Legion of Brothers Page #5

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"ahh!"

You know, waving.

Once they could see

the force coming in,

They were all about it.

They wanted to be with you.

They wanted

to get the taliban out.

- We were literally throwing as

in the back of suvs,

And just, you know,

stacks and piles.

"hey, we got a couple more,

guys.

Let's keep going."

- We had this few hundred man

mob of afghan fighters,

And we just had to move

this mob down to kandahar.

- That's when we coined the tem

"f***ed up

like an afghan convoy."

- I knew it was

completely unrealistic

When I went into special forces

That I'd be given

the kind of autonomy

That, holy sh*t, here I have--

It was exactly the campaign

I, you know, dreamed of.

- Northern alliance commander..

They have moved their troops

Into areas close

to mazar-e sharif...

- Fighting is intensifying.

- We had greater maneuverabiliy

on horseback in that terrain

Than the taliban

or al-qaeda did.

They're in armored vehicles

and pickup trucks.

They're tied

to their fuel depos.

And so we were able

to cut them off

From reinforcement

And cut them off

from retreat.

I probably rode

300 miles or more.

I was determined

I was gonna ride that horse

All the way

into mazar-e sharif.

- Crossed over the river.

The water was higher enough

That the horses actually

started to float down the river.

And, of course, we did not

want to go for a swim.

- Standing in the water,

very cold water,

Water up to my waist.

I just looked back,

looked south,

And then I just realized,

it was--

It was the most unbelievable

shot I'd ever seen.

It was a thousand riders

on horseback.

It was peaceful,

yet magnificent.

- Mazar-e sharif

has indeed been captured

By the northern alliance.

- They perceived us

as liberators.

I didn't learn until later

That they perceived my team,

From the uzbek lore,

as malakas,

Avenging angels

with swords of lightning.

- The fall of the city

Is the biggest blow

to the ruling taliban

Since the allied airstrikes

began 35 days ago.

- That was the pinnacle

Of what all sf soldiers

train for.

- I graduated from the

university of nevada las vegas

With an accounting degree.

Went to work

for an accounting firm

And determined that

I did not like it at all.

And I said, there's got

to be more to life

Than balancing a checkbook.

Don bolduc was the best officer

in my battalion.

He was also

my operations officer.

- It was the opinion

of our senior leadership

In the pentagon

That they wanted

a lieutenant colonel,

A more experienced officer,

On the ground in afghanistan.

And so that's why we deployed.

To me, it was...

It was exciting.

- I mean, one day I'll tell

my grandkids about it

When I'm old and decrepit,

And they'll go,

"oh, yeah, sure, grandpa."

- You know,

while left to our own devices,

We felt like we were able

to get quite a lot done.

It was almost the seeds

of our own destruction,

Because everything

went so well.

Then we find out, you know,

a headquarters with 20 folks

Are going to come in.

- I remember celebrating

thanksgiving in pakistan,

And then we infilled

the next night.

- Okay, they're moving in.

- Well, once I got there,

I had a big meeting,

You know, getting

coffee-breath close with them.

And I explained it to them.

I said, "okay, here's the deal.

"this is the way

it's been organized.

"this is the way

it's been directed.

"and we're soldiers,

so let's salute the flagpole

And get beyond

the emotion of it.

- So the thing we had feared

when this higher command

Comes in and starts

giving us orders,

We're gonna have to follow them.

Well, higher command came in,

giving us orders,

And now we have to follow them.

So somebody else

was now controlling the fight.

- I meet captain amerine

for the very first time,

Captain amerine

and master sergeant davis.

I don't think they were--

I don't think

they were real happy.

- Oh, god, I hate it,

telling this story.

It just sucks.

Always sucks.

I've seen all the ways

that the truth can be twisted.

And...

I couldn't let that happen.

- How are you?

- I don't know.

I don't know.

The morning of the 5th,

things were done.

- 7:
00, we started seeing

people, "oh, all right,"

You know, and then,

"hey, what's going on?"

And then the mail,

so we were reading mail

And burning it

as soon as you read it.

- On the 5th of December,

The targets were

predominantly in this area.

We received intel

From what we considered

a very reliable source

On where the taliban

and al-qaeda

That were still resisting us

On the other side

of the bridge were.

So I went to colonel fox.

I said, "sir, I would like

to start initiating

"some close air support,

Daytime close air support

in this area."

- The hostilities were over.

The taliban were coming

to surrender.

Why was the battalion

headquarters

Calling in an airstrike

to begin with?

I mean, to me,

it was pretty obviously

A way to say

that they'd engaged the enemy

Before the war ended.

- I don't know if the sun

hit it just right.

But we observed the opening

of a cave.

- Every airstrike

that we directed

Was basically personally

authorized by me.

I explained it

to fox and bolduc.

- You know, I'm a colonel;

he's a captain.

So both professional enough

to know,

You know, I'm giving the orders.

You execute--

you execute the orders.

- I was livid.

Again, trying

to contain my anger.

There was no valid target

to bomb there.

- He's a commander.

I mean, he outranks you.

He can do

whatever he wants, really.

Is it the most tactically

proper way of doing things?

No, not with us being there.

- We could have done nothing.

But nothing was--

You know, I don't believe

That was the proper

course of action.

We were just--

we were just trying

To interdict them

And drop enough ordinance

on them

To make a statement

And, you know,

kind of ruin their day

And get them to dislodge

and go in retreat.

- B-52s overhead.

They look back at me and say,

"are we cleared to drop

a 2,000-pound jdam

On the cave opening?"

I say yes.

I, you know...

I'd say it's something that

I'll take to my grave with me,

As a, you know, should I have

done something different?

Should I have done--

Should I have--

You know, should I have

just ignored this?

- When you call in an airstrik,

you have to be hypersensitive

Of all the things

that could go wrong.

You're talking about

a 2,000-pound bomb.

- I would give everything back,

All the promotions,

all the recognition,

All the medals,

everything that I have,

Everything that I have,

For none of this

to ever have happened.

- All emotion and everything

Just kind of shut off

for a little bit.

And I remember this feeling.

It was,

"f*** you, I'm not dead."

- The next thing I know

Is that my head's

being driven into the dirt.

- Mag was blown apart over her.

You know, this was--

I didn't see anybody.

I mean, you're focused

right here.

- And I had blood

and body parts,

You know, various--

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