Into the Valley of Death: Living in the enemy's backyard
Deafening sounds of mortars impacting just yards away, and sounds of rounds being fired from the compound startled soldiers awake. Most of the 16 soldiers were already in their stations: grenadiers in the bunker, snipers, tracer fire, and heavy artillery at the uppermost level of the compound. This was just another morning for these men. The Lieutenant, in charge of the platoon, as professional as can be, was on the phone calling coordinates for air support. A low flying jet comes ripping through the sky, dropping a nice dosage of bombs to a tightly packed building in the distance. All soldiers paused as the jet flew overhead, silence followed. The precision air strike was always a success.
The soldiers then did what soldiers do and that was carry on. They made jokes, had stories, ate MRE, (Meals Ready to Eat) stalled some more and waited for more orders from the Lieutenant. It was just getting into the late afternoon when the Lieutenant ordered a conference type meeting. These meetings were always serious as they had the most recent news and plans. The Lieutenant let the troops know that a nearby platoon lost several soldiers and supplies, mainly gear and powerful weapons. He let them know that they had crossed territory so ruthless that they were close enough to the enemy to be flanked, and without them knowing their soldier was yet down, guns and equipment looted. He let them know that before the sun rises they will be out on Operation Avalanche, which was aimed to find the deadliest of the Taliban in the valley and to make peace with some of the tribes people so that a road could be safely built through the area. The operation led 7 days, and during those 7 days Americans lost 3 troops but managed to take out a Taliban leader named Mohammad Tali. They managed to kill 40-50 insurgents in the 7 day period where sometimes a dozen firefights occurred in a single day. This fighting was The War in Afghanistan as this is where all the deadliest combat was. Operation Avalanche was considered a tactical victory as they htook out some important Taliban leaders, located bunkers in which insurgents hid in, and as well located firing positions that were used to fire at the almighty, highly elevated outpost. So when the US forces returned to the outpost, they had better sleep even though the thought of insurgents creeping up the hill to ambush their outpost still kept the majority awake all through the night. With another 2 months until Christmas, soldiers were getting excited to return home, others were filled with depression and were not sure if they were looking towards the future as their experience in the Korengal Valley was what taught them who they truly are. However, they looked forward to coping with their lives.
The soldiers went on some of their last patrols, hoping their lives weren’t taken this late into the battle. Their last patrols were filled with significantly less firefights however they still occurred. Time passed and finally time came to get evacuated home. After 3 and a half years of intense combat soldiers were brought home, leaving behind so many memories they will have for the rest of their lives in and around the outpost. Little did the soldiers know they would not be returning to the outpost as the US military had closed it down as it stirred up too much provocation. Another thing the platoon had not known was that some of the deadliest battles were fought in Afghanistan by them, in the Korengal Valley.
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