Citizen Soldier Page #7

commander said,

"It's done.

We're not going."

And I remember going

and laying down

to sleep that night,

just kind of relaxed.

Nothing to worry about.

It was either 5:
30

or 6:
00 in the morning.

Sergeant Duff

beats on the door.

( Banging on door)

"The mission's back on.

Here's the time the birds

are gonna be here

to pick you UP-"

Viel:
Ultimately,

the goal of the mission

was the clear the valley.

We knew there

was Taliban in the area.

Wanted to locate them

and take their arms

away from them.

Basically, we were going

into No Man's Land.

( Rock music playing )

We're out here

in No Man's Land

We're out there

in No Man's Land

The only way

out of No Man's Land

My brothers,

my God and me

I said,

the only way

Out of No Man's Land

My brothers,

my God and me

Hoo-ah!

Soldier:
We were going

back into a place

that no American forces

had ever been before.

Soldier:

Quickly, quickly.

Harrill:

Go, go, go, go, go.

Brown:
Hey, spread out,

all right?

Stay spread,

stay spread.

Keep going,

keep going.

Prince:
Well, Mom,

this is what I signed up for.

Brown:
My bird landed

in our position

further to the northeast.

And my platoon sergeant,

his guys landed

lower in the valley.

Our grid is 92698.

The plan was,

once we hit the ground,

set up 360 security

and hold tight

till daybreak.

Soldier:

Hey, Johnson,

you're scanning

over there, right?

Scan from here to there.

Theo, you scan

from there to there.

( Distant motor humming )

Brown:

As daybreak was approaching

and light was coming,

we instantly got

a worse feeling

because now

we could actually

see the type of terrain

we had just

been dropped in.

So I sent two of my guys

down to the edges

to find a way

down the cliff.

Floyd:
Look how steep

that sh*t is.

Alex:

Straight down, right there.

Floyd:

Dude, there is no way

we're getting

to the bottom of that.

And they came back,

and they was like,

"Sir, there's no way."

You know, "There's no way

we're getting down this."

( Plane engine roars )

Prince:
If I understand this,

there's the Taliban,

the New Taliban,

and then the Real Taliban?

Dan Kruse:
This is

the Haqqani network here.

You have the Haqqani network

and then you have

some Taliban offshoots

and just friggin' thugs.

- And then...

- Prince:
So we're battling

thugs right now?

No, we're battling

the Haqqani network.

We haven't fought

the Haqqani network yet.

There are four JPEL targets

in this area alone.

JPEL means they got a hit

out on their head.

And in this area alone,

there are four.

So, yeah, keep down

and keep your eyes open too.

You have no idea

what's up this back way.

( Motor rumbling )

Morgan Ashworth:

I remember sittin' in the valley

talking with somebody

and we came to the conclusion

that, "You know,

if we die here,

"the worst part of dying

for us

"is that the hair

on our arms

won't raise up

at our funeral

when they play

the National Anthem."

- Hey, John, anything?

- No.

No news is good news.

Soldier over radio:

2-1 Bravo, what's going on?

Prince:
You see

right between those trees?

- Big rock on that ridge?

- Alex:
Yeah.

Just to the right of it.

Alex:

Yeah, I can see it.

Floyd:

If we can get over to that,

I bet we can make it

up that side.

Roger, 3-6.

What I'm seeing,

we got vertical danger areas.

There's no way

we're going to be able

to get through this way, break.

Viel:

We can back up with 3-3.

We're going to move back

to your location, over.

Brown:
Roger,

that's good copy. 3-6 out.

Brown:
Then just kind

of out of nowhere,

this little fellow

comes up out of the riverbed.

Floyd:

Hey, sir, we've got a kid

coming up

out of the riverbed.

Brown:
Hey, bring him

right over here.

Hey, Gunter,

go grab the Terp.

Floyd:
Hey, Prince, go ahead

and bring that kid up here.

Brown:
Hey, ask him

where he's from.

Ask him

where he came from.

He just so happens to be

from the village

we're going to.

Wolff:

He spoke perfect English.

He's like, "Just go down

this little goat trail.

There's a riverbed

and you can cross there."

You never really know

who your friends

and enemies are.

( Chuckles )

The country's entirely corrupt

at every level.

Generations of people

who know nothing but war.

You know?

And they're very self-serving.

Brown:

The boy takes my other two guys

back down there

and he shows them how he got up.

So they come back

to me like,

"See, sir, we can

make it down there."

You know, "It's gonna be

tough and dangerous,

but if we have to go,

this is the only way we're

going to be able to go."

Brown:

3-2, 3-2, this is 3-6.

Floyd:
3-6, this is 3-2.

Go ahead.

Brown:

Hey, be advised,

I need you guys

to pull security on this side.

Myself and 3-3

are going to make our way

down this side, over.

Floyd:
Hey, Jordan,

keep eyes on that riverbed.

They're going to go ahead

and move through.

( Man speaking Pashto

over radio )

Kruse:

What did he say?

( Man continues in Pashto )

He's telling them,

"Get ready and wait

for my order."

Kruse:

Hey, Sergeant Byrne?

Hey, they said, "Get ready

and wait for the order."

Byrne:

3-6, Romeo, 3-7.

Can you just relay Taliban

and other enemy traffic?

Break.

Brown:
They were calling

out where we were,

how many guys we had.

They pointed out that we were

in two different locations.

Brown:

3-2, 3-2, this is 3-6.

Floyd:

3-6, 3-2, go ahead.

Brown:
Hey, be advised,

we all made it to the bottom.

We're going to push up

on this other side.

Once we get set in,

I'll have you guys

start moving this way.

Floyd:

This is 3-2. Roger.

Brown:
Be advised,

we're picking up

a lot of radio traffic

from L-O-V-I.

Break.

Brown:
They're calling

out locations on our movement.

So make sure you guys

got a head on a swivel

and get ready. Over.

( Man speaking

Pashto over radio )

Kruse:

What did he say?

Interpreter:

"You can take

a lot of ammunition

from the house."

Kruse:

Hey, Sergeant Byrne?

They're getting ammunition

from the house right now.

( Chattering )

Floyd;

3-6, 3-2, over.

Hey, this is Arrow 3-6.

Go ahead.

Floyd:

Roger, 3-6.

Just let us know

when you're set in

and we'll conduct movement

through the riverbed. Over.

Brown:

We're set in.

You guys go ahead

and move this way.

Floyd:
Roger, this is 3-2.

We're moving. Over.

Brown:
That's good copy.

3-6 out.

Alex:
Sergeant Floyd

sent me up front.

I took point

of our element

and Sergeant Prince

took up the trail.

Kruse:

Yep, we got a guy.

Where at?

Kruse:

See the very tip top?

Just to the right of that,

we got a guy.

Mike Kennemer:

See if he has a weapon

and light his ass up.

Kruse:

I can't tell if this guy's

got a weapon or not.

Hey, Sergeant Byrne,

he's got a weapon.

It looked like an RPG.

Hey.

Your rifle...

Kennemer:
Do you have him

good in your sights?

There's a slab of rock

he's hiding under.

Floyd:

3-6, 3-2.

Brown:

3-6, go ahead.

Floyd:
Roger, we're

caught up. Over.

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