Posted on 04/11/2003 9:21:59 AM PDT by 2Jedismom
Threats remain for soldiers fighting 'forgotten war'
By Malcolm Garcia, Knight Ridder
European edition, Friday, April 11, 2003
ORGUN-E VALLEY, Afghanistan — This barren stretch of desert in southeastern Afghanistan is one of the front lines against remaining al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in what some American soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division here describe as the "other war," the "forgotten war."
"I know the main topic is Iraq," said 1st Lt. Ryan Tack, 26, of Bloomington, Minn. "It can feel sometimes like we've been forgotten because it's not over. We've made good gains in Afghanistan, but there's still a threat. We have to do constant patrols."
Gen. Tommy Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command, is scheduled to visit Bagram Airbase outside Kabul on Friday. The visit should boost morale for soldiers throughout Afghanistan who are feeling overshadowed by Iraq, forgotten by the American public and dragged down by the drudgery of routine.
In Orgun-e, about 125 miles south of Kabul, that routine consists of maintaining a constant visible presence to prevent rebel fighters from regaining a foothold by slipping in over the nearby Pakistan border. If U.S. forces leave, the Taliban would return to Orgun-e, the soldiers say. By staying, they maintain a fragile peace.
The soldiers conduct two patrols a day. Sometimes they drive through the village of Orgun-e on humanitarian missions. They also inspect the bunkers of Afghan soldiers who are assisting the base.
Other times, they take positions on hilltops overlooking villages and scan ridges. Often, they spend their time talking about women, bars and movies.
"I feel like I'm looking at L.A.," a soldier said, looking through his binoculars at several mud huts in a distant valley. "Haze everywhere."
Achingly slow days can be quickly shattered.
"We got rockets coming in!" Sgt. Michael Londagin shouted Wednesday night as he and five other soldiers on patrol about a mile south of the base sought shelter from a rocket attack.
"Nothing's really changed," Londagin, 21, from Amarillo, Texas, said after the bombardment. "We're still fighting a war here."
Since the war in Iraq started, increased violence has been reported in the southeast, including the execution-style shooting of a Red Cross worker and an ambush that killed two U.S. Special Forces servicemen.
About 150 servicemen and women live at the Orgun-e base and are routinely subjected to rocket fire. So frequent are the attacks that the soldiers refer to them as JARA: just another rocket attack.
For reasons no one understands, Thursday nights are particularly active. So far, no rockets have fallen inside the base; no one has been injured in the attacks.
The base, little more than a year old, suffered two combat casualties last year.
"It's difficult not to get complacent," said Staff Sgt. Jason Lawson, 28, of St. Charles, Mo. "We have to always recheck ourselves. We always got a threat out there. I wouldn't want people to think we're a peacekeeping force. There's still fighting out there."
Signs of past wars show how difficult it can be to achieve peace in Afghanistan. Blasted tanks and discarded military hardware litter the landscape with the precision of museum pieces detailing more than 23 years of conflict.
Members of the 82nd recently practiced firing grenade launchers and 50-caliber machine guns at a rusted water tank that was riddled with bullets from the Soviet occupation.
"People are constantly going through here with rockets," said Spc. Andrew Fain, 21, of Martinez, Calif., taking a break from firing his AK-47. "We get fired at; it's random. We make bets on it."
Like the other soldiers, he supports the war in Iraq.
"Stuff happened over there, and we had to take care of it," he said. "It's not a reflection on us that everybody's watching Iraq. I know my family's proud of me."
Londagin said he was glad the world was focused on Iraq.
"Some of the guys are angry everyone's just talking about the fall of Baghdad and where is Saddam Hussein," he said. "I'm happy no one's paying attention to us. Iraq keeps my family distracted from what's really going on over here. It keeps them from worrying about me."
POSTED: 10:32 a.m. CST March 31, 2003
UPDATED: 2:53 p.m. CST March 31, 2003
U.S. authorities identified the fatal victims as Army Special Forces Sgt. Orlando Morales, 33, of Manati, Puerto Rico, and Staff Sgt. Jacob L. Frazier, 24, a member of the Illinois Air National Guard from St. Charles, Ill.
March 31: Illinois Dad Says Soldier Killed In Afghanistan 'Was Chasing Bad Guys'
A Tinley Park mother got an e-mail from her daughter, Alyson McInerney (pictured, left), who was among those who treated the soldiers after the ambush attack: "This is an explanation of what happened here the other day. I sat down and typed it yesterday (Saturday, after the attack). I took the complete names out to protect the soldiers' families."
McInerney is stationed at the Field Hospital at the Kandahar Air Base, serving in the 307th Field Support Battalion. This is her story.
30 MARCH 2003
Yesterday? I will never forget. Definitely the most memorable and significant day of my time here.
A call came in over the radio: "NET CALL, NET CALL, NET CALL. We have a possible mass casualty situation. U.S. Special Forces units are in contact now. Stand by for activation of ground QRF."
The clinic froze for about 3 whole seconds. Then it was chaos -- controlled chaos, because we've practiced this drill many times before. We even wondered, at first, if this was a drill. But it was real, and casualties were due in 45 minutes.
We got information in bits and pieces.
First we heard that two were WIA and one was KIA. Then the number jumped to 4 WIA and 1 KIA.
People started to gather outside the clinic. The chaplains came and representatives from the soldier's unit came and curious onlookers came in droves.
We all waited in silence. Some waited with tears in their eyes. A nervous anticipation filled the air. Occasionally, I would go outside with an update on the casualty's injuries and ETA.
When the UH-60 Blackhawk finally landed, three patients were rushed in on litters. The first was taken directly into the surgical team. The other two men were brought into the trauma bays. The soldiers were messed up pretty bad. All had multiple gunshot wounds with two sucking chest wounds and one who was shot in the head.
As they carried in the man shot in the head, there was a USSF medic with him -- a huge guy. He was doing CPR and counting loudly, "1-2-3-4-5? I can't get a pulse!" You could hear the desperation in his voice. The soldier died soon after.
I was watching everything in slow motion.
I watched as the soldier's hand slowly dropped off the litter. His hand looked so small and delicate now. I looked at his watch -- it was still working but the soldier was gone. His clothes had been cut off and we began to sort through them in an attempt to discover the soldier's religion.
I put on gloves and began to search his blood-soaked pockets. I found no ID, only tape, notes, Chap Stick, and other personal belongings -- everyday things that we all carry, but these items were now sacred, belonging to the dead, and covered in blood.
They took his watch off his wrist and gave it to the Sergeant Major who was collecting all of his things -- a grown man, a tough man, a man whose face was marked with the signs of age and too much sun. This man now seemed weak and nervous. He had tears in his eyes. The only identification that we found was the soldier's name ... written by his own hand on the tag of his BDU blouse. It was his handwriting. I saw his possessions. I saw him die.
I began praying right there, and I prayed for the rest of the day. "Lord, today I have seen what his family will never see but will always wonder about. I watched this soldier die. Please be with his family. Watch over them. Let them turn to you for comfort."
We draped his body with a blanket and moved him to a smaller room. There was another body in there already. The other wounded soldier had also died. I never saw him except for his toes, which were now sticking out the bottom of the blanket. It was like he was just sleeping there. I stood there with the bodies for a long time.
I looked into the faces of my soldiers. No one cried. They were tough, professional medics. But they all stared way off somewhere. Somewhere lost in thoughts of what they had seen, of their own families, maybe questioning why we are even in this dusty country.
Some were angry. I began to work with the mortuary affairs representatives to complete the necessary death certificates and other paperwork. I learned the name of the other covered soldier ...
People started to gather now outside the OR. There was one soldier in there still fighting for his life. The surgery went on for almost six hours. There was still blood all over the floor, and medics worked to quickly clean it up.
We all prayed that this soldier would live. He did. Praise God.
I came into the clinic this morning to check on him. He is awake now and trying to talk. It is so refreshing to see him move his feet and try to speak. It will be a long road to recovery for him. He almost died in surgery last night many times.
I have seen the blood. I've seen gunshot wounds. I've seen people die. But all were Afghanis. None wore the same uniform as me. None were Americans -- brought to this country to bring Freedom to these people.
You probably won't hear about these deaths on the news. Iraq dominates the broadcasts now. Also, these guys were Special Forces. They work in secret. They don't wear nametags. They are all John Doe.
But to me they were ... (name withheld) and ... (name withheld). I didn't know them in life, but they were my brothers. My brothers in the military.
The Army will take care of their families.
Some time last night a soldier member came to ... (their mothers') houses wearing their Class A uniform. They came bearing the news of what happened. They came to inform, comfort, and be the rock. I will never forget yesterday.
Copyright 2003 by NBC5.com. All rights reserved.
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