Korengal Page #4

you pick up rocks,

you wonder why there's

a rockslide

at the end of the ridge.

Do people walk up that a lot?

Is that why all the rocks

are down there?

Is it just erosion?

You don't know.

You'd be looking up

into the mountains.

That eerie feeling...

knowing that

they're looking at you.

Your heart's beating.

It raises and goes down

like a field mouse.

Your mind will wander

a little bit,

you'll wonder what part of the

village we'll be setting up in,

and you realize you have

to keep thinking about

where you are right now,

keep yourself in the now.

Right now

you're about half and half

between how much the walk sucks

or how much it's just gonna suck

to be in that village.

And depending on the day,

you either got shot at

right as you're walking in

or right as your walking out.

That's when we took contact.

You get in the village,

and you already

don't see anybody.

Random f***ing goats

walking around.

You know they've taken off.

They ran up to their

little, tiny hiding spot,

which we can't see.

You round up anybody

you can talk to.

Anybody.

Here you go, kid.

You know anything about

the shooting a few days ago,

that I asked him about?

We haven't found

anybody else to talk to.

We're gonna start pushing

back to OP Restrepo, over.

Okay, Roger.

If we get hit,

where's it going to come from?

Initially, we'll probably take

a few from this hill right here,

majority of it's going

to come from back on the...

the southwest...

But let's hope

that doesn't happen.

On the way back, you're...

it's a split between,

how shitty the walk is

and how much you're sucking,

how much faster

you need to go so you don't

get your ass shot off.

A little faster,

harder, more cover.

Pick the shittier route...

it's going to suck more

because I'm going to stay alive.

That last stretch

to get up to Restrepo,

from our best cover

and concealed route, was a draw.

And the problem with the draw

was it didn't take us

all the way to Restrepo.

It only took us

to the very tip of it,

and you had to run the road

to get there.

And usually you'd bound,

and some guys would cover

at the back, some guys

would over-watch the front,

and you'd run.

Once, Kim and Lambert,

they're running on the road,

and RPGs, AK,

PKM fire just came,

came in full force,

and Kim tripped,

and he rolled,

and the bullets were hitting,

I don't know, a foot or two

in front of Kim's face.

Lambert was still out there

and he went out there

and was dragging...

And he helped Kim up,

dragging him back in.

OK, I'll put it this way, like,

pretty much every day,

we got in a firefight.

Every single day,

somebody was trying to kill us.

Our friends were getting shot

next to us.

People were... lost their arms,

lost their legs.

We had our friends get killed.

And then, you're thinking

in your head,

I still have another ten...

ten f***ing months to go.

And, you're like...

you're like, pretty much,

I never thought

I was going to make it

out of the valley alive.

Out here in the Korengal,

we've lost dear, close friends,

and we've had wounded friends,

and it takes a toll on everybody

'cause when you go

out on a patrol

you don't know who's next,

so it messes with your head

in every way.

As an NCO, it's hard

to keep your morale up

and not let the...

your soldiers know

because I mean,

if they see that you're down,

they're gonna

start taking a toll.

It's going to impact them

as well.

So you got to keep yourself up

and constantly make sure

your soldiers are...

You know, like right now,

it's cold out.

Got to make sure they packed

right before we came out.

We check on them

throughout the night.

"Hey, you warm? You good?

You got enough food?

You got enough water?

Everything alright?"

You know, just make sure

they're constantly ready

because if one soldier's

not looking around enough,

not doing what he's supposed

to do, he's putting other lives

in jeopardy just by him

not paying attention.

If you fail your job,

you're failing

everyone in that patrol.

Making a mistake

and getting someone else killed,

that's the biggest fear,

that was my biggest fear.

I'm not doing this for

recognition from my country.

I'm not doing this

so that somebody goes, "Wow."

Those guys are really patriotic.

Those guys are really brave."

Truthfully, I could give

a sh*t what anybody thinks,

except for those guys

to my left and my right

cause' that's what it's about.

Those guys are what it's about.

And, that's why in a deployment,

you see people

run out under fire

to go pull their buddy back.

The brave thing,

it's guys coming together,

doing their job because they

know that the guy next to them

needs them to do their job,

so that they can all go home.

Bravery?

Bravery to me, as an example,

would be something

along the lines of someone

who goes out of their way,

despite the...

The very likely

potential of dying,

and risking his life to...

to, you know,

protect another one.

This ridge, all the way

through that hilltop up there.

- Two/fours up there.

- Two/fours up there? Okay.

We didn't talk about

that word very much

'cause we didn't feel what

we were doing was bravery.

We were there,

we signed up to do... to do this,

and all of our friends

and buddies and soldiers and,

you know, peers and superiors

were next to us doing it,

so you couldn't really,

you know, pick out bravery.

It's somebody

putting themselves... you know,

putting their life on the line,

putting themselves at risk

for somebody else,

and it's an everyday thing

down there.

Every single person

that got shot over there,

they didn't worry

about themselves one bit.

All they asked about was,

"How are my guys doing?"

Sergeant Rice, when he got hit,

he's like, "Where's my team at?"

Is Solo okay?

Is Jackson okay?

Is Vandenberg alright,"

you know?"

When Sergeant Padilla

lost his arm,

his arm was missing.

He had shrapnel in his face,

and he was just asking

if everybody was okay,

and that... that's bravery.

It's called a M145.

When you zero it,

you f***ing zero at eight.

F***ing,

open the feed tray cover.

Alright,

you're gonna f***ing sweep.

Make sure these...

all things f***ing work.

Everything pushes down,

f***ing moves.

To f***ing load it,

take it off safe,

put it back forward,

put the rounds in,

make sure

they're f***ing seated.

And put your hand like this,

like you're f***ing...

like a salute kind of thing,

hold them there, slam it shut.

Everybody's got

their favorite weapon.

Uh, I'd have to say...

in order of weapons,

I'd have to say 50...

240... the Mark...

And then 203

and then probably the Saw.

You learn to love your weapon.

Like, I know a lot of guys

like the 240 gunners,

even though that's

a shitty-ass weapon to carry

'cause it's so heavy...

To load the 240, all you do...

tilt it to the side.

Makes it a little bit easier.

Put the rounds in.

AT4's, small Ds,

those are fun too, LAWs.

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