All language subtitles for No.Greater.Love.2015.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX].eng

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

[silence]

[birds chirp]

[tense music]
[chattering on radio]

[gunfire popping]

[tense music]

[music continues]

- My name is Justin Roberts.

My wife, daughter
and I are currently

stationed in Rose Barracks,
in Vilseck, Germany.

But for three years, I
was assigned as chaplain

to the 2nd 327th
Infantry Battalion.

[gunfire popping]

Also known as No Slack.

Since I returned
from the deployment,

I've struggled with
a numbing depression

and I've wondered
what kind of father

and husband I'd be if
I couldn't shake this.

General MacArthur once
said that old soldiers

don't die, they just fade away.

And that's what I felt like.

Like a part of me
was fading away.

During the last New Year's
fireworks celebration,

I was home with my
wife and daughter.

Before the fireworks
were through,

I was on the ground weeping.

I wasn't shaken
by the explosions,

but with an
overwhelming sadness.

I started thinking about the
guys I served with in No Slack

and wondered if they
were experiencing

any of the same things.

I wanted to understand
what was happening,

and what I could
do to get better.

[melancholy music]

My wife and daughter
accompanied me

to Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

There I planned to
spend a couple of weeks

reconnecting with the
soldiers I served with

and their families.

I hoped our dialogue
would benefit them

and provide insight
into my own issues.

After not seeing most
of them for three years,

I thought I'd reintroduce myself

in a familiar setting.

Oh my goodness.

We got a whole collection
of No Slackers in a church.

That's a miracle.

[laughing]

This is not gonna
be a typical sermon.

If you were expecting
I was gonna be

guilt-tripping you or
anything like that,

it's not gonna be that today.

This is more like a confession.

When I showed up to
No Slack, as many of y'all know,

chaplains can't carry weapons,

so I decided to carry a camera.

I went out on the
missions and I captured

a lot of these moments
that would change my life,

but it wasn't the photos
and it wasn't the video

that changed my life.

It was understanding
the stories behind 'em.

I captured people doing
some courageous things,

some valorous things.

I was going through
the deployment

asking the question why?

Why are they doing these things?

What is driving these guys to
risk their lives for others?

And even after
they've been wounded,

why in the world would they
come back to this hell?

Part of the answer might
lie in No Slack Battalion's

proud history.

[dramatic military music]

No Slack is part of
the legendary 101st
Airborne Division,

and a central component
of the United States'

World War II force.

- What defined them is
the Battle of the Bulge,

where Germany came through
and bulged the line.

They fought and
defeated the Germans

that were up against them.

[blades whirring]

- [Justin] Later, the
Civil Rights Movement

found the 101st Airborne
defending the Little Rock Nine,

who were the first
African-American kids

to attend a segregated school.

During the Vietnam War,
No Slack spent more time

in combat than any
other battalion.

- No Slack is a great battalion.

I have some family that served
with 101st Airborne, as well,

so it's good to part
of a great story.

- [Justin] Most of the No
Slack soldiers that I met

had their stories begin in Iraq

where they initially
faced combat.

Through our conversations,
I wanted to recount

the deployment to
Afghanistan, so together,

we could process some of
the things we experienced.

At the time, we didn't
realize that we were

headed to our biggest
fight since Vietnam.

- Going to Afghanistan, none
of us have been there before.

I've done three Iraq tours.

I knew how they were
and everybody new

that went over there said
it was totally different.

- The soldiers in
Iraq were very used to

very close combat
fighting in urban areas

and we had to be a lot
more mountains focused

and Afghanistan was a
lot more far ambush.

The [speaking foreign
language] as the Soviets

called it, the ghost
of the mountains,

were always behind the rocks,

greater than 300 meters away

and that was a
training challenge

to take a very good unit
who did extraordinarily well

three straight
deployments to Iraq

and shift mentally to get
ready to go to Afghanistan.

- Alright, here we are
in beautiful Afghanistan.

We're about to get
into in our house.

- Everything Afghanistan was
just a lot more committed.

In Iraq, it seemed like
it was just punks there

to fight for a couple
minutes and run away.

- They never went toe to toe.

Afghanistan, they stopped.

They fought.

They were prepared to
die for their belief.

- [Soldier] RPG.

RPG!

[crashing]

- [Justin] Afghanistan is known
as the graveyard of empires.

No country has ever
won a war there.

- [Wright] We were in
the Kunar Province.

- [Justin] What was that like?

- The worst place I ever been.

- We walked into, my
analogy was the red arrow,

pointing on Asadabad,
the provincial capitol.

The time we were
coming in, the previous

two units had seen a significant
increase in enemy activity.

- Here we are, we finally
made it to FOB choice

after many days of travel.

Right now, as I'm talking to
you, we have been under fire.

- [Vowell] Kunar always
been contentious in history.

- It's the one area that, in
any war since the Khan Era,

has never been conquered.

The Russians were
stopped in their tracks

in the Kunar Province.

- [Vowell] Kunar, Nangarhar
were the footholds

for the Jihad in the 1980s.

- It's a warring culture.

They're raised to fight.

- They seemed experienced?

- Very experienced.

You could tell by age and
also by their tactics.

- They would shoot at you
and try to fix your position

and then start
maneuvering on you.

They were actively
trying to kill you.

- They were extremely tenacious.

They were seasoned.

- How many generations in
the Afghanis have been at war

with each other,
with other enemies.

- The same rat lines that
the insurgents moved on

in the 1980s were the same
ones they used against us.

- [Wright] Fathers taught
their sons how to fight

in these fighting positions.

It was nothing new.

They worked against
the Russians,

so why change what works?

- [Soldier Over Radio]
Roger, we also have contact

from the [staticky
mumbling] over.

- [Soldier] Fargay's hittin' us.

[staticky chattering]

- We're an army that can
see you from left, right

and especially down
to up, so they learned

our weapons systems probably
as quickly as we did

and how to defend
themselves against it.

They have thermals
and then they have

a blanket to cover them.

We have technology advantage
and firepower advantage.

They had a--

- Home field advantage.

- Yeah.

- Osama Bin Laden had
camps up in Kunar.

Why?

That's where you can train.

That's where people
can't get to you.

You don't need
all of Afghanistan

to have a trans-national
terrorist state.

That area, pretty close
by are some airfields.

You can export your
terrorism anywhere.

[speaking foreign language]

- [Justin] One of the men
who trained Osama Bin Laden,

Qari Zar Rahman, made the
mountains of Kunar Province

his base of operations.

We knew him as QZR.

- The perception
of QZR is he's just

some rag-tag Taliban guy.

That is incorrect.

He is Al-Qaeda and TTP Taliban.

The Pakistani military had
him in custody in '08, '09,

let him go.

If you go on
YouTube to this day,

you can see him
being interviewed by
Pakistani journalists.

Total sociopath, Soprano-esque.

He was truly a dangerous man.

[tense beat music]

Coercing, physically kidnapping,

beheading Afghan villagers.

When he goes in there and
takes five village elders,

brings them to the
mountains and beheads them,

what's a village of
30 people gonna do?

Everybody's okay, we get it now.

We're a QZR fan.

The guy's not gonna stop.

- He ruled with a very iron
fist and he was organized.

- He was the one who
was pulling the strings

on the suicide
bombers in Asadabad.

- Heading for the
center of governments.

- [Vowell] He was the ringleader

of operations for AQ and TTP.

- [Soldier] Watch
out, let him go.

[horn honking]

Push it, you push it.

- We come into May,
that's about the start

of the fighting season.

The snows have melted
from the passes.

The fighters come down
into the populated areas

and the coercion begins
and the attacking begins

and we thought we're gonna
go into the fighting season

right as the time they were.

We're both gonna
meet that together.

They were ready ahead of us.

- What was the first
couple months like?

- A living hell.

All the terrorists
moved from Pakistan

straight into the Korengal
and while they were in there,

they would train
and then they'd come

and attack us, kinda like
their graduation present.

[speaking foreign language]

- We got hit pretty hard.

We took losses early on,
particularly Alpha Company

and their very
contentious fight they had

at COP Monti up in Asmar.

- You join the
infantry to fight.

You don't join it to sit
back, so when you want

the fight, it's there
out at COP Monti.

- [Justin] why was COP Monti
such a contentious place?

- [Vowell] It sits on a
very key transit point

for insurgent fighters.

- When you're goin' on
patrol, you're going one way

and you're coming out one way,

so it's a very easy choke
point to set up ambushes.

- [Justin] Within
the first few weeks,

the soldiers of
No Slack found out

just how complex
these ambushes can be.

[gunfire popping]
[yelling]

- What had happened
was, the insurgents had

crashed two jingle
trucks together

and had set 'em on fire.

[booming]

- It was parked
perpendicular to the road.

And the truck was just long
enough to block the road.

I was like, this is on purpose.

There's a cliff to my
left, a river on my right,

a village on the other
side of the river

and then another ridge-line
on the other side

of the village.

- We ran forward to see
what was going on and--

- I hear this crack.

[gunfire popping]

We all just kinda stopped
for like, a split-second.

And then I hear Santorini
yell out, "Sniper!"

We just took off
at a dead sprint.

- We were taking
fire from the village

directly across
from us as well as,

there's like a gully that ran up

back towards the east
where we're taking

some pretty effective
PKM fire from this guy

that was at least 600,
if not 800, meters away.

Right in the entire
side of the humvee.

- And you see the rounds
hittin' the ground.

I saw 'em coming towards
me and I was like,

oh man, I gotta move.

- Sergeant Hargen was directing
fire from the vehicles,

you know, .50 cal MAR-19

pretty much hittin'
all the positions

where we were takin' fire from.

- [Soldier] I got ya!

[gunfire popping]

[excited chattering]

Thank God, I don't
see anything now.

- The dude who was shoulder to
shoulder with me right here,

like his left shoulder was
touching my right shoulder

gets shot in the left arm.

- The trucks are
on fire and they,

obviously, you can't get
by them, so we're tracking

through different options
of what we're gonna do.

Luckily, we had a
wrecker with us.

We were trying to
talk through options

of whether or not
the wrecker could

push those vehicles
out of the way somehow

or tow 'em out of
the way, or you know,

what was gonna happen exactly.

It was a difficult
situation though,

'cause the trucks were so hot.

I mean, if you got with
20 feet of those things,

you had to shy away.

- [Justin] While under fire,
the company's mechanic,

Staff Sergeant Earl Mason,
took decisive action.

- So, Mason was a
stud and you know,

burnt himself hooking
up these trucks

and pulling them out
of the way, thank God,

so we could drive by.

[clanking]
[chattering]

- [Soldier] Go, go, go.

- The terrain itself
is so conducive to

dismounted insurgent travel.

You don't have stand off space.

An enemy can get
real close to you

and make that contact.

We had our worst
firefight since Vietnam

over and over again
in Afghanistan.

- In June, we had the bloodiest
month since TET of 1968.

- We were doing a
traffic control point

in a village called
Larshotan and the job was

to check all the local traffic
coming back and through.

Andrew Looney was a team leader,

designated marksman
of my platoon.

Looney came up to me and
was like, "Do you see this?"

And there was a single
female by themselves

in a bright colored
burka walking towards us

and we just kinda looked
at each other and I'm like,

"Well, are we gonna
shoot her or not?"

'Cause we just knew that
women aren't alone there

and no one really
wears bright colors

so, we called up and they
said we don't have PID.

- [Justin] Without a target
being positively identified

as a threat, the rules of
engagement do not allow

soldiers to open fire.

- I took a knee looking over
the, I guess a little wall,

looking out and she came
up and detonated explosives

on her person.

It was a devastating explosion.

I was probably 10 meters
or less away from it.

Everything faded to white
and there was no sound,

which could have been the
explosion, but I was in

this place where
really, nothing existed

and I felt like I was connected
to God or whatever great

spiritual thing,
whatever's out there.

I came back into my body,
there was blood all over me

and I didn't think it was
mine 'cause nothing hurt,

so I tried to roll over.

I realized there was
blood pouring down my face

and I didn't have
my helmet on, so,

I was patting my
head and I realized

there was a hole in my
head so I stuck a finger

with Nomex gloves
on through my skull

and pulled it out and saw
bits of my brain matter and

got up to go run
to work on my guy

and I took a step
or two and fell.

I realized my feet and my
knee and my legs weren't okay.

[tense music]

- We got a call that they
needed a quick response force.

Our platoon was
on duty for that.

We were told that there
was a suicide bomber

at a checkpoint manned
by U.S. soldiers

and that there
was a couple dead.

- Two Americans got killed,
maybe a dozen children.

I feel really responsible
for all of that.

I'm not over not
taking that shot.

I'm not over everything that
happened because of that.

My friends would be alive.

I would not have gotten injured.

Lot of kids wouldn't
have gotten killed.

I've done a lot of work
to get over that day

and it's gotten better,
but I don't know

if it'll ever be okay.

I don't think it will.

- Biggest thing I
remember is pulling up

and seeing what was left.

You could tell by the size of
her feet that she was young.

- It turns out, I
believe, she was mentally

challenged 14 year
old Pakistani girl.

- In the moment, I
tried to stay focused on

maintaining security
and finding what we can.

We spent most of that
day searching for a head

to try to identify who she was.

That was the biggest
thing for me is in

seeing the age.

- When they choose
more to trust people

or to engage people,
I'm generally interested

in human beings but
it's a lot different

when you have to
look at everyone,

even the smallest
children and wondering

if they're trying to kill you.

- And I know she
didn't go into it

probably hating Americans.

Most suicide bombers
are put in this position

because their family
is threatened.

They fess up and their
family gets executed.

It really hurts
knowing people are put

in those positions,
especially at that age.

- Yeah.

- You know, especially
at that age.

That's...

It's inexcusable to use
someone in that way.

The rage I was feeling
was focused towards

the people who put this
girl in that situation,

who strapped on that vest,

who told her where to walk,

who told her when
to pull the trigger.

- [Justin] Some of the
hardest decisions ever made

happen on the battlefield.

Another medic across
the valley was faced

with a difficult choice.

- There was this one
gentleman that I remember

riding up on a bike and
nobody rides up on bikes.

After an IED happens,
nobody, everyone's hiding.

They're not gonna be there.

But one gentleman came
and rode up on a bike.

Fast forward to [mumbling],

the firefight happened,
we're doing our BDA,

and we get to this character

and he's looking familiar to me

and I didn't know who he was

and he looks at me like,
I know you from somewhere.

We had seen each other
around, doing our patrols

and he was shot in the
chest, he was dying.

He was kinda struggling for air,

but the rules are,
have to treat him

and try to save his life.

They can do whatever they
want with him if he survives,

but I need to treat
him and save his life.

So, I patched him up and
he started breathing again

and he was, it was
like night and day.

His vitals were up
and he was good,

but the terp came over
and started talking to him

and I guess this
particular gentleman

was in charge of the
IEDs that were around us,

the IED that hit me, as well.

I'm looking at him like,

you blew me up, you blew me up

and you just took out my buddy

and I'm gonna save your life,

but I'll never forget that.

It was just so weird.

Such a weird feeling, like
I needed him to be alive

and I took care of
him and I did that.

The attitudes
around me was like,

if you mess up that
procedure, we're okay with it

and he could die
and that was fine.

At that point, I looked at
him as here's this human being

and he's so scared.

I couldn't bring
myself to do that.

do that to human
being and enemy or not.

Hopefully, it's looking
good for him, but,

we'll be updated soon.

He ended up surviving.

I feel good about
treating him, you know?

I feel good about what happened.

[speaking foreign language]

[booming]

- Frustration was mounting among
the troops of No Slack,

and rage was building as
the casualty count rose.

What's going through your
head through all of that?

- Am I gonna make it outta here?

Seemed like everybody
I knew was dying.

Our Alpha company hit a
pressure plate, killed a friend.

First Sergeant Barton
sent out one of the platoons

to pick up the remains.

Four guys fit in one body bag.

- It was my old first
sergeant, my friends,

medical platoon
sergeant, time he knew,

I knew everyone and
he asked me if I could

identify what was left
and it broke my heart

more than anything in my life

to see these people I
loved in that condition.

And pretty much every
time I close my eyes,

I see them there.

[melancholy music]

- Only thing we could find
was shirts with names on it

and the rest was just...

... horrible.

- My last words with
First Sergeant Barton

I was saying bye to him.

Knocked on his door.

I heard Black Eyed Peas
music playing.

[chuckling]

And almost every
single time he saw me,

he say, "Chaplin,
how's Jesus doin'?"

- Yeah.

- He's doing good,
First Sergeant.

- He was loved by everybody.

- He was.

- You lose soldiers
all the time, but,

when they're people
you really know,

you start questioning.

- At that time,
that first month,

I didn't have the
full side picture

of just how stressed
the unit was.

- [Justin] The battalion
lost soldiers during

every week of June, 2010.

Despite this, the troops
of No Slack persevered.

- Every time you lose
somebody, you just get

a little bit more angry.

It makes you fight harder.

[melancholy music]

- [Justin] Lieutenant Colonel
Vowell and the leadership

knew they had to turn the
tide, so they designed

a bold operation.

- We were at a point where
had so much enemy activity

that was so effective
against Afghan population,

Afghan military and against us.

It's intuitive.

We've got to do
something about it.

We're gonna have to
take the fight to them.

Clearing from villages,
from the mountains,

the enemy that had just
festered as a cancer

about to infect the
provincial capitol.

- There are IEDs in the area.

Their main task and purpose
is to alert other groups

of coalition
activity in the area.

- Out by a city called
Asadabad, there's a valley

and in that valley there's a
little village called Daridam.

And we got reports that
the insurgents were staging

back there and they were
gonna come down that valley

and take Asadabad.

So, we made an offensive,
called it Strong Eagle One.

- The battalion had
companies on the ridge-lines

over watching the valley
and HHCs responsibility

was to march into that valley.

- The plan was to begin
entering the valley at sunrise

so we have proper
visibility to fight.

[speaking foreign language]

- They farmed there.

They built the structures
there, so they know

where to defend from
and where to move to.

- Not only were they more
aware of the terrain,

but they've also fought
this fight once before.

- The Russians had
gone in there before

and got slaughtered.

I think everyone knew, it's
like okay, someone is gonna die.

- We only had a single
road that winded

the side of the mountain.

This was the only
way to get in there

and we had to fight for it.

- As soon as we got
there, floods of people

just started walking
out of the valley.

Families, kids, as soon
as you saw that, you knew.

It was like, okay,
the fight is coming.

- So, we're fully aware of
what we were getting into.

No, I take that back.

We thought we were fully aware.

You'll never be ready for
what happened that day.

- [Soldier] I spotted a guy.

I think they took out the guy.

And supposed to be up
here and to the left.

- [Wright] We were
supposed to walk

about two or 300 meters

in front of the
vehicles to search

for possible IED
triggermen so that way

the vehicles could
continue to move up

the road as we all did.

- And then all of a
sudden, we just started

hearing the gunfire.

[gunfire popping]

- [Soldier] Hey,
Garrett, we're moving.

- From the top of the
mountain, across the mountain,

deeper into the valley.

- How many people do you
think you were up against?

- Too many to count.

Attack weapons
teams, helicopters

just started making
their gun runs.

- [McGinnis] Tens of thousands
of rounds were being fired

in every direction
from both sides.

- We weren't safe anywhere.

- [Soldier] Get your
gun up here, go, go.

[gunfire popping]

[booming]

We gotta keep moving.

- I don't feel like we
were any more than about

30 minutes in, so we hadn't
been walking very far

and it was a deep valley.

- And I remember
already being exhausted,

had to have been
pushin' 100 degrees

by like, nine in the morning.

[gunfire popping]

Sheesh.

- [Wright] I keep hearing
from different directions.

[gunfire popping]

- And where the
scouts were going,

we already knew that we
were gonna be isolated

and essentially alone.

- It was Sergeant Schneider,
two sniper teams

and a recon team and then it
was myself and Captain Mott.

- [Brookshire] We were supposed
to take a piece of land

where we could overwatch
the rest of the valley,

watch the infield and
clear everything up.

- We got off the
helicopter and pretty sure

we were in the wrong spot.

The PL looked at
the map, figured out

where we needed to go
and we started moving.

Problem was, we had skidco's

loaded with water, .50 cal,
anything we might need.

Grenades, we had to
drag those up and down

the hills to get to our location

and for probably
about 100, 200 meters,

we were moving in the daylight,

which is never good, because
you're being watched.

- [Brookshire] The spot
we ended up taking was

on the rock outcropping on
the very edge of this cliff.

Once we got there, that's
when hell broke loose.

- There was multiple
positions firing on us

and we couldn't
pinpoint any of them.

[gunfire popping]

- [Soldier] There's
someone on that ridge-line

right there.

You see him moving?

- It gets to a point
where the noise is just

so constant that you
just blank it out.

[gunfire popping]

- You had gotten used
to getting shot at,

so it felt normal.

- And then you have
to start communicating

with everybody around you
to make everything work.

We were all on our
stomachs and faces trying

to get around these
rocks, 'cause every time

you'd even like, peek
up, it was just like,

rounds hittin' off the
rock beside of you.

Well-aimed single shots
just kept coming' at us,

coming at us and that's
what grazed Captain Mott's

head whenever he fell
down the mountain.

- He fell down, I wanna
say, 300 plus meters.

I don't even think any
of us saw it happen.

Before too long,
somebody was like,

hey, where's Captain Mott?

And then I think Sergeant
Schneider looked over

the edge of the
mountain and saw him

still falling down the
mountain and was like,

oh my God, that's
Captain Mott right there.

- Sergeant Schneider kept
yelling down to Captain Mott

trying to get him
to move his hand

or sit up or say something.

- I'll never forget it 'cause
it was Sergeant Schneider

and he called me and
said they were surrounded

and they were engaging
people that were trying

to drag Captain Mott away.

We called up a
nine line for him.

We were told the
bird was in route.

- The amount of gunfire
and how hostile it was,

they just couldn't
get the bird to us.

They'd get kinda close
and they'd have to back up

because of the gunfire
and eventually,

probably the best
pilots I've ever seen

put the PJs down and
they went and got him.

[helicopter blades whirring]

- I wanna say it was
about a half hour

after Captain Mott got hit.

I had just called in his medivac

and felt almost a nudge, felt
like somebody had pushed me

or something and low and
behold, I sprung a leak,

so I waited for a pause
in the gunfire and I said,

"Hey, Sergeant, they
shot me in the chest."

He stops, he takes
a knee next to me

and he put chest seals on
both the entry and exit wound

and then he rips off my sleeve

and I've got entry and exit
wounds in my tricep, as well.

So, he puts a
tourniquet on my arm,

and then they called
in my medivac.

- [Brookshire] Seemed
like it took hours to get

the medivac for Litchfield.

- Because of the rough
terrain, it couldn't land.

They grabbed me and
they started running me

towards the bird and
immediately after we stand up,

that bird starts getting
lit up like the 4th of July

and I remember
thinking to myself,

I'm gonna feel really
bad if one of these guys

gets shot trying to help me out.

Luckily, that didn't happen.

We got to the bird and
they threw me in the air

and the medic reached
down, grabbed my arm,

pulled me in and the bird
immediately took off.

I wanna say it was
high noon, at least,

by the time I got medivac'ed.

- [Justin] Captain Mott
and Private Litchfield's

engagements were
just the beginning.

The day was gonna
get a lot worse.

- We start pushin'
into the valley,

and one of our platoons
report back they have one KIA

and his name was Eric Shaw.

[sniffling]

- First Sergeant Wright
took it pretty hard.

I know him and Shaw
were really close.

- He was one of my squad leaders

and came and worked for
me when we were in HC.

We were friends.

- [McGinnis] Sergeant Shaw
had deployed late because

he stayed to see his
third child be born

and he had only been
in Afghanistan for,

really, a couple of
weeks at that point.

- Came under pretty
massive hellgun fire

and led his men
back to safety and,

an Afghan fell and he
ran back to save him

and was fatally wounded.

- He got hit by an
RPG in the face.

His head was...

split.

You couldn't even
tell it was him.

The only way I knew it
was him was his name-tag.

Called in a medivac,
ran out to medivac

and remember begging
the guy to take Eric,

so we put Eric on the
bird, they flew away.

- That was like being...

Literally, I mean, punched.

I waited until after the
funeral to tell our daughters.

I wanted to let them
be kids for as long

as possible before they
knew what it was like to,

to not have Daddy anymore.

To know that he's
not coming home.

[melancholy music]

- [Justin] Losing
Staff Sergeant Eric Shaw

and another soldier,
Sergeant David W. Thomas,

was devastating.

No one could have foreseen
what would happen next.

- We started taking
rounds from a building

that was about 800
meters from us,

and we couldn't make it stop.

We heard over the
radio that there was

an incoming bomb drop.

I remember we sat
down in a circle

to prepare for the blast,
'cause even at 800 meters,

you can feel it.

- 25 seconds.

- Everyone knew where
that bomb was gonna land

and you're watching and watching

and all the sudden, boom!

[whistling]
[booming]

Everyone's like, didn't
we have guys there?

- We were laughing and
joking, and I remember

making a face at one
of my guys and he made

a face back at me and we
started to hear the jet come in.

Then his face changed.

It was ghost white and
he started screaming

because he watched the
bomb fall out of the sky

and land right behind me.

- There was a massive
explosion and some guys

were as close as 20 feet.

Kill radius on those
bombs are 50 meter,

if I recall correctly.

- I remember thinking, oh my
God, we just lost a platoon.

- We were so close to the blast

that we were engulfed in flames.

We had minor burns in
our mouths, throats

and the 500 pound bomb
that we got hit with

is an incendiary round.

- I just remember seeing a wall

of dirt and dust and silence.

- It was so quiet that
I thought I was dead.

I was certain I was dead.

I was positive I was dead.

- We started calling in medivac.

We had four, five medivac'ed,
but everyone survived.

- How is that possible?

- I have no idea.

- It was a miracle.

I don't know how they didn't
really take any casualties.

- None of us had any
penetrating trauma.

No shrapnel, all of
us with our limbs.

[somber music]

It was a miracle.

- I'm not a religious
person, but someone

was over watching us that day

because that company had holes

all through their
pants from bullets.

We had mortarmen run
around and bullets

actually hit the mortar
rounds in their backpacks.

- [Justin] The battle waged on,

but the worst was behind us.

Early on the morning
of the third day,

our forces made it to
the village of Daridam.

- Getting to Daridam
was decisive.

The enemy did exactly
what we thought we'd do,

coming at us on the flanks,
and we'd shoot 'em up,

defusing their defenses
away from where

they wanted to defend, bring
the fight to a time and place

where we wanted to
and be ready for it.

Worked well.

- We had two deaths, but
everybody came together.

We got that mission
and we succeeded.

- [Justin] How did
y'all feel when you got

to that village finally?

- Relieved, made it.

I just took a valley that
has never been taken before,

and I walked it.

That's victory.

I just wanna go back
and take off my clothes,

just tear 'em off and
stand naked in my tent

and enjoy every minute of it.

- [Justin] The success
of Strong Eagle One

gave our soldiers, the Afghan
army and the government

some much needed breathing room.

- We did, physically, turn
the tide of what would happen

throughout the rest of
that fighting season.

We killed a lot of bad
people and we stayed there

for the next 30
days and owned it.

- [Justin] Victory came
at a cost, however.

Private Litchfield was
rushed to the hospital

for his injuries,

and Captain Mott's status
was uncertain.

- They dragged me in,
laid me on a table,

and one of the medics
started saying,

"We might have to take his arm."

And he immediately turned
around and started to walk away.

I used my good arm to grab
him, as he was walking away

and I said, "Hey, sir,
my arm is just fine.

"You're not gonna take
this arm away from me.

"I'm a rock guitarist,
you can't do that to me."

Ten minutes later he
comes back and says,

"Good news, we're not gonna
have to take your arm."

I was like, damn right.

And then an hour later,
Captain Mott gets rolled in.

- Guys said I look
like I was dead,

'cause completely
covered in blood.

It was all dry, they
could see my skull.

- I think his tongue
was swollen up.

He was trying to
talk but couldn't.

They kept asking him his name.

You can imagine the
guy with a tongue

the size of his fist trying
to say the word Kevin.

So, somehow I deciphered
it and I turned

and looked at the
doctor and I said,

"That's Captain Kevin Mott.

"I can give you everything but
his social and his birthday."

- My mom got a phone call.

Mrs. Mott, we're
calling to inform you

that your son was
injured in Afghanistan.

He was shot in the
head and we're not sure

if he's gonna make it.

Mom just hangs up the phone
and falls over crying.

So, my dad gets home
a little while later,

called the number back.

Oh, Mr. Mott, we're sorry.

We need you to pack your
stuff to go to Germany

to say goodbye to him, you know?

That was obviously really
hard for them to deal with.

- [Justin] Captain Mott
miraculously survived

his devastating injuries,
but his gruesome

incident was just one of many.

Captain Doug McGinnis
endured his own personal hell

in the Kunar Province.

- We were resupplying
Afghan border patrol station

right on the Pakistan
border trying to get

more soldiers out to them
and they could only get

aerial resupply 'cause
Taliban had surrounded

their base, so I get on the bird

and I have my translator with me

and coming in there's a small
helicopter landing zone.

I mean, it was sheer
drop-off on the sides.

We land and get all the
border patrol guys out.

Next thing I know,
there was a yellow flash

and it felt like I got hit
in the head with a bat.

I looked up and I see

my interpreter and he was

just cut in half.

What happened was an RPG had
went into him and exploded,

so knocked everyone out.

I was thrown against
the wall and back down

and I remember looking down
and I realize I'm on fire.

With all your kit and
everything like that,

I can't really roll, so
I'm just kinda rolling

back and forth and I slapped
the flames out on myself

and I look up, there's two guys

dragging out the door gunner.

They're carrying him and
his legs are kinda draggin'

behind, just mangled
and I remember reaching

with my left arm to
try to pick up his legs

so they wouldn't drag
and my arm's not working.

I couldn't pick it up.

Five Americans with about
20 ABP on the border

of Pakistan
surrounded by Taliban

and my translator's
obviously dead.

It starts going through
my head, I'm like,

those ABP, are they
gonna turn on us?

Use us as a bargaining
chip to save themselves?

There's a good chance we
could end up in Pakistan.

I didn't think I really
realized how messed up I was

'til a lot later.

Over 33% of my
face is just burnt.

Both my eardrums are blown out.

I didn't know that I had
lost the tip of my nose,

shrapnel had taken the
tip of my nose off,

shrapnel went into my arm
and broke my ulna bone

and then I had burns
all over my body

from when I was on fire.

- [Justin] Back in
the States, Tim Low

worked diligently to
rehabilitate his injuries.

- Since I got back from
Afghanistan, I spent

40 hours a week for months
going to medical appointments,

in and out of the TBI clinic.

[gunfire popping]

- [Soldier] I'm gonna
go back the red team.

I'll be right back.

- Truly I wanted to
be back in the unit.

I wanted to be with the guys.

That's where I was
supposed to be,

but I just couldn't run anymore.

I rolled my ankle
three, four times a day

just walking around
and I didn't think

I could carry people any more.

I knew I just didn't measure up.

I didn't meet the standard,

couldn't get out of bed in
the morning, just never slept.

I started showing
up late to work

and I started having all of
these consequences for that.

Those were really dark days.

I got through that somehow,
didn't hurt anybody or myself.

- [Justin] Doug McGinnis
also came back to the States

for rehabilitation, which was
its own grueling experience.

- I remember gettin'
back to San Antonio,

and they were like, hey,
we're gonna send you

to the burn center.

They put me in this room
and they laid me on this,

kinda like a tub kinda thing.

They had to scrub my wounds,

and that was the most
painful thing in my life.

Every morning, I'd have
to go into the shower

and I would sit on the stool,

and they would
literally just scrub

the dead skin off and
I would just sit there

and look at the drain
and watch my blood

kinda like, go down
the drain and just

feeling this absolute
horrible pain

and just being
like, just end it.

I just want this
to stop right now.

- [Justin] Meanwhile,
Captain Mott

and Private Litchfield grew
close during the recovery.

- Litchfield was one of
the brand new soldiers

that we had before we deployed.

We actually called
him "Lipstick" just
to mess with him.

He's got some pretty
funny stories about me

when I was in the
hospital when I was hurt.

I would yell in my
room, "Litchfield!

"Lipstick!"

Like a good little
soldier, come running down

the hallway to come talk to me.

Sir, what do you need?

- He said, "I want a soda."

And I was like, well, the
doctors say you can't have soda.

He said, expletive the doctors.

And so I think I went
and got him a Dr. Pepper

or something and brought it back

and I think the
doctor yelled at me,

but I was like, what
are you gonna do?

Shoot me?

- [Justin] Though
Captain Mott kept a good

sense of humor, his injuries
were no laughing matter.

- He had some sort
of cast on his chest,

almost looked like a
medieval piece of armor

except it was plastic.

- Fractured four vertebrae
in my lower back,

fractured a rib,
fractured an ankle,

tore my labrum in my shoulder,
the top and the back.

Had 50 sutures and
staples to put my scalp

back together and TBI.

I know my parents
were kinda freaked out

when I first got back.

My mom would find me
in the dining room.

She's like, what
are you doing here?

It's like, I came
here for something,

but I'm not sure what it is.

Also, initially I had a
lot of trouble eating.

Chewing and swallowing
was very difficult for me

as a result of the TBI.

I have back pain, like,
literally every day of my life.

- [Justin] Captain Mott's
injuries were debilitating

and he was fortunate to
escape with his life.

Others weren't so lucky.

Shortly after Strong
Eagle One, QZR came back

with a counter-attack
claiming his first victim.

- Me and my brother
were talking.

I don't even remember how
we got on that conversation,

but it was...

What'll happen if one
of us don't come back?

Right before we left,
Mama pulled me in her room

and told me that she
had a dream last night

that we would go on deployment

but one of us won't come back.

And she feared that
it was Anthony.

My main thought
after it happened was

now I have to, not only
pick up my brother,

escort him all the way
back around the world,

but I also have to go back home

and tell my mother
she was right.

When I finally talked to
my mother over the phone,

she asked me if I
was still coming home

and I told her

I brought him over here.

I'll bring him back,

but I don't wanna mourn
my brother's death.

I'd just rather
celebrate his life,

how he was.

My brother was the best
guy I've ever known.

- [Justin] There's an army
regulation that allows

the last surviving son
to remain stateside

in the instance of
a sibling's death.

What made you want to
come back to Afghanistan?

'Cause you didn't have to.

- My thought came
down, goin' well,

I lost a brother, but
I had a whole battalion

of brothers still
left over there.

- Missing the camaraderie
and brotherhood,

it's not surprising
to find many soldiers

looking to get
back in the fight.

Seems like these guys who
go through hell together

are willing to go back
through hell together

because they can
process it together.

- Soon as the bullet
hole closed up in my arm,

I went to my nurse case
manager and I said,

"Get me outta here."

And I lied to his face
and I said, "I can do 42

"push ups right now.

"I need to go back
to Afghanistan,

"take me back to my unit now."

- Why?

- Oh man, that's a
complicated question.

Why?

- You sit back in the hospital
and it's a depressing thing,

knowing that your
guys are still there.

I remember people talking to me.

I say well, I'm gonna go back,

and they looked at me
and they're like, really?

'Cause we were thinking
you were gonna face

a med board and get out.

Uh, no.

- That's why I joined the
Army was to go to Afghanistan

and fight this nation's enemies.

- And the other part is,
I will not be defeated.

- Going back was interesting.

I don't even think
I was there an hour

and Sergeant Nollicher walks
in and he asks me,

"What's the second stanza
of the Ranger creed?"

I told him, Sergeant,
I don't know.

And he said, "Then do push ups."

And then I got down on
the ground and I started

doing push ups and it
was probably one of

the happier moments
of my Army career

was when he told
me to do push ups

just because he looked
at me like a soldier

and he told me to do push ups.

So, I mean, that's what
going back was like.

It was awesome.

- I remember the
doctors were like,

Kevin, looking at
your stuff here.

Potentially, you
could leave the Army,

almost get like,
medically retired.

I was like, fuck no.

- You almost died and you were

severely wounded and
still with injuries.

Why go back?

- I just wanted to
help out the team,

help out the family.

- [Justin] What was
that like, to see

these guys coming back?

- Happiest thing in the world.

Boys are back.

- To see Kevin again
in Afghanistan.

It's like, alright,
I'm back with family.

- Captain Mott, he
walked into the TOC

and said First Sir, I'm ready.

Put me in.

Sir, you just got
shot in the head

and fell off a mountain.

I'm not putting you back in.

And he said, "What? You scared?"

He said, "I'll do whatever
it takes just to stay here."

- I mean, I woulda
cleaned the bathrooms

if that's what they
needed me to do.

- But I can't let
these guys, my guys,

be over here without me
when I know I can be here,

so that's what made
me really respect him.

And just happened that
I had a platoon open up,

so we gave it to him.

- I spent the six
month mark actually,

with my injury here
doing stuff, so...

[chattering]
[mumbling]

- You're in a hurry
to get back to this.

- Exactly.

I made the choice before
I deployed the first time

to Afghanistan, before I
shot, this is what I gotta do

to help my guys and
getting ready for

Strong Eagle Three,

I told 'em, we're
gonna go out there

and we're gonna
friggin' crush it.

- [Justin] In March of 2011,
Lieutenant Colonel Vowell

received sudden information
about a Taliban base

harboring an unknown
number of insurgents

near the Pakistan border.

He decided to coordinate
a massive operation

which would become known
as Strong Eagle Three.

- Had intelligence
that kinda told me,

QZR and other associated
groups are starting

to come back in now.

Strong Eagle Three
was born of that,

Preventing the enemy
from gaining any purchase

in 2011 back in Kunar.

[all mumbling]

- Strong Eagle Three was
our effort to prevent

the 25th IDs of ever
having a Strong Eagle One,

to save lives.

- Timing, though, the
perception is it's horrible.

It was two, three weeks
away for some folks.

Getting on a plane
and going home.

- I remember talking to
Sergeant Near Joggins, like,

I would really not
get my feelings hurt

if we just didn't do this.

Three weeks out, you start
thinking to yourself,

you know what?

We're gonna make it outta here.

Yeah, what's that, a
little cupcake there?

- Oh, it's a muffin actually.

- [Wilson] It's a power cake?

- Power cake.

- [Wilson] Power muffin?

- [Mott] Exactly.

- [Soldier] That's
his nickname, Muffin.

- [Wilson] Powermuffin?

- We need some calories
here to get ready

for this mission.

- We were going into two
known enemy sanctuaries

and strongholds, Sarowbay
and Barawolo Kalay.

They were divided by 9,000,
10,000 foot mountain range.

- We're actually going
to the home location

of one of the main
bad guys in this area,

leads a lot of
operations against us.

- [Mott] Barowolo Kalay
was the main objective.

That's like, was QZRs hometown,
like where he grew up,

his base.

- Those were the real guys.

Those are the believers.

- No one never, ever
dared go up there.

- The Russians hadn't
even been up there.

[speaking foreign language]

QZR made some
audacious statements.

"They'll never come up here."

Well, we did.

- We have the gunners,
tow trucks looking

[mumbling] and look
up at the ridge-line

so that can kinda throw them off

and make it more
careful movement,

which may buy us a
little bit more time

and buy the cliff a little bit
more time, alright?

If you're gonna land by
helicopter on tops of mountains

at like, 8,000 feet
and they're gonna walk

down to villages
to clear them out.

[helicopter blades whirring]

Later that night, two
or three in the morning,

literally, every company
was on the mission.

My platoon, which
was 3rd Platoon,

and the 1st Platoon,
we were gonna walk down

and then clear the
village in the area

where we thought that they
had their command center.

- We were the main
effort on our objective,

so you know, you have
everybody on the high grounds

and then more or less,
we're clearing through.

- We were trying to find
a way to walk down there.

It was really, incredibly steep.

- I was on point
for the platoon,

my platoon was on
point for the company

and one of my guys, in
the middle of the night,

slips and does like, a
front flip 10, 15 feet down

and catches himself somehow.

Talked to Sergeant AC, I'm like,

we try to go down this at night,

somebody's gonna break
their fuckin' leg,

so we went out
until first light,

then made our way down.

[chattering on radio]

- [Soldier] What's
happening now?

- [Mott] So, we push
into the village.

- Cleared through our
first set of houses

pretty easily, me
and Sergeant Arrechaga,

just talking to each
other real quick

and we're just like, hey man,
we can get this done today.

- The enemy went to the trees
and the rocky areas to hide,

and that's where they
tried to attack us from,

for the next nine days.

- It wasn't supposed
to be nine days long.

It was supposed to
be three days long.

Push came to shove and we
were out there for nine days.

So, Mott, what'd you find?

- Rifle parts and ammo.

some mortar rounds.

Looks like an RPG
round right there.

You can see how they
tried to conceal it.

We're clearing through and
we start finding stuff.

RPGs, mortars, rifles,
all kinds of stuff.

It's crazy.

I was talking with
Sergeant Arrechaga,

he's like, hey sir,
we gotta keep moving.

I was like, yeah man, I know.

I was like just push up
to next set of kalots.

So, I stayed with
all the explosives,

cataloging all of
it, taking pictures

and prepping it
to blow and I told

Sergeant Rich to move his
helmet down to where I'm at

so that we can watch
for Sergeant Arrechaga
to move forward,

so we had, both had a platoon
and a half, basically.

Sergeant Arrechaga with
the front group of guys,

and Sergeant Rich with
the trail group of guys.

- It's kind of a
weird feeling because

the weather started
to go bad and nothing

had happened yet.

- AC called over
the radio again.

Hey, sir, we're gonna keep
moving, and I agreed 100%.

- [Vowell] You get
bogged down in one spot,

it completely blows
your momentum.

- You provide opportunities
for the enemy to attack you

and capitalize on
you getting stuck,

so they were walking to
the next set of buildings.

It was a little bit
farther downhill,

so they had to pass a draw.

It's kinda like a u-shaped thing

and if you're on
top of the mountain

and you look down the draw,
it's like a really great

sightline if you just look down.

So, Arrechaga at that
time gets to the draw,

it starts to rain and the
Afghans drop their stuff

and put their raincoats on.

He's like, what the
hell you guys doin'?

Keep movin'.

As the Afghans drop
their bags and took out

their raincoats and put 'em on,

the enemy was up there
with a machine gun

and they opened fire and
from what I understand,

he was hit in the
first volley of fire.

Sergeant Trim, he was
a specialist, young
guy at the time,

saw Sergeant Arrechaga
get shot and ran forward

and started pullin' him
back and when he did that,

Trim got shot in the arm
that he was pulling back

Sergeant Arrechaga with.

- Trim and AC fall.

I could hear him clear as day.

He said, "AC got hit."

- What'd he do?

He just switched his
hands, grabs him,

and pulls him back to
a little bit of cover.

- Trim's got a hole in
his arm, AC's got shot

through his back.

I started rippin' off AC's gear,

put some bandages on
him and everything.

It's not even bleeding.

[gunfire popping]

Where is one six Romeo?

- [Byerly] Scalpton, I hear
their barrack going off up top

and then ATF fire and
then everything erupts.

- Beak Hill's in a fire
fight on top of the mountain.

Scouts are in a firefight
on top of the mountain.

C-Co's in a firefight
in the other valley

and A-CO is in a
firefight north of us.

- [Byerly] Everyone in the
entire battalion is in contact

at the exact same time.

- It sounded like the valley
was getting ripped apart.

- I've never heard so much
gunfire in my entire life.

And we had been in
a lot of firefights,

but that was by far the worst.

- What's the 155
and the 105 saying?

[gunfire popping]

- I remember looking
out of the building

trying to figure out
what was going on

and where it was coming from
and AC got hit and went down.

There are only so many
resources available

to help everybody,
so Wilson and Trim

set up security, they're
still gettin' shot at.

I mean, the rounds are
impacting all around us.

- If you're up in deployment
like we had seen Taliban,

but for the most
part, our engagements

were long distance,
600, 800 meters

and looked back up the
draw and there's a dude,

no shit, like 50 meters
from where we were

and they got high ground
on every single side of us.

It's the first time in my
life I had to make peace

with the fact that
I was gonna die.

[chattering on radio]

Fuck!

Goddammit!

- [Soldier] What happened?

- [Brookshire] Three casualties.

Fucker!

- Once that came over the
radio, Sergeant Sizemore,

Sergeant Mendez, Sergeant
Rich, Lindskog were going.

Lindskog, as soon as they
said there were casualties,

he grabbed his
bag and they went.

- He didn't know us.

Of his own volition he
decided you know what?

These are my soldiers.

I am their medic, I'm
going down to that draw

and I'm gonna do what I can.

- So Sizemore, Sergeant
Rich, Mendez and Lindskog

all run down there through
tons of machine gun fire.

Lindskog immediately
runs over and starts

taking care of people.

So, he does his best to patch
up AC, Sergeant Arrechaga

and just kinda take care
of him and there was

an Afghan that was
shot, too, so Mendez

starts working on the Afghan,
trying to save his life,

so, Mendez gets shot
right over the heart,

but luckily, he's
wearing his body armor,

so his plate stopped it.

He got shot twice,
like boom boom.

Lindskog sees this and
immediately runs over

and starts taking
care of the Afghan

and this dude, he
was in bad shape.

- And I thought he was
dead because he's laying

on his face with his
eyes open staring at me.

- And they're just
doing the best they can

to save this guy's life.

So, as Lindskog is
finally patching up

this Afghan guy who
got shot three times,

Lindskog gets shot,
really like in his armpit.

- Sergeant Sizemore
came over the radio

saying that Lindskog's
hit too, now.

- [Byerly] 12 of us down here,
four or five people got shot.

- Sizemore and Mendez went over
and tried to help Lindskog.

- He's still telling
Sizemore and Mendez

what they need to do
for the casualties.

He's telling them what
to do to him, to fix him.

- [Mott] He fought for about
30 minutes before he died.

- I always think in my mind
like, what could I have done?

Probably think about
this every day.

- He passed away to
Sergeant Sizemore holding him.

I remember hearing
him mumbling something

and eventually, I'm looking
down, what is he saying?

He keeps saying "I'm sorry."
to me.

- [Mott] He apologized
and then passed away.

That's a pretty low point.

-I sat next to AC pretty
much the entire time.

Just kinda checking on him.

He's in pain, yeah, but
he's still coherent,

so if we can get
a bird in there,

get him outta here,
he's gonna be alright.

- We watched as the
medivac birds came in.

Before they even get in the
valley, one PJ bird gets shot.

We see the other bird come in.

It kinda turns and
comes to a hover.

- [Brookshire] Hovered
maybe 50 feet above my head.

- [Mott] And you can see the
guy standing in the door,

ready to get lowered down
and just a burst of PKM fire.

- You could see the
rounds pinging off it

and then it just
immediately lifted back out.

- [Mott] We see the bird
kinda move back slowly,

just flying away
low to the valley.

- [Brookshire] The
helicopter lifted off.

There's not gonna be another
one coming for awhile.

- We realize we're not gonna
get any help right then.

It was gonna be awhile 'til
we actually did get help.

- We're at the bottom of a hill.

We''re running low on ammo.

We got casualties.

I looked at Trim.

We started getting
out hand grenades,

just waiting for it to come.

- You were with me
and we started running

over there to try and help out.

Talked with Rich on the radio.

You want me to come down there?

He's like, no if
you come down here,

you're just gonna get shot, so,

that'll make things worse,
so just stay up there.

Sizemore is injured.

He's got shrapnel.

Sergeant Richardson, my acting
platoon sergeant, shrapnel.

Lindskog had already died
and Sergeant Arrechaga

was getting worse and...

It was hard because he
was in a lot of pain

and it took probably
about another hour

for another medivac
to get out there.

- We load up AC skid count.

He starts complaining about
his hands and feet being cold.

- Started losing feeling
in his fingertips

and stuff like that
and they picked up AC,

took Trim out also and flew back

and got them to medical care.

AC made it into
Asadabad, got into

the operating table
there and got out of

his first surgery and...

I guess he started to crash
after they wheeled him out,

so they tried to
wheel him back in but,

you know,
unfortunately, he died.

That's was pretty crushing.

The casualties just
started adding up.

[chattering on radio]

[mumbling]

We're not gonna be able to
get over there anytime soon.

- [Soldier] Whose was it?

You a medic?

[chattering on radio]

- [Justin] Brian Burgess
and Dustin Feldhaus

were caught in an ambush
by the Taliban fighters

hiding in the trees.

After spending a
majority of the day

tending to the wounded,
medic Brit Jacobs

was called in to help.

- In the middle of
treating Feldhaus,

Feldhaus gestured over to
where Sergeant Burgess was at.

Kept looks just
desperation, glow stick,

get over here please now,
please get over here.

So I run over there
to Sergeant Burgess

and I see that he's
unconscious and he comes in

and then goes out.

You couldn't see it was
so dark that you just

had to feel him.

They're the blood
sweeps and in the middle

of a blood sweep I lost my hand.

My hand was inside of his thigh

and Kevin put a tourniquet on.

I hoped to tighten it, make
sure we were good there

and he's looking up.

He's just looking
straight up like,

he says, "Where's my chariot?"

And I kept trying to
find a pulse somewhere

and I couldn't find one
and I'm thinking to myself,

why are you talking right now?

Medivac finally arrived
and PJs were amazing.

They came down there
and they were taken away

and I just couldn't
stop thinking about

Brian and that question,
'cause for whatever reason

I was thinking, he
meant something more
than just a medivac.

When he was asking me,
"Where's my chariot?"

And I didn't know exactly
what he meant by that,

but I just tried to
keep him in the game

and comfort him and
say help is on the way.

I'll never get that
out of my mind.

That was day one.

- [Justin] The Battalion
also lost Frank Adamski

and Jeremy Faulkner along
with Ofred Arrechaga,

Brian Burgess, Jameson
Lindskog and Dustin Feldhaus.

The number of
fallen rose to six.

- It's very difficult to have
a semblance of good morale

when you've had friends and
leaders killed in combat.

- Roger, tracking, we
had one WIA and one KIA

for our 1st platoon
and six casualties,

six WIA and one KIA
for 3rd platoon.

Two of those were A and A, over.

- Arrechaga was on there,
Lindskog was on there,

Burgess, Faulkner, everybody.

So, I went back to
where my guys were at

and we were talking
about the next day.

We were gonna move down to
where Sergeant Arrechaga

and those guys were trying
to get to the first day

and I'm talking with
the lead team leader.

He's like, sir, I don't wanna
get anybody killed tomorrow.

With AC being gone and
Lindskog dying in front

of everybody, it wasn't good.

[chattering on radio]

[hissing]
[booming]

I know you were there and
that was actually really

helpful having
the chaplain there

to talk with everybody and
kinda keep the mood positive

and focus on the mission.

Sizemore's injured,
Richards is injured,

Mendez' chest is bruised
up from getting shot

twice in the plate,
but Sergeant Sizemore,

Sergeant Rich, Sergeant
Mendez sucked it up

and they stayed.

[chattering]

- Absolutely, sir.

What year?

- [Mott] The third day
came up and we had to go

to that next set of buildings.

- [Brookshire] Through
the ambush area

where second squad was at,

we're starting to see who got
hit and all the other guys.

[booming]
[gunfire popping]

- [Mott] We were
walking downhill and
there were insurgents

above us and they
started shooting at us.

- [Brookshire] The
first group of guys

gone to another firefight

and everyone was in
a firefight again.

- The team leader and
his guys were pinned down

and I talked with the
team leader on the radio.

I'm like, what do you need?

Can you move?

He's like, sir, we're stuck.

Said alright, these
guys need help.

[booming]
[gunfire popping]

Hey wait, ready?

Great, we're gonna go
down there and free Alpha.

Alright, you're coming
and you're coming.

- Captain Mott takes charge.

You know, whenever he
says it, he means it.

- They're shooting
at us the whole time

we were running
down, and finally,

we got back behind
this big rock.

Yell out to 'em, hey man.

We're gonna shoot.

When we shoot, you
come back here.

Hold to right, covering fire!

You guys come to me!

[gunfire popping]

So, we push back to
this set of buildings,

this little village.

We're gonna need to get
the rest of the platoon

down here and 1st
platoon and we're getting

kinda stretched out here.

There's a lot more [mumbling]
than we thought there were.

Making things a lot
difficult, a lot slower.

They move back and just
kept moving, kept moving.

After the third day, most
of the stuff was done.

- Morale kinda boosted
up a little bit.

- [Mott] We still got shot
at each day, I remember.

The distance between
the villages was like,

really large, like
300, 400 meters.

So we ended up just
running in buddy teams,

across the open as
fast as we could.

We'd get shot at
sometimes trying to

go to one set of buildings.

[gunfire popping]

[chattering]

- [Byerly] And then that
was where we pretty much

took control of the
valley and we started

crushing the spirits
of the Taliban.

- [Mott] I remember
it was like, day five

and we had a call like
hey, enemy radar traffic

intercepted says we're
cold, tired, wet and hungry.

We don't know why the
Americans are still here.

- And at that point, I
would have stayed there

for another week just to
freakin' do some more damage.

All it was was payback
and whenever we got them

on the run, that's where we
just kept giving it to 'em.

- [Mott] So, fourth,
fifth, sixth day we cleared

the buildings and then
two American platoons

and two Afghan
platoons walking out.

- And then we were off
the mountain finally.

- That was the end of
Strong Eagle Three.

- Whether you're the
rock at the bottom

of the mountain or at
the top of the mountain,

you know that you're
doing your part.

Those that were here
before us did their part.

Those who come in after
us will do their part.

I think that we did our work.

- [Justin] Though the loss
of life was heartbreaking,

Strong Eagle Three was a
very successful operation.

- Ultimately, we
executed to perfection.

- Outside of the towns, we
had set up battle positions

and blocking positions knowing

they were gonna try
run out, so they went

to the middle ground.

Outside of the towns, but
couldn't get up the mountain.

By the time we got to
the higher elevation,

got in there, a lot of the
enemy had just flat run.

Surprise was decisive for us.

In weeks prior, we did
a lot of socializing,

faking the funk about where
we were actually gonna be.

We do something over here a
lot and the enemy sees that,

and all the sudden we
come at three o'clock

in the morning
over here, we win.

Going into those villages,
that had never happened before.

No one had ever been in those.

They weren't expecting that.

You have disrupted for an
indeterminate amount of time

their operations in the area.

- A lot of people did
a lot of amazing things

during Strong Eagle Three.

Sizemore, Richardson and Mendez,

they all had shrapnel,
they all could have been

medivac'ed if they
wanted to but they made

the decision to stay.

Sergeant Wilson, or
Specialist Wilson at the time,

Sergeant now, he
was a team leader.

His squad leader got medivac'ed

and his other team
leader got medivac'ed

so he was a young specialist
in charge of a squad

by himself all of a sudden
and he stepped up big time.

Jameson Lindskog, he
was a young medic,

hadn't been on
that many missions.

You know, his first time
being a medic for a platoon

and first mission he
was on with us and...

He runs down through
machine gun fire,

takes care of people and
literally with his last

dying breath he apologizes
for not being able

to fight anymore and...

And dies.

Where do we find guys
like this, you know?

- [Justin] The sacrifices made
by these and other soldiers

tangibly change the nature
of the Afghan conflict.

QZRs network was disrupted
and he was reported killed

in a U.N. air strike
on August 21st, 2013.

- To this day, whole Afghan
army securing the place

and now they've got the
ability on the backs

of what soldiers like in
No Slack did to not lose

against the Taliban.

- Strong Eagle Three,
these major things we did

gave them the breathing
room where they can start

doing the coin fight,
which is really how you win

in the long run.

- You're there to help
create a peaceful environment

for people, so how
do you do that?

The battleground is the people.

On a very micro
level in one province

in the country of Afghanistan,
the people liked us

and everywhere we went
they knew who we were

and they flocked to talk to us.

- We talked to farmers.

They just want their
kids to go to school.

They want healthy
livestock, healthy crops.

Sounds like prosperity to me.

They want just something
better than what they had.

- The bad guys
didn't want us there

specifically because
the people did.

- It's uprooting the enemy
out of those villages,

not letting them put
guns in people's faces

and bullying them around.

- [Justin] Flushing the
Taliban from their base

of operations gave
the Afghan people

an opportunity for freedom

they hadn't
experienced in decades.

But it came at a great cost.

- Jameson Lindskog and Sergeant
Arrechaga both had families.

- What's going through
your mind whenever

they were doing
the notification?

- I just so badly wanted to
believe that they were lying

or that they were
at the wrong house,

but they're right there
and they're saying

my husband's name, which
is not an easy name.

It's weird, you can prepare
yourself for the worst

all day long, but
it's nothing like

when it actually happens.

I mean, one moment, those
people say he's dead

and everything I know is over.

You know, all of our plans
for the future, they're gone.

He's gone.

They went with him.

What do you do?

- The hardest thing
for me to deal with

was why on Earth would
you send somebody

who's two weeks away
or three weeks away

from coming home
out on to a mission?

And then it wasn't until
later that I found out

that he asked to go.

- Then we get back and meet
Seana, Sergeant Arre's wife

and Austin, his son.

Just meeting Donna and Matt
Walker, Jameson's parents.

You know it was really
great to meet them,

but also hard at the same time.

I was responsible for her
husband and their son and...

I let 'em down.

- What makes you think that?

- Platoon leader's
responsible for everything

his platoon does or fails to do

and we failed to bring Jameson

and Sergeant Arrechaga
home safely.

- [Justin] Yeah.

- So.

- You think the
families feel that way?

- No, they've been
actually pretty great.

It's helpful to talk with them

and kinda be
involved a little bit

and seeing their lives,
but, it only helps so much.

- I don't know what
more you could have done

and I don't think you
failed them at all.

You're an amazing leader.

I know what that is now.

I know what that looks like.

And it's from walking
with guys like you.

- Captain Mott, I guess you can
call him, like, Iron Man.

he's pretty much badass.

I mean, for being
shot in the head

and falling off a cliff,
breaking your back,

ankle, lacerations
all over his head

and for him to come
back shows a lot

about his character.

- [Justin] As Austin
is gonna be growing up,

what do you want him to
remember about his dad?

- Really just, his dad
was an awesome guy.

He was really like dad for
a lot of soldiers, you know?

Everybody loved him, he
had a great sense of humor.

He had this huge, this smile,

that you couldn't help
but smile when you saw him

with a big smile on his face.

His dad was a great leader,
he was a great soldier

and somebody I feel really
fortunate to have known.

[melancholy music]

- The reason I wanted
to do this so much

is because the last
sermon that I actually did

was a memorial.

After that was over I
praying my own room,

most secret tears.

I've prayed over our loss,
I've prayed for the families.

Who had soon receive
the terrible news.

[melancholy music]

- The memorials, I
don't like doing one.

Now I gotta do six.

- [Wright] We were so
close to going home.

Some guys, couple weeks.

To lose lives that
close, that was hard.

- I think it's one of the
things that just eats at you

inside that,

I can't get it out of my head.

- Every person I ever talk
to thus far since I been here

on this little trip has
been nothing but regret.

Every single person.

I think that's the curse of war.

- [Mott] 'Cause
you always think,

maybe I could have
changed something.

- Strong Eagle Three, that
operation took from us

some great soldiers.

The way that that
affected us right before

coming home was tough.

- And now comes the question
of how do we come home?

How do we come home
from the battlefield?

In war, I saw this
constant thing behind

every act of valor, there
was a heart of love,

a heart of brotherhood behind it

and then as you
try to come home,

it's not so simple then.

It's harder.

During the deployment,
one out of four No Slack

soldiers were wounded.

Some servicemen and
women were coming home

with wounds that weren't
strictly physical,

and the residue of war
can be just as deadly

as the war itself.

- When I was injured,
we were on a patrol

out to Bidel and I
felt a couple stings

in my arm and as I looked right,

there was kinda like,
rolling flame towards me.

So, as I open my door,
a RPG hits the front

of my truck, threw
shrapnel everywhere.

I walked away with three
cigarette burn holes in my arm

and that was all I had and I
don't remember months after.

I remember the blast,
I remember that night,

I remember going to
bed, but that's it.

- As the protective
equipment gets better,

the experience gets
more horrifying.

People are surviving these more
and more violent situations.

- Ended up getting medically
retired from my injuries.

I fell into this
deep, deep depression.

I just wasn't coming out of it.

- [Justin] Injured or
not, adjusting to life

after combat is a
complicated endeavor.

What I was concerned
about is like,

your transition back home.

- I'm still
transitioning back home.

- Transition's rough.

Gunfire is not a
very sought out skill

in the civilian sector.

- When you're gone from your
families for three years

or you're going through
intense combat multiple times

you lose friends or get wounded,

coming back,
reintegrating and becoming

a human being again
is a challenge.

People do that differently.

- You get into a routine
of wake up, grab a weapon,

let's go put my flip flops
on, grab my hygiene bag

so I can go brush my teeth
50 feet outside my building

rather than walking five
feet to my bathroom.

You're waking up,
you're like, why am I

in a bed with clean sheets
and it's comfortable?

- That was one of my
biggest hurdles coming into

the civilian world was
flipping the switch, you know.

It's okay, you don't
need to be watching

everyone in this crowd.

- Coming home, the
transition is how do I stop

feeling is today my
day to today is a day.

[gunfire popping]
[chaotic chattering]

- You'll never match the
rush you got in combat.

- It was exhilarating,
almost out of body.

- It's like a drug,
it's addicting.

Combat is addicting.

- I loved everything about it
except the getting shot part.

[gunfire popping]

- Get some!

Oh man, oh, this is intense.

Oh my God.

I think, we're good,
totally fired again.

Whoo!

- Every time you get
into a fire fight,

you learn how to
control that adrenaline,

that rush gets better.

- When everything goes
right and no one gets hurt,

combat was one of the best
feelings I've ever felt.

- You hear about a lot of
guys dying in motorcycle

accidents and car
crashes because they're

driving crazy, lot of
that is guys trying

to match that rush again.

- That emotional roller
coaster cannot be duplicated.

- There's nothing in
the civilian world

that's gonna match that.

It's like driving at 100
mile an hour for a year

and then just being
dropped into a room

that you're not moving at all.

- I had to learn
like, how to deal with

the slow pace of civilians.

Walking in the mall,
everybody's slow.

- I'm very out of place
in the civilian world.

Most of the people my
age just don't understand

how to show up and work.

It's been really difficult
for me to respect

people for being children
when they're in their 20s.

- Everybody complaining about

six or seven people
in line at Starbucks

and you're never
gonna get your coffee.

People said I was
a different person.

I didn't see it.

- I always have to
catch myself whenever

I first get back
from a deployment.

That first month,
I still have that

kind of sick humor, I guess,

and I'll forget my audience
and I'll be sitting there

and just telling a
story and be like,

yeah, we picked up a
head or did something

and everyone's just kinda
looking at you like,

oh my God and you're
saying, had to be there.

I guess you could say it's
like a coping mechanism

to kinda get through it.

- I was able to readapt
myself and I would say

it took a couple months.

People treated me
like I was a person,

not a monster.

- [Justin] Soldier
after soldier agreed.

Acclimating to civilian
life is an unexpectedly

jarring challenge.

- One of the standing
issues that I've always had

with coming back and
re-integrating was,

you go and see a
health provider,

and it's not even a counselor,

it's just a contract
individual who,

you walk in and you say, "Are
you gonna hurt yourself?"

No.

Check.

Do you want to
hurt anybody else?

No, I wanna go home, be
with my wife, drink a beer

and whatever.

No, alright, you're gone.

Later on down the road,
you find that the stress

in his life or her
life starts to affect

their ability to make
rational decisions.

You think that you're fine
and there's nothing wrong

and I know those individuals,

yet when the roach
commercial comes on,

they're over there weeping.

- We have soldiers do
the most God-awful stuff.

You have to absorb
when you kill somebody,

you watch somebody die.

- If you haven't been here,
I can't tell ya about it.

- Try to come up with
ways to describe it.

I mean, I can tell you
what it sounds like

when a bullet misses
your head by a few feet.

But until you hear that,
you don't understand it.

- What your body goes
through is incalculable.

- And then when you get
home, you try to live

with all this and some spouses
just don't wanna hear it.

Some spouses wanna hear it all.

- What's my wife gonna tell me?

She can put her arm
around me, you know,

so can my mom and all
that stuff, that's great.

I know they love me.

But they don't understand.

- She just looked up at me and
said, "Why do you do this?"

- My traumatic brain injury
caused marital problems

and I was the type of person
who said no to counseling

and said no to anybody
trying to help me.

- That was me.

I didn't need anybody's help.

I was the Command
Sergeant Major.

- [Justin] Yeah.

- Ten feet tall and bulletproof.

- If there's any stress
fracture, I call it,

in a relationship,
girlfriend, wife, husband,

whatever, it's
exacerbated by combat

and that caused a
lot of divorces.

- Me and my wife were
having some serious issues

and we ended up separating
about six or seven

months after I got
back from Afghanistan

and subsequently,
I got a divorce.

- I'm not sure we did
the best we could have

as an army, or as a battalion
where I could affect

it to help that.

We did programs, we had
a lot of people involved,

lot of counseling,
lots of classes,

but I think everybody
just assumed

they're gonna come back
together with kids and family

and friends, it's all
gonna be great again.

But it wasn't.

- I had to go to Fort Drum,
New York for a couple of years.

So that was rough, because
we also had our son together.

You know, going a whole
year without seeing him.

That was a real low
point in my life.

- The relationship
with my kids has been

affected in such a way
that I don't even have,

I mean, they don't even
know I'm their father.

I have a four year old
and a three year old that

don't even know my name.

I chose to get help and go home.

I feel like for nothing
because even though

I did it for my girls, I
don't even have my girls.

They call somebody else Dad,

doesn't matter who
tells me and who hugs me

and tells me it's
okay, it's not okay.

Last thing I think of when
I go to bed is my kids.

I just love 'em to death
and I just can't wait

for the future, man.

And that's the only
thing that motivates me

to keep going.

I know I will have
a future with them.

- [Justin] Solving some
of these heartbreaking

problems isn't often as
simple as just offering help.

- There's a massive amount
of people in my life

who love me for me
and the thing is,

I have to allow
them to be there.

I don't allow it,
for whatever reason.

- I don't really
relate to anyone I knew

before the army.

I don't talk to them.

It's hard to relate to family.

I work a civilian job now and

everyone thinks I'm just
some mean, aggressive guy.

- It feels like the guy
who I was before I left,

I don't even remember that guy,

so it's hard to fall
back into anyplace.

- Everyone's like, well,
you were a civilian before,

can't you just go back to that?

When I was a civilian
before, I didn't

have all this
experience I have now.

[booming]

Oh, shit.

RPG!

West ridge-line!

Man, we need suppression
on this ridge-line.

[gunfire popping]

- Dealing with those
memories and those emotions

and everything, I
have my good days

and I have my bad days.

- There's some days you just
wanna break down and cry.

There's some days you just
wanna be mad at the world.

- I knew when I came
home I wasn't right.

I mean, why did it
affect me the way it did?

- Any veteran you see in combat

has these things to deal with.

We're not alone, but we are.

- [Justin] A lot of guys
struggle talking in general.

- Nothing came out 'til
a year after we got back.

Just one day, I just
broke down in tears.

Just lied on the floor crying.

- Why do you think it stayed
bottled up for so long?

- Probably 'cause it
needed to at the time.

You're in a war.

You have to concentrate, so
I just buried everything.

We get back home, it
falls apart, though.

- Sometimes, it's really
difficult to leave the house

just out of fear of fear.

- I'm on guard a lot.

Like, I know I'm safe.

I know I'm home, but,
there's that small chance

that the one time I
let down my guard,

is gonna be the time
that it takes me out.

- Hardest thing for me is malls.

Just a lot of people.

You feel like something
bad's gonna happen.

- I would get in my car
to go drive somewhere,

moving with a purpose, had
something really to do.

Get in my car, get going,
forget what I was doing.

I wasn't lost, I just had no
idea what I was supposed to do.

- I took a pretty
catastrophic hit

and the bullet's
still in my liver.

Had to learn how to walk again.

I mean, my mom gave me a
bath, 'cause I couldn't do it.

My mom had to dress me,
couldn't dress myself.

You know, I'm 23 years old
and I can't do this stuff.

You're at your all-time
low right there.

- I have no memory of
my internal dialogue

from the day before, so
any sort of self talk

that's motivating that
can get me through

my day or get me through
tomorrow, I lose.

For some reason, I'm
happy and I'm like, yes,

everything's working,
everything's great

and then before I know it,

I'm at this low
where I'm not eating.

I'm not sleeping.

I avoid my responsibilities
and I'll stay

in this extreme low for
two weeks, three weeks

to a month and that fuels
the post traumatic stress.

You just kinda walk in circles.

- And people hear this
guy's got traumatic

brain injury or PTSD
and they don't know

how to respond
with that, I find.

- Some people are receptive
to it, some don't really care.

- Had a doctor, white
coat, diploma on the wall,

tell me about yourself
and I start going

and I get into a
pretty rough patch.

And he has the
freaking audacity,

I know exactly how you feel.

To tell me he knows how I feel?

I became extremely
angry and actually

had to leave the office.

- My highs and lows are extreme.

I can't pick and choose
when the TBI comes,

so sometimes, it puts
me down so negative

I spiral downward because
I would like to think

that it's not there.

- [Justin] I felt these
extremes personally.

Sometimes, it's hard to tell

when you're at a low.

- When you just think
that you're raising

your voice just a little bit,

and you watch your
little girl lay down

in the middle of the
floor and start to cry,

you then turn and say, "Oh crap.

"I'm fucked up."

And you turn around
and you go...

what now?

- When something bad
happens, my first reaction

is to harm myself.

My first thought is to end it.

- [Justin] Statistics
regarding veteran related

suicide are simply staggering.

It is currently the
leading cause of death

in the military.

- You're on a new mission.

That mission is to
save service members

from taking their life.

22 a day right now is
the national statistic.

- And guys that we know?

- Mm hmm.

- And there's not like,
an in to that road.

- I'm not sure what
my future has for me.

Hope it turns out
good, but either way

I'm not gonna give
up on anything.

- I know if I let
the PTSD stop me

from living my life, I
personally lose the war

against the Taliban.

They have defeated me
so I do not do that.

- I've always said
that I'm not suicidal

and that I'm very pro-life.

I believe this is
my only chance,

my only option, this is it.

- The only way that we
can fix it is through

people who care.

- If you see a service member
that's just down and out,

there's a lot of 'em
out there that would

just appreciate a
job, some of 'em.

Something to do.

- My advice to
civilians would be

get to know these soldiers.

They're people in pain,

but you can't have a greater
friend, I don't think,

than somebody who's
been through all that

'cause you treat them
right, they'll do anything

for you, help you out.

- [Justin] To me, one
of the biggest questions

is how some of
these soldiers dealt

with issues that I
fought to resolve myself.

- I personally try to stay busy.

I went to school immediately,

started taking
advantage of that.

- My personal therapy is my son.

Taking him to school,
doing his T-ball,

just sitting outside with him,

drive his four-wheeler
around the yard

or go dig in the dirt.

Sit over there and
watch him pick up

a bucket of dirt and
pour it on his head.

He's tickled me.

[chuckling]

It sounds not fun, but it--

- It sounds amazing.

Everyone seemed to struggle
with different issues

and working out solutions
in their own way.

I think my biggest
problem was simply

admitting I had issues,
whether it be to God,

or the people around me.

But finally, I figured
out that it was through

these relationships
that I could find hope.

- You need someone there
for you, definitely.

It's nothing anyone
should do alone.

- I urge everybody to, at
least, re-evaluate themselves.

- The advice that I would
give every service member,

take the time out to
reach out for help.

- There's a stigma with
people who seek help

and I didn't buy into it.

I know getting help
and seeking help

and doing the weekly therapies

is the right thing to
do for me and my family.

I know that.

- Confide in your friends,
confide in people.

Find someone, 'cause
if you let the numbness

continue after the
mission, it tears you up.

- The only way I can heal
is talking to you guys

that were there
with us, you know?

- [Justin] After spending
the last few weeks

reconnecting with the soldiers,

I thought it would be a
great idea to celebrate

the 4th of July with them.

Independence Day is the day
our nation found its freedom.

For me, it was the
day that I figured out

freedom is something
that we find together.

- It took forever.

It was like, 10 minutes to
put the bandage on there.

Being able to release
and be with people

I've been on the mountains with

has been so much better.

I've healed so much
in the last two weeks.

- I'm not the only
one feeling the guilt

and the isolation and the
anxiety and depression

and regardless of
whatever story it is,

we're all kinda feeling
that same gut pressure,

that same weight.

- I think that guys
are having a tough time

just need to talk about
it and the best people

to connect with
are other veterans

with similar
experiences to see how

they're dealing with it.

- I talked to some
of my other soldiers,

my old friends.

- I still talk with Byerly,
talk with Wilson off and on,

all those guys.

- You can call an old
buddy that you served with

10 years ago, say
I need to talk.

It'll be like you
never were apart.

- We talked about why
people come in the Army.

It's not the same reason
they fight for each other

when they're in it.

They're taking
care of each other.

- That's what combat
does to individuals.

It brings that bond
together because now

you're beside each other,
fighting for each other.

- The brotherhood
to me is everything.

- It's like these
guys are your brothers

and they're your fathers
and you get the young ones

and it's like they're your sons.

- You see a guy come
in, in a few years,

he's a sergeant and you
watch him lead squads

and you're sitting there going,

I had a hand in that.

- [Soldier] Alright here.

Line formation here and here.

- The only way that you
can really come back

from a war is with love.

It has to come from friends.

It has to come from
family members.

It has to come from neighbors.

It has to come from the people
that you were fighting for.

It has to come from each other.

That's the only way
that we fully come home.

- [Soldier] This
gentleman right here,

each one of these lanterns
that will be lifted up

is a representation
of each of our fallen

during our previous
deployment to Afghanistan.

- I can't make
sense of everything

that's gone on in this war,
but I understood America

so much more on the
mountaintops of Afghanistan.

What we stand for.

People coming from all
types of backgrounds

and all types of
races and religions

and all of these
different individuals

coming together as
brothers and sisters.

I witnessed that.

I saw that.

[crackling]

[booming]

I wish we could have
that here somehow.

But I understood America
on those mountaintops.

I was proud.

I was honored, and you
made me feel that way.

After one of the
memorials in June, 2010,

the artillery guys
let us shoot off

a seven-gun salute
in honor of one

of our fallen soldiers,
Specialist Osborn.

The guys wrote on the
shells before firing them

and on one of the shells
the soldier wrote,

"Love never loses its way home."

For our veterans coming
back, it's up to us

to make that true.

[booming]
[melancholy music]

Right now, veterans
in your community

are working on their
transition home

and it can be a struggle.

That struggle is
lessened by the veteran

organizations
throughout America.

Many of these organizations
are working hard

in your community
to help our warriors

as they come home.

Your support will
make a difference,

a powerful difference,
in the lives of those

who have made incredible
sacrifices for our country.

Thank you.

[melancholy music]

["Love Never Loses Its Way
Home" by James Litchfield
and Kris Grahn]

* It's not my job to
live for the both of us *

* From our parting moment
'til I return to dust *

* The days we carry

* The weight we bear

* The trial by fire forged
the bonds we share *

* Sometimes it's so hard

* But this story must be told

* Brother I tell your God

* Because love never
loses its way home *

* I cannot find the
words to describe *

* The look that I
see in your eyes *

* I know that in due time

* You will once again
feel hope swell inside *

* Our bond is so strong

* Not even time can break it

* It doesn't matter how long

* Tested and tried
we can take it *

* Sometimes it's so hard

* But this story must be told

* Brother I tell your God

* Because love