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Page 263 text:
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to I The The Che seer came point. Ironic as it may seem. were there. M any of them don ' t i the world. The Taliban kept a tig I ' m sure that life outside of this dirt dream or a fantasy. We spent 40 plus days in Afghanistan, no real showers, no real food and no solid plan ahead. The days were warm and the nights were col temperature was in the 60 ' s during the day and 30 ' s at nij The temperature always changed dramatically at night. It always rained at night. Of course, when it rained all the dirt turned to mud. What would we be doing? Wl would happen to my Marines. My only concern was get my Marines home alive. We went further inland than an) ' other MEU had g before. A normal operating range is 200 miles and we we miles into enemy terroritory from USS BATAAN and sa conducted operations effectively even though we we far away. Operations were supported safely by the ARG running hig preparation. All paid off. The 26 ' f our part. We had a ] good about our mission aric our part in Operation Enc Once the mission was accor heading back to the ship. When I sa ! could let my guard down. All my MEU made it back safely - Thank God. Gunnery Sgtjohn , 259
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Page 262 text:
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o one When the 26th MEU (SOC) left the ea aed to the unit knew exactly what perils lie ahead. With the aftermath of the World Trade Center, the pentagon and the third treacherous strike attempt still fresh on everyone ' s minds, we wondered whether we would go to Afghanistan? This made our departure a much more intense situation. As fate would direct, we got our imitation to join Operation Enduring i recdom as the 26th MEU (SOC) was sent to Afghanistan to secure a forward operating base to support follow on missions and humanitarian assisl ance. As we flew via helicopter into Afghanistan, 1 couldn ' t help but wonder if all the training we had done during our pre deployment . and the years before that would pay off. 1 know my Marines and i t they were trained well. However, I wasn ' r sure of how we all would react to a real world scenario.. .actual conflict. During our ocean transit, we sat on the ship tor weeks waiting for o ur opportunity, basically, to do our job, to be Marines.. .to do whatever needed to be done, living aboard ship is very confining and thoughts of the unknown were stilling. We all became victims to boredom and tempers and emotions ran high. Additionally, 1 was rned about gunfire and landmines. No one voiced their worries, hey u ere evident on the faces of my Marines. What would our i i ! hauls and loi loif we got shot or it w e ne er .ir Kandahar, it w as hard to believe the ir [he Russian built airport used to be an rial airport fi r Afghanistan duriivj, the Soviet occupation l valking death trap. Mines every where a d were our biggest concern. Marines cautiously walking around the facility witnessed more evidence of the war scarred nation Artillery pieces, over-turned trucks, armored vehicles, tanks and bullet ridden aircraft were abandoned by the Russians. The devastation became more apparent when we conducted a seeurir patrol through Kandahar. Most of the buildings were damaged, mar completely unusable. They had no infrastructure to speak of, yet, lif for the Afghans went on as normal. The people there surveyed us lik anyone would look at a foreigner. Their expressions seemed to inquin •What right do they have to be here, That ' s probablv what the thinking. Can ' t they just leave us alone? A life of gunfire, bombing and war- were every day occurrences. This was normalcy for them. 1 va not afraid of the people. 1 was however very apprehensive. I knew that I let my guard down, my Marines and I could be in serious trouble Th people were obviously sick and tired of war. Sick and tired of th: of life. They were numb to the entire situation. What really concernc me w as the children. The children. How could they live in this r, environment? It brought to mind my child. My two year old and ho life is for him. Wondering how my child might worry about bombs and starvation. I couldn ' t bear it. A child should not have I w orry about anyt hing but being a child. The women were treated liki second class citizens. U was very evident that they were segret The men were gatheted in one area and the women in another. That their life style That is their culture. The women were basi alienated.
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