe side." "There's a little hole dug right there, with the wires running down into it." "It'sabouttwelveto fourteen inches in diameter." "Inthisarea,wehaven't seen charges that big." "It would have done some damage too." "Yeah,it'spretty,it'sa pretty large charge." "But uh, we've definitely located, uh, one pressure plate at this time." "Uh, exploiting with the robot." "Front line traced to the pressure plate, Victor" "Bravo seven-eight- one-niner, plate." "[dramatic sounds] [sirens wailing]" "Holyhell." "Mike:" "How much you think was in there?" "Fortytofiftypounds." "I'd say probably closer to the fifty pound range." "Tellallthekids that they need to stay away from that area, 'cause there still could be some stuff out there." "They're doing a lot more patrolling around this area, and they'll continue to focus specifically around this area, now that we know that bad guys are putting I.E.D.s." "[dramatic sounds]" "Mike:" "My intent is for us to get in there, and then get out of there in one piece." "Yeah." "[sighs]" "Well, my, my intent is always, is also to get out of there in one piece, so." "Butlet'snotdoanything fucking stupid, huh?" "We have a mission tonight, from here, past those mountains, into the always dangerous river valley." "Ibelievein eachand  every one of you, and I love each and every one of you." "You're the most precious resource that America has." "Trust in your brothers, dedicate yourself to" "American battalion and our mission." "Your measure is not found in how much time you have on this earth." "It's what you do with the time that you've had." "These people have suffered for too long." "Change the course of history in Afghanistan." "[wind howling] [dramatic music plays]" "Mike:" "We had marched for days with the" "Marines." "It was summer, and it was hot." "One hundred thirty degrees." "Unbelievable." "And we did it all carrying more than eighty pounds of gear on our back." "We ran out of everything." "We ran out of food." "We ran out of water." "Mike:" "And then, we got, finally, to the location that we're supposed to capture." "This could be Gulf Company's new home." "They're looking for headquarters to establish their presence down here, and we're going in to check." "It's been eerily quiet." "We haven't had a bullet fired at us in over twelve hours." "[indistinct yelling] [indistinct yelling] [middle eastern music plays]" "Thisisit !" "Okay,let'sgeta team up there." "Nextteam,comingup!" "[indistinct radio chatter]" "Roger." "FoxOneisclearing the area right now." "[dramatic music plays]" "Go!" "Go!" "Hot, hot!" "[explosions]" "Go!" "Let'sgo ,go ,go ,go !" "[explosions continue] [indistinct radio chatter]" "Go, go, go, go!" "Ohmygod." "Mike:" "What is this here?" "Thisis,uh ,nitrateto, uh,  make I.E.D.s." "Andthisis pureheroine down here, you said?" "Mike:" "So what do we have here?" "Walledcompoundslikethis one fill Helmand Province, providing valuable cover for Taliban, and for Marines." "Marinessaytheobjectiveof this mission was met - to plant their presence here and to make a statement to the Taliban that the Marines are not leaving." "Mike:" "We knew that we'd accomplished our mission, and I was up all night feeding stories back to" "ABC." "I was exhausted." "Everyone was." "And the Marine commander said, "We gotta go another ten miles."" "[dramatic music plays]" "There is a squad that's surrounded." "Someone else has to go, and Carlos came to me, as I was suiting up, and said, "Pop, if you do this, you're gonna die." I was just too tired." "He said, "I'll go." "Not you."" "[chuckles]" "That's my son... saying he'll go in place of me." "And he went, and I stayed." "Hey,doIgot any  friendlies over there?" "Rightorleft?" "Uh,goleftofthecompound." "Keep going all the way over." "You got the dude in the white turban that keeps looking at us?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Naw,it's definitely not them." "Allright." "Setsouth,southwest." "Carlos:" "While movement through the fields and canals is slow, every step the Marines take is one closer to securing peace in Helmand Province." "HereatCampKoshtay, the work continues." "The Marines are now in the position of setting up this base, in the heart of this town called Koshtay, which was a Taliban stronghold." "Mike:" "There's a copper wire." "Where is it?" "Oh, yes." "And it's running up to that compound there." "A patrol this morning found an I.E.D." "We're walking towards it." "They cut the command wire, which is a wire that runs to a device that would trigger the bomb." "Hopefully, that is the only command wire." "Voice over radio:" "Command, three two." "Mike:" "When you enlisted, you didn't ask for this job, did you?" "Negative." "[engines humming]" "Mike:" "The villagers did not come." "The Taliban did not attack." "But the question now is - where is the Taliban?" "[dramatic percussion]" "Standby!" "Hey,wegottwo people,six hundred meters away from us, moving southeast." "[indistinct chatter] [distant gunfire]" "Hey!" "Yeah?" "[indistinct yelling]" "Fuck!" "[gunfire continues]" "Huh?" "Hey,whatis he  talking about?" "Send your traffic, O.P. Rock." "Igotpanleft." "Shoothim,dammit!" "[gun fires] [dramatic percussion]" "Ishotthatmotherfucker that walked by the compound down there." "I don't know if I fucking hit him or not." "Saw him running with a fucking A.K. in his hand." "I don't know if I fucking hit that son of a bitch." "Shoothim!" "[gunfire continues]" "Hey,gunsand [unintelligible]!" "Let's go, go!" "Ihitthatson ofa bitch." "Go!" "[clattering]" "Didyouseethosefuckers?" "[indistinct chatter] [dramatic music plays]" "Mike:" "Just last night, the platoons of Gulf Company" "Two-Eight Marines were attacked by small arms fire eleven times, uh, resulting in two concussions." "It was very lucky that, uh, there were no major casualties, or no deaths on this march south here." "Mike Boettcher for Nightline, Camp Koshtay, Afghanistan." "[dramatic percussion]" "Standby!" "What'sup?" "Wegotsmoke." "Lookstraightdownthe road here is where everyone is." "[indistinct chatter]" "Hey,one,twos,movein!" "[music swells] [gunfire]" "Openitup !" "Okay,let'sgo ." "Let'sgo,let'sgo!" "[breathing heavily] [gunfire continues]" "Hey,let'sgo !" "[voice over radio]" "We'retakingfire!" "We're taking fire!" "Mike:" "All I heard on the radio was that they were in trouble, and he was surrounded, and there were Taliban all around, and they were taking fire constantly." "[breathing heavily]" "[gunfire continues] [indistinct yelling]" "Startsuppressing!" "Let'suse  suppress across the way." "Goodluck!" "Let'sgo,let'sgo!" "[gunfire continues]" "Overthere!" "[inaudible] [gunfire continues] [indistinct yelling] [screaming]" "Gill!" "[ominous music plays]" "Ihadno ideawhat was happening." "I felt completely helpless." "I didn't know what to do." "I thought I'd never see my son again." "[gunfire] [inaudible yelling]" "[canon fires]" "Yeah!" "[cheers]" "Go,go!" "Hey,let 'sgo!" "Let'sgo,dudes!" "Yeah,moresmoke,bro !" "Fuckyeah,brother!" "Hell,yeah." "[cheers]" "Hey,let'sgo ." "We 'reup , bro." "Mike:" "Being reunited with Carlos after that... to see him alive... was the best damn thing I've ever seen." "The best." "[dramatic music plays]" "Initially,I wasscared going into it." "We heard that there was gonna be gunfire directed at us, all the way down, and so there was, but after the first few explosions, after the initial contact, after the initial rat-tat-tat of the A.K.-47s coming at" "us, uh, the adrenaline almost fades and you being to grow, if not numb, then used to it." "Mike:" "Carlos grew up real fast, and I was so proud of him." "My time is almost over, and now it's Carlos's turn, and I believe my son is going to be a better storyteller than I ever was." "It's his turn." "Diane Sawyer:" "We want you to meet two people who are unlike any other, the only team of journalists to embed for one solid year, on the front lines, with the troops here, and not only that - they're father and son." "They are Mike and Carlos Boettcher." "Andabouttwelve minutes into it, I was just dying." "I was just, my whole, it was like the thing where your whole body overheats, and I started to feel like asthmatic, which, probably 'cause I smoke too much, but it was just way too much." "Yeah,yeah,yougotta..." "See, my joints have a limited shelf life, so that's why you don't see me hitting the gym." "Yeah,true." "[chuckling] [dramatic music plays]" "Mike:" "Carlos's time was up, and after everything we'd experienced here, it was going to be tough to watch him go back to the States without me." "You wake up every morning, facing death, and you cherish every moment you're with the people you're with, and here I was, with my son, and ironically, in a war zone, we reconnected." "It was worth the risk to be a father again." "[helicopter whirs]" "But, I think, deep down, as afather," "I was relieved that Carlos was headed home, because I knew where we weregoing next was one of the worst places you could go in" "Afghanistan." "It was the heart of darkness." "[dramatic sounds]" "Tye Reedy:" "Q.Z.R. controls the entire northern part of our area of operation." "He controls, uh, the fighters, the equipment, uh, the training, everything." "He's our number one target." "It's an extremely important mission." "Now,you'regonnahavealot  of young, inexperienced fighters, who want to go to toe to toe with an American, and they'll get their ass handed to them, because they don't know what they're doing." "They just graduated that [unintelligible], so they've been instilled with that bullshit extremist philosophy." "They don't know any better." "Let 'em come to you." "Let 'em come to you." "Wecan'tjustair strike them." "It would do no good to kill him or our enemy, along with civilians, so we have to go in, put boots on the ground, and root these guys out." "Matthew Mendez:" "As a leader, you have to, as my son calls it, manning up, so..." "that's what, that's what I did." "Thisisgonnabethefinal  nail in the coffin against this asshole." "He's going down." "His abilities to fight in the future are gonna be extremely degraded." "We're gonna create a lot of good things for the people that don't have the reach of security forces or governments as a result of this." "That's all I got." "[all respond unintelligibly]" "Kevin Mott:" "I don't think anybody was necessarily prepared for exactly what it was gonna be like, but some of us had the worst in mind, mentally prepared that way, so we wouldn't have any surprises." "[dramatic sounds]" "Mike:" "After almost dying, why would you wanna come back to this hellhole?" "[sighs]" "Ithinkit was...apersonal thing, on a level that, you know, I wasn't gonna let these guys beat me." "[dramatic music plays]" "I've been through quite a few fire fights." "I'm not different than anybody else." "I wanted to get back, get back in the fight, whether it be sitting in this three shop, you know, doing paperwork or whatever, I wanted to come back." "[music swells] [helicopter whirring]" "[ominous sounds]" "Mike:" "We landed at three in the morning, and all of us were tense." "Now,basedoffthe map ,it looked like there was a, a trail that we could have taken to head." "Pretty sure it does not exist at all." "It just some trickery the imagery showed." "I'mgladwe waitedtil  daybreak to actually move, because somebody would have actually broke their leg or, or worse." "[dramatic music plays]" "[speaking arabic]" "Hey,Ramone,take the low trail!" "Goingthroughthekalats, uh, you can tell, men, men did live there." "They just weren't there, and the, uh, excuse they gave of that they were, um, day workers in Jalalabad, you know, is completely ridiculous." "[dramatic sounds]" "[speaking arabic]" "Hey,Zee?" "What'sup?" "Givemeeyesonthat  bridge at your eleven." "[explosions] [gunfire]" "Thatshitsoundslikeit's  right in front of us." "Yeah,itdoes." "[gun firing repeatedly]" "Wehavelandedinthe hornet's nest." "Staydown." "Stay behind Jim Coper." "Thiswascommandand  controls for the Taliban, right there in that valley." "[gunfire continues] [indistinct yelling]" "And they were gonna make us pay." "[speaking arabic] [middle eastern music plays]" "[gunfire continues]" "Hey,wegottastartgetting them in this fucking kalat." "Can we get the fucking sixties up on this fucking hilltop?" "Yeah,they'reworking on it right now." "Allright,thisis, this is them right here, above phase line white, this is us down here, the grid liner section." "Okay." "They'rerighthere." "They got packs moving up and down this ridge line, generally east of them." "[indistinct chatter] [gunfire continues]" "They'rethere!" "I saw 'em moving!" "Fizzo?" "Yeah?" "Makeshitstartblowingup!" "[aircraft overhead]" "R.P.G.seven!" "R.P.G.seven!" "Oh,shit!" "[explosion] [muted sounds]" "Mike:" "In this muddy, friggin' hillside, we were surrounded, and I thought, "What's it gonna feel like when the bullet comes through me?"" "[dramatic sounds] [gunfire continues] [indistinct voice over radio]" "Goahead,one-sixRomeo." "[voice over radio]" "Six-three-six,standby ." "[bullets whizzing by]" "Threepads,twourgent, one priority." "Break,break,break,break!" "Yankee,Delta,zero,four, niner, three, eight, six, five, four, one, three, zero." "Mike:" "I was sitting there on this mountainside, hearing their radio calls come in." "[indistinct radio chatter]" ""We need choppers now." "These guys are gonna die."" "Roger." "[indistinct radio chatter]" "Dammit." "I need that Medevac now." "Andyouknew...choppers weren't coming." "Tellthem,"Hey,the bird's coming, the bird's coming, just hang in there." "The bird's coming."" "After awhile, you..." "the person saying it is getting tired and under-sure, and the person hearing it is getting tired and under-sure." "Starcluster?" "[sighs] [dramatic sounds]" "Thereheis !" "[helicopter approaching]" "Medevac'sinbound?" "Yeah." "They'rein thevalley." "Hell,yeah!" "[cheering]" "Youpullin ,turnsideways, and... ding, ding, ding, ding, ding." "You just get lit up." "[gunfire]" "Mademultipleattempts, until the bird was, you know, it was damaged so bad, it actually had to go and land for immediate maintenance." "[dramatic music plays]" "Fuck!" "Dammit!" "Akickin theballs, more than anything." "As soon as we got 'em here, we just lost 'em again." "Um..." "So we had to wait again." "Itwasaverylowmoment, because you knew... nothing could get there to you." "You were on your own." "nothing could get there to you." "You were on your own." "Itwentthrougheverybody's mind that, you know... this might be the day." "This, this might be the day." "Mike:" "You don't know who you are, how far you will go, until that moment, when you know someone is dying, and if you don't get there, they're going to die, and you may die trying to save them." "And that's what these soldiers did." "Hey,tell'em,tell'emI  want a gun run from fucking west to east, running up this spur here." "Arrechagaandthelead section had already started moving, roughly twenty minutes before." "It probably took a couple minutes before, uh, they got ambushed." "The insurgents that were attacking certain Arrechaga realized that they had caught 'em in a bad spot." "[explosion] [gunfire] [missile whizzes]" "[gunfire] [dramatic percussion] [dramatic percussion]" "Inthedraw." "Hey ,they're in the draw, Meyers." "Roger,sir." "Nine-five-nine- th hr re ee e, hey, we got eyes on 'em in the draw now." "Over." "Hey!" "We'llprovidecoverage fire." "You guys come to me!" "[gunfire]" "Ceasefire!" "[indistinct radio chatter]" "What'sthat?" "WhatI heardwas,uh,  A.C.'s down." "My men need help." "It just clicked into my head." "It was like muscle memory." "You just run, you just run to them." "Hey,Wade,getready!" "Ready,sir!" "Allright,let'sget moving." "Let'sgo,let'sgo!" "[gunfire] [dramatic music plays]" "Mike:" "In the middle of this battle, Specialist Lindskog, this timid young man who you wouldn't expect would do anything heroic, runs through a hail of gunfire, to try to save his fellow soldiers and another Afghan soldier." "Let'sgo,let'sgo!" "[gunfire]" "Move!" "Go!" "Move,move,move,move, move!" "[explosion] [dramatic music plays]" "Kellis Richardson:" "As soon as I said, "Let's go," he grabbed his bag and took off running." "He didn't ask a single question." "He just grabbed his bag and stayed right behind me." "Ilookedbackand Isaw him grab his, his, his, uh, his side." "He was our medic." "Lindskogwas coherent enough to talk to Sizemore and tell him,"Hey do this for thay guy, do this for that guy."" "Hewantedto do  everything he could to give us medical advice, while he was hit, on how to treat him." "Hetreatedthreepeoplein, like, a matter of ten minutes." "Oh,hewasfullyalert." "He talked, up until the point he passed, uh, actually apologized for not being able to hang on." "Whenhewassittingthere bleeding out, he apologized... for dying." "Goahead,three-six." "[gunfire in background]" "Roger." "[sighs]" "Howdoyouprocessthat ?" "As a reporter with a camera... [dramatic music plays]" "You don't." "[gunfire]" "Fucker!" "[voice over radio]" "Roger,wedon'tknow..." "Givemethisradio." "Get it on battalion." "Whenwegunit, a three hundred and sixty degree fire fight, coming down on our current position." "You should have it, right?" "Fuck,dude!" "Itriedto letyou knowas, soon as I saw it." "Okay,listenup ." "Prepare to copy, all right?" "I got two urgent surgicals." "They're at building one-three-zero." "[gunfire]" "[muted sounds]" "IcouldtellbyA.C. 'stone  of voice that, uh..." "I'm, I'm pretty sure he didn't think he was gonna make it out of there." "[dramatic music plays]" "LookedtoA.C.like,"A.C., this is gonna hurt."" "At that point, he was like, "I don't care." "I'll take the pain." "I just wanna get out of here."" "[helicopter whirring]" "Heactually,youknow,did us the big A.C. smile." "Couldn'texplain,in words, how I felt..." "After helping them out, having to run down there, all that effort... and you know, the only thing that I could question myself, which I try not to do, is I could have ran faster, you know." "Watchit!" "[indistinct yelling] [gunfire]" "Go,go,go ,go !" "Go, man!" "Shit." "Youokay?" "It'sdefinitelyexposed." "Getback." "Comeon." "Get farther in there." "Hey,goin the fucking doors." "Hey,Kent!" "Loaded,sir." "He'srighthere." "Allright,breathe." "Who else was with us?" "Albright." "Albright,righthere." "Albright?" "So..." "Two,three,four,five..." "Hey,where's, where's Meyers?" "He,he,he  didn't make it up." "Hey,Meyers!" "Meyers!" "[middle eastern music plays]" "Brit Jacobs:" "This is Strong Eagle Three." "Got up to our over watch position." "Uh, wasn't..." "wasn't that easy, uh, this time, as, as it has been in other operations." "Heactuallyhadtofixhis boot." "His shoelace was busted, so we were just joking around a little bit." "Let'stalkaboutthe  seven layers of hell." "Yeah." "Righthere in Afghanistan." "Well,I thinkwe 'reat about layer four or five now." "[chuckles]" "Iheard,like,acouple Afghanis talking, like, really quiet, just a couple whispers, and they were right in the trees above us, and I asked Sergeant Burgess, like, we don't have no A and A right next to us, right?" "And he said, "No," and soon as, soon as he said no..." "I heard, I heard 'em flip their, flip their weapon to fire, and started opening up on us." "[gunfire] [dramatic sounds]" "I'mlookingat thetrees, just, you know..." "They're literally in the trees firing down at us." "What is, what kind of crazy crap is that?" "Istartedshootingupin the trees, 'cause they were directly above us, and it was all pretty much chaos from there." "[bullet whizzes]" "Eric Matheson:" "We made a plan to get the hell out of there, and, and make sure we radioed it forward to the rest of the element, which we did, and we all got up out of there, and unbeknownst to" "us, the gun team stayed behind, including" "Smith, Mark Gonzalez, uh, Jeremy Faulkner... [gunfire] [indistinct yelling]" "Go,man!" "That'swhenJeremywas ,uh,  shot and killed." "Wecan'tfuckingmove, and we're waiting on this stuff " " Hey!" "[indistinct yelling" "Bryan Smith:" "I heard my buddies saying that they were hit." "Iheardtheradiogoon , and I heard someone kind of whimpering." "No one told me that there were casualties." "I knew, because of that whimpering." "DustyFeldhaus,he  was hit at least five times." "...andhewasapologizingas if, you know, he had something to, to apologize for." "I mean, naw, don't... you know, "I'm sorry." What are you sorry for?" "So... you're a freaking hero." "We love you." "Yep." "Yeah." "Wemissyou." "Bryan Burgess:" "My daughter is Makayah." "She turns four next month." "My, my son is Xander." "He turns three in January." "Cool." "Youmiss'em ?" "Ido." "Howmuch?" "Alot." "[dramatic music plays] [singing indistinctly]" "Allright,Feldhaus,show us how to fight." "[indistinct chatter and laughter]" "They'redying." "And they're fighting, not for some war on terror." "They're fighting for their buddies." "Mike:" "What kept you going?" "Therestof theseguys." "Weallkindofsawitinus to, to, to try to be strong, if, if not for us, for, at least, you know, the guy beside us." "Istayedthere,eventhough, I should... my, my instinct was to get the hell out of there, but I stayed there for all my guys, my squad, my, my platoon, stayed there for the bastards." "They'resacrificesarenot  going to be forgotten." "Got,um,hoistedout , and that was, that was good, all three of them." "Continue getting [unintelligible] to traffic." "We found a bunch of enemy weapons, enemy I.D.s, so... found the radio station." "[aircraft overhead]" "John,what,whatare you  cooking there, dude?" "[sizzling]" "Um,I 'mcookingup ,uh , paratha." "[speaking arabic in background]" "What?" "Paratha?" "Yeah." "Paratha." "Paratha." "Paratha." "Paratha." "[laughter]" "Yeah." "Paratha." "Paratha." "Looks good." "Inshallah." "[laughter]" "Youwantsome,Jim ?" "Yeah." "Yo!" "Don'tlistento Hoosa." "Hoosahadonewholebread, man." "Hoosahad,he  already had his own." "[indistinct chatter]" "Kellis Richardson:" "As a leader, you gotta put it out of your mind and keep going, and keep moving on for the guys, so they don't, uh, they don't get all tripped out and stuff, so..." "just keep going." "Surewas." "[goat bleets]" "Sowhatis thegoat saying there?" "Thegoat'snamedRoman." "Roman?" "Yeah,Roman." "[laughter]" "And, uh, this is a gift for Captain Maud." "[indistinct chatter] [chicks chirping]" "Mike:" "Is that your new friend?" "Itismy newfriend." "Whatareyougonna" "I'mgonnanamehim ..." "Pep ." "You okay, Pep?" "How are you?" "Go back to your mama." "Go back to your mother." "Ooh!" "Firstfly!" "Yougot it on camera!" "Good." "Yay!" "[laughter] [exclaims] [birds squawking] [laughter]" "You have a problem with a fucking chicken." "[laughter]" "Thechickenflew up here and he just made him, like, reject it." "Damn." "[laughter]" "Like,I 'veneverseen someone just up that fast in my life." "[all laughing] [indistinct chatter]" "Itwasaroughday." "Surewas." "Howdoyouthink today's gonna go?" "Hopefully,betterthan it was yesterday." "[dramatic music plays] [indistinct yelling] [canons firing] [cheers]" "Thiswenton forninedays ." "[gunfire] [indistinct yelling]" "Hey,wegotforty-five seconds til a bomb drop." "[unintelligible chatter]" "[yelling in arabic]" "Motherfuckers." "[helicopter whirs]" "Six-four,roger." "[gunfire] [yelling in arabic] [crashing]" "Takethat!" "Yeah!" "[soldiers cheering]" "Yes!" "Idon'tthinkthey liked our bombs." "Idon'tthink they did either." "Mike:" "Do you know why you've done this for twenty-two years?" "Sir,I donotknowwhy I've done it for twenty-two years." "I've just, I've enjoyed it, and I've just kept doing it and..." "As long as I can stay healthy and keep doing it, I'm gonna keep doing it." "Ican'tseemyself doing anything else." "Yeah." "Evenaftera mission like this." "[helicopter whirring]" "Ithinkthatwemade a huge difference here, that we reduced the insurgent credibility here." "We went right in their back yard, right in their home town, and, and succeeded." "It'shardto tell families that their sacrifice quantifiably made a difference, 'cause they're ten thousand miles away, and you're trying to explain that to 'em, and their husband, their father, their" "son is, is, is, uh, is not coming home." "[dramatic sounds]" "[helicopter whirring] [announcement over speaker]" "Attention!" "[soldiers respond indistinctly]" "StaffSergeantSizemoreis also receiving a second bronze star Medal of Valor for Operation Strong Eagle Three." "["The Star Spangled Banner" plays]" "Tothosefoughtbesideus, this is the time to reflect on how we can best carry their memory forward, and ensure their sacrifice is for a greater good, and that we'll never let their memory fade." "Itwashard." "Iknew all of them, and as a task force commander, it's very difficult to, to know that the orders you gave for combat cost us." "Theygavetheirlifefor what they believed in and for their buddies." "It's our responsibility to remember their courage, their commitment, and their heroism." "Everysoldierin No  Slack knows that if that time comes, that the honor and respect is bestowed on them, for their ultimate sacrifice will always be met." "Soundoffforrollcall !" "Sergeant Mendez?" "Here,SirMajor." "SergeantTrickendaus?" "Here,SirMajor." "SpecialistLindskog?" "Specialist Jameson L. Lindskog?" "[dramatic music plays]" "Lindskogwasayoungguy." "You know, who knows what he could have brought to the world." "CaryFruthers,as he , himself, needed urgent care." "This is heroism defined." "SergeantFirst Class Arrechaga?" "Sergeant First Class Ofren Arrechaga." "Hewastherockforthe platoon." "He was the, uh, humor." "He was always the, the happy guy." "He always had a smile on his face." "Thesebondsareso close that... you're not gonna leave somebody out there to get shot or die by themselves." "You're gonna run out there and help them, no matter what." "StaffSergeant Frank Adamski." "Staff Sergeant Frank E. Adamski." "SergeantAdamskiwasa husband, father, a squad leader, and my best friend." "StaffSergeant Bryan Burgess." "Staff Sergeant Bryan A. Burgess." "ThelastthingSergeant Burgess said to me was, uh, "Where's my chariot?" He was talking about the Medevac bird." "About the sixty that was hovering above us." ""Where's my chariot?"" "And I said, "It's right here."" "SpecialistDustinFeldhaus." "Specialist Dustin J. Feldhaus." "Wewentthroughthick and thin together, and though I am sad that he's gone, I'll always cherish the memories that I have shared with him." "I love you, Mouse." "Rest in peace, brother." "P.F.C,JeremyFaulkner." "P.F.C. Jeremy P. Faulkner." "Withsuchafamouslast  name, I told him he should live up to it." "He gave back to me, and no kidding, he told me, quote," ""I'm gonna make history, sir, not write about it."" "You'llalwaysbe remembered, and you'll always be loved by all the bastards." "Rest in peace, Remy." "[yells command] [guns firing]" "Itbecomes,uh ,to apoint, that it gets to be enough." "[yells command]" "Allthesemen,his men , dead." "He didn't know the camera was rolling." "He hung back the whole time." "When no one else was around, he walked up, and he let the tears of this entire war come out, right there." "And I could do nothing... but cry, myself." "[solemn music plays]" "You sit down and you come to grips with your life." "But you have to realize that what you've done is something important." "And you hope you've left something behind." "We only do this to make a difference." "That's why you constantly keep going back, keep fighting, keep trying to tell these stories." "Otherwise, my whole life's been for nothing." "You know something?" "It's been for something." "It has." "[uplifting music plays]" "IthinkIhaveanI.E.D. on you." "We'll have to dig and find out." "Dude." "[children chattering] [laughter]" "Isshestillfollowingme?" "Yep." "[speaking arabic]" "Good luck with that tractor." "Hey,buddy." "Howyou doing?" "High, high five." "There you go!" "Fist bump!" "No fist bump?" "No." "Oh." "I 'mhurt." "[speaks arabic] [makes whooshing sound]" "Mott,holdthetea cup up and said, "America."" ""America."" "[laughter] [rock music plays]" "Yeah!" "Whoo!" "[children chattering]" "Mike:" "What do you miss most about home on Fourth of July?" "Spendingtime with my family." "But I have my new family here, so I'll spend quality time with my new family." "To everybody back home, I miss you and I love you." "Whatkindof message would you wanna give" "Americans about what you've been doing here, and on this Fourth of July?" "I'dsay,uh ,to supportthe  troops." "It's, uh, it's pretty tough, being out here." "We'resoblessedwithwhat  we have back in the States, and I just hope everyone remembers that back home." "Putsa differentperspective on what it means to be American." "["Chariots" plays]"