1
00:00:35,535 --> 00:00:39,494
You know what a bad day at
work for me is? Getting to the set.
2
00:00:40,907 --> 00:00:42,875
And there's no cream cheese
for the bagels.
3
00:00:42,942 --> 00:00:44,500
Right, right.
4
00:00:44,844 --> 00:00:46,209
Director.
Right.
5
00:00:47,047 --> 00:00:48,742
Couldn't motivate,
6
00:00:50,450 --> 00:00:52,315
I don't know what, a dog to eat a bone.
7
00:00:52,385 --> 00:00:55,946
You got it rough, man.
I don't know how you deal with it.
8
00:00:56,589 --> 00:00:58,557
That's a bad day for me.
9
00:01:33,893 --> 00:01:35,554
Dear heavenly Father,
we thank you:
10
00:01:35,628 --> 00:01:37,994
You're a God that knows everything
that's going on right now
11
00:01:38,064 --> 00:01:41,363
and is intimately acquainted
with our deployment,
12
00:01:41,935 --> 00:01:44,995
with everything that's going on
in each person's family,
13
00:01:45,071 --> 00:01:48,871
their thoughts, their feelings.
We pray that you would give us strength...
14
00:01:48,942 --> 00:01:51,843
That kid, when you're holding her,
she's either trying to fall asleep
15
00:01:51,911 --> 00:01:54,243
or she's playing:
16
00:01:54,314 --> 00:01:58,580
She just sat there for 10 minutes,
as if she knew I was leaving.
17
00:01:58,818 --> 00:02:01,184
But she had never done that before:
18
00:02:01,254 --> 00:02:03,017
She was saying goodbye:
19
00:02:03,590 --> 00:02:06,081
I mean, that's the most
heart-wrenching thing ever:
20
00:02:07,260 --> 00:02:09,592
I don't know how to describe it:
21
00:02:10,296 --> 00:02:13,129
And you just hope
that you can see that person again.
22
00:02:19,205 --> 00:02:22,231
I may be walking out of the door
for the last time
23
00:02:22,308 --> 00:02:25,072
and abandoning the people I love the most:
24
00:02:27,347 --> 00:02:30,714
And for what? A cause.
25
00:02:33,386 --> 00:02:35,581
I mean, I already told you
I believe in what I'm doing:
26
00:02:35,655 --> 00:02:39,352
But, damn, you're asking a lot
if I don't get to come back:
27
00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:42,687
Lord, as we leave,
keep us safe.
28
00:02:43,029 --> 00:02:44,963
In your holy name we pray. Amen.
29
00:03:11,591 --> 00:03:13,286
Even though
this was Isaac's third deployment,
30
00:03:13,359 --> 00:03:16,920
it still felt strange
sending my brother off into combat:
31
00:03:17,997 --> 00:03:21,296
But, it didn't feel that way
for my youngest brother, Joe:
32
00:03:21,768 --> 00:03:25,033
He'd spent one tour of duty in Iraq
in Isaac's unit already:
33
00:03:25,104 --> 00:03:27,004
That's the fun stuff. Kicking in the door,
34
00:03:27,073 --> 00:03:30,736
going and clearing that building,
that's fun stuff. It's good shit.
35
00:03:31,044 --> 00:03:33,342
Is it 'cause it's such an adrenaline rush?
Is that why it's fun?
36
00:03:33,413 --> 00:03:34,778
You know what I mean?
It's just like, life at a...
37
00:03:34,847 --> 00:03:36,906
Even in training, or whatever,
you're kicking down that door,
38
00:03:36,983 --> 00:03:38,712
it's awesome. It's the best.
39
00:03:38,785 --> 00:03:40,377
You had to have force:
40
00:03:40,453 --> 00:03:44,719
You gotta have a sheepdog in order
to protect the sheep from the wolves:
41
00:03:44,791 --> 00:03:47,385
Sheep are, for the most part,
innocent, you know:
42
00:03:47,460 --> 00:03:51,897
Sheepdog, he's organized chaos.
You have to have organized chaos
43
00:03:53,199 --> 00:03:58,967
in order to have a free, orderly life.
44
00:03:59,305 --> 00:04:03,901
Imagine. You're going
into a house fully geared up, you know.
45
00:04:04,577 --> 00:04:06,442
From head to toe.
46
00:04:08,114 --> 00:04:10,344
You have to see it and do it.
47
00:04:10,883 --> 00:04:12,407
Talking to Joe made me realize
48
00:04:12,485 --> 00:04:15,181
how much he had changed,
in the last two years,
49
00:04:15,255 --> 00:04:17,780
and how close he'd become to Isaac:
50
00:04:18,224 --> 00:04:22,718
I began to feel a distance, for the first time,
between myself and my two brothers:
51
00:04:23,029 --> 00:04:25,259
Why are you turning on the camera?
52
00:04:26,165 --> 00:04:27,757
Hi there, Thad.
53
00:04:28,034 --> 00:04:30,059
There were five Rademacher boys:
54
00:04:30,136 --> 00:04:32,263
Isaac, Claus,
55
00:04:33,439 --> 00:04:36,875
Thad, Joe, and me, Jake:
56
00:04:38,544 --> 00:04:42,344
I'm the oldest brother, Joe, the youngest:
57
00:04:42,882 --> 00:04:45,476
Behind us boys came our two sisters,
58
00:04:46,019 --> 00:04:49,147
Hannah and Jane:
59
00:04:50,957 --> 00:04:53,391
We all grew up in Decatur, Illinois:
60
00:04:53,459 --> 00:04:55,154
That's it, yeah.
61
00:04:55,461 --> 00:04:58,726
Our childhood was pretty typical:
Trick-or-treating,
62
00:04:58,798 --> 00:05:01,426
Don't take down my pants!
63
00:05:01,501 --> 00:05:05,733
Scouts, soccer games, family vacations:
64
00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,672
I guess it's what's called "all-American:"
65
00:05:10,610 --> 00:05:14,273
Being the oldest, some of the parenting
duties inevitably fell to me:
66
00:05:14,647 --> 00:05:16,080
I enjoyed looking out for the younger ones,
67
00:05:16,149 --> 00:05:19,243
and very quickly
became accustomed to the role:
68
00:05:20,486 --> 00:05:23,478
But as we boys grew into men,
things changed:
69
00:05:24,824 --> 00:05:26,951
Different paths were chosen:
70
00:05:27,694 --> 00:05:32,597
Isaac graduated the top of his class
in military tactics from West Point in 2000:
71
00:05:33,499 --> 00:05:36,366
There, he met and married his wife, Jenny:
72
00:05:37,337 --> 00:05:39,862
Joe followed Isaac into the military:
73
00:05:39,939 --> 00:05:41,497
He joined the army in 2003
74
00:05:41,574 --> 00:05:43,235
and had the rare opportunity
to serve with his brother
75
00:05:43,309 --> 00:05:45,209
for his first tour of duty:
76
00:05:45,278 --> 00:05:46,802
Later, he graduated from Ranger School
77
00:05:46,879 --> 00:05:50,076
and top of his class from Sniper School
in 2004:
78
00:05:52,018 --> 00:05:55,249
Now a captain, Isaac volunteered
for a third deployment to Iraq,
79
00:05:55,321 --> 00:05:57,118
where he serves as the operations officer
80
00:05:57,190 --> 00:05:59,784
for an elite, long-range
surveillance company:
81
00:05:59,859 --> 00:06:01,258
There he is.
82
00:06:02,028 --> 00:06:04,929
Dad, quit embarrassing me.
Thank you, Isaac.
83
00:06:05,431 --> 00:06:08,832
You, and Isaac, I think,
developed as leaders of the group
84
00:06:08,901 --> 00:06:11,665
because you were the older children, and
85
00:06:12,538 --> 00:06:15,405
sometimes you were more dominant
than he was,
86
00:06:15,475 --> 00:06:18,103
and other times, he would dominate,
depending on what was being done
87
00:06:18,177 --> 00:06:20,702
and how they were playing together.
88
00:06:23,349 --> 00:06:25,010
There you go, son.
89
00:06:25,985 --> 00:06:29,421
He's doing well,
he knows he's being filmed right now.
90
00:06:29,489 --> 00:06:31,616
Both boys, I think, were interested
off and on in the military,
91
00:06:31,691 --> 00:06:34,455
at least in a peripheral way:
92
00:06:34,527 --> 00:06:37,257
But anyway,
Jacob couldn't make it into West Point,
93
00:06:37,330 --> 00:06:40,788
but, his younger brother, Isaac,
94
00:06:41,701 --> 00:06:44,431
became enamored with the idea,
95
00:06:45,238 --> 00:06:48,571
and, lo and behold, you know,
he ended up going to West Point.
96
00:06:48,641 --> 00:06:50,541
You were the more thoughtful
of the two,
97
00:06:50,610 --> 00:06:54,102
and you were more into
analyzing personalities
98
00:06:54,180 --> 00:06:56,580
and why things happened
the way that they did:
99
00:06:56,649 --> 00:07:01,552
He was taking the part of the Pied Piper
sometimes, with the other kids,
100
00:07:01,621 --> 00:07:03,486
and, "Here, let's do this. "
101
00:07:04,657 --> 00:07:06,852
It was a good time,
growing up with five older brothers:
102
00:07:06,926 --> 00:07:09,121
It wasn't rough,
you guys never beat me up
103
00:07:09,195 --> 00:07:12,494
or tied me to a tree
or anything like that:
104
00:07:13,733 --> 00:07:16,531
You were like, "We can't hurt this one.
She's the first girl. "
105
00:07:20,339 --> 00:07:23,706
Jacob started out
as a finance major,
106
00:07:23,776 --> 00:07:28,509
and ended up calling to say
he was gonna change major in senior year.
107
00:07:29,982 --> 00:07:33,383
And I said,
"Maybe international finance
108
00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:35,717
"or international business?"
109
00:07:36,489 --> 00:07:38,252
No, he wanted to be an actor.
110
00:07:38,324 --> 00:07:42,090
So, we had some interesting
transatlantic phone calls, after that:
111
00:07:42,161 --> 00:07:44,322
There's been a huge role reversal:
112
00:07:44,397 --> 00:07:46,558
I was the one
who was gonna go to West Point:
113
00:07:46,632 --> 00:07:49,533
Isaac was the one
that was gonna be a professional actor:
114
00:07:49,602 --> 00:07:53,504
He won the acting award his senior year
of high school: Was an athlete:
115
00:07:53,573 --> 00:07:56,770
I basically had a career in high school
to prepare for West Point.
116
00:07:56,843 --> 00:07:59,311
Then I didn't get in.
117
00:08:03,349 --> 00:08:05,374
I'll give you a text message
when we're sitting.
118
00:08:06,018 --> 00:08:07,076
Let's go.
119
00:08:07,153 --> 00:08:12,921
Not only did I wanna be a soldier,
I drove everything in my life towards it,
120
00:08:13,192 --> 00:08:16,992
'cause I always wanted to go to war,
always wanted to see it:
121
00:08:17,630 --> 00:08:20,292
So I was floundering in life,
122
00:08:20,766 --> 00:08:25,135
because what I had planned to do
in my 20s was denied me:
123
00:08:26,873 --> 00:08:30,639
So it's very interesting, you know:
It was a role reversal:
124
00:08:31,544 --> 00:08:36,413
Isaac got much more serious about his life,
and I started looking for mine.
125
00:08:36,582 --> 00:08:39,176
Where are you going?
You're going to Kuwait.
126
00:08:40,253 --> 00:08:44,849
I wanna know what's going on in Iraq
because I have two brothers serving there:
127
00:08:46,025 --> 00:08:48,050
Five hours to Kuwait.
128
00:08:48,127 --> 00:08:50,186
These guys
are putting their lives on the line:
129
00:08:50,263 --> 00:08:52,925
Why are they doing it? I need to know.
130
00:08:55,301 --> 00:08:58,395
It's important:
I have a personal stake in that:
131
00:08:58,804 --> 00:09:00,931
And that's why I set off
with a bare-bones crew
132
00:09:01,007 --> 00:09:03,475
to find my brothers' war in Iraq:
133
00:09:07,914 --> 00:09:09,609
Bye-bye.
Bye.
134
00:09:09,682 --> 00:09:12,116
- Bye-bye. All the best.
Thank you very much.
135
00:09:12,184 --> 00:09:16,348
I'm tired, I have a headache,
my eyes hurt from this prescription.
136
00:09:16,756 --> 00:09:19,782
It's about 11:00.
We just arrived in Kuwait.
137
00:09:19,859 --> 00:09:21,918
We got to get out to the Hilton,
138
00:09:21,994 --> 00:09:25,122
call this major
so we make it to Iraq tomorrow.
139
00:09:30,937 --> 00:09:34,134
- I said I wanna smell the Kuwaiti air.
It's warm.
140
00:09:34,206 --> 00:09:35,195
Wow.
141
00:09:41,447 --> 00:09:43,278
Hey, mom. It's Jake.
142
00:09:46,586 --> 00:09:48,713
I'm calling you from Kuwait.
143
00:09:50,089 --> 00:09:54,355
Yeah, I'm in Kuwait. This is Jake. Yeah.
144
00:09:56,429 --> 00:10:00,422
Little bit, little bit. I feel a little nauseous
right now, I'm a little tired.
145
00:10:03,736 --> 00:10:06,864
Still got a little on your chin.
Don't leave it just lying here.
146
00:10:07,006 --> 00:10:11,807
The change of climate? Is that what it is?
Thought it was the malaria medicine.
147
00:10:13,946 --> 00:10:15,277
Upon arriving at the Hilton,
148
00:10:15,348 --> 00:10:18,749
I learned that our workers' comp insurance
had been canceled:
149
00:10:18,818 --> 00:10:20,149
Without this insurance,
150
00:10:20,219 --> 00:10:23,313
I would lose my crew,
production team back home,
151
00:10:23,723 --> 00:10:27,056
and I'd be without medical insurance
in a war zone:
152
00:10:27,493 --> 00:10:30,189
All this work, and to fail this close:
153
00:10:34,233 --> 00:10:36,793
I decided that I had to go on alone:
154
00:10:37,403 --> 00:10:40,099
Last fucking minute,
right as the bus comes,
155
00:10:40,172 --> 00:10:42,732
one of them calls and says,
"You got any insurance?"
156
00:10:42,808 --> 00:10:47,438
Then he goes,
"Now, here's the bad news. 50 fucking K."
157
00:10:49,448 --> 00:10:53,077
It's fucking way more
than what I thought it was gonna be.
158
00:10:56,322 --> 00:11:00,691
So, we're on a bus, we're heading
to the airport just outside Kuwait.
159
00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:04,623
All the curtains are drawn,
all the lights are out.
160
00:11:05,464 --> 00:11:09,195
- I imagine that's for security.
No, that's so we can sleep.
161
00:11:09,268 --> 00:11:10,929
So we can sleep?
162
00:11:13,305 --> 00:11:18,208
Again, like I said, it's for security.
People are trying to kill us right now.
163
00:11:21,981 --> 00:11:23,642
What I'd like you to do for me
when you get off this bus
164
00:11:23,716 --> 00:11:27,709
is take everything you got,
helmet and vest, carry-on luggage,
165
00:11:27,787 --> 00:11:28,776
set it down in these rows.
166
00:11:28,854 --> 00:11:31,220
If you're going to Baghdad,
set them down in these rows over here:
167
00:11:31,290 --> 00:11:32,848
I've got four rows off to your left, out here:
168
00:11:32,925 --> 00:11:35,086
When you get out here,
it'll be out to your left:
169
00:11:35,161 --> 00:11:37,459
Guys, I have a box built out here:
170
00:11:38,197 --> 00:11:41,166
If your bag does not fit in that box,
it goes on the pallet:
171
00:11:41,233 --> 00:11:43,861
It does not go on the plane with you,
all right?
172
00:11:43,936 --> 00:11:48,100
So if it doesn't fit in that box,
don't argue with me, put it on the pallet:
173
00:11:51,343 --> 00:11:55,302
Bro, man, bro, man, bro, man,
you gotta force it. It's too big.
174
00:11:55,815 --> 00:11:57,180
- Okay.
Okay?
175
00:11:57,249 --> 00:12:01,345
Now, if it won't fit standing up
and it won't fit sideways, it's too big.
176
00:12:01,420 --> 00:12:03,615
- I think if I take this out...
Sir...
177
00:12:03,689 --> 00:12:09,685
If it doesn't fit sideways or standing up,
it is too big, okay?
178
00:12:10,162 --> 00:12:13,563
- You see these things on the side, though?
- Sir, it is still too big.
179
00:12:13,632 --> 00:12:15,998
Pay attention to it. Look at it.
180
00:12:16,135 --> 00:12:19,127
It will not fit in there. It is too big.
181
00:12:19,772 --> 00:12:22,206
All right.
- It's longer than the box.
182
00:12:22,908 --> 00:12:25,934
Okay, folks, does anyone have
any weapons or ammunition
183
00:12:26,011 --> 00:12:28,639
in their luggage that's on the ground?
184
00:12:29,215 --> 00:12:31,274
Okay, let's get this going.
185
00:12:31,350 --> 00:12:34,581
Your route for today is,
you're going from here to Baghdad,
186
00:12:34,653 --> 00:12:36,917
then you're going on to Mosul.
187
00:12:38,724 --> 00:12:40,783
How many years
have they been flying this thing?
188
00:12:40,860 --> 00:12:43,852
They were flying them
back in Vietnam, there.
189
00:12:43,929 --> 00:12:45,726
Oh, yeah?
- That's right.
190
00:12:45,798 --> 00:12:49,495
This is the most reliable aircraft
known to man, the C-130.
191
00:12:50,636 --> 00:12:51,967
Workhorse.
192
00:12:53,105 --> 00:12:55,335
- Were you in Vietnam?
- Yup.
193
00:12:56,942 --> 00:13:01,276
Military's all I know, and matter of fact,
I grew up here:
194
00:13:02,248 --> 00:13:06,446
That means, the first time I learned
that I could learn something,
195
00:13:06,719 --> 00:13:08,653
it was in the military.
196
00:13:10,890 --> 00:13:14,485
Now, if you wanna do some shooting
up front, stay off those maps.
197
00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:15,720
You should have a great view today.
198
00:13:15,795 --> 00:13:18,161
You guys can shoot outside,
and look down, and, you know...
199
00:13:18,230 --> 00:13:21,825
When the pilot heard of my plan
to film my brother's unit in Mosul,
200
00:13:21,901 --> 00:13:24,927
he invited me forward
to ride in the cockpit:
201
00:13:37,783 --> 00:13:40,650
The C-130, its job is actually
to stay down low,
202
00:13:40,719 --> 00:13:42,778
under the radar and everything,
203
00:13:42,855 --> 00:13:44,789
go drop the guys out the back,
like your brother,
204
00:13:44,857 --> 00:13:46,688
and then escape.
205
00:13:46,759 --> 00:13:48,090
That's what it was built for.
206
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:50,993
What we're doing over here is
more like Southwest Airlines.
207
00:13:51,063 --> 00:13:55,796
So we're the primary way that troops
and stuff move around in the theater:
208
00:14:22,995 --> 00:14:24,826
After flying 9,000 miles,
209
00:14:24,897 --> 00:14:27,388
I expected that Isaac would meet me
at the airport:
210
00:14:27,466 --> 00:14:28,990
Hey. Jake Rademacher.
Nice to meet you, soldier.
211
00:14:29,068 --> 00:14:31,696
- He actually just called for you.
- Oh, did he, really?
212
00:14:31,770 --> 00:14:34,238
I was soon to learn that getting
from one end of Mosul to the other
213
00:14:34,306 --> 00:14:37,173
was a little more difficult
than catching the nearest cab:
214
00:14:37,243 --> 00:14:38,767
All right. Actions on contact.
215
00:14:38,844 --> 00:14:42,007
Take small-arms fire and it's not effective,
we should keep rolling.
216
00:14:42,081 --> 00:14:46,074
He did arrange for a ride
in his company's afternoon supply run:
217
00:14:46,685 --> 00:14:50,485
Along the route, if we hit an IED,
no vehicles are destroyed,
218
00:14:51,290 --> 00:14:53,622
we should keep rolling up to Courage.
219
00:14:53,692 --> 00:14:58,629
I have a call out for route clearance,
and we'll get ready to roll. Any questions?
220
00:14:59,999 --> 00:15:01,091
Shit.
221
00:15:06,705 --> 00:15:10,436
Yeah, you guys will like Mosul down here.
It's pretty nice.
222
00:15:11,577 --> 00:15:13,101
I mean, I wouldn't buy
no summer home here,
223
00:15:13,178 --> 00:15:16,238
but I definitely think I'm gonna visit again.
224
00:15:18,517 --> 00:15:19,506
Wow.
225
00:15:20,452 --> 00:15:22,044
We're not in Kansas anymore, are we?
226
00:15:23,822 --> 00:15:25,551
In this zone, if you look down
the side of the road,
227
00:15:25,624 --> 00:15:29,025
you'll see where some of them guard rails
have been blown up.
228
00:15:29,094 --> 00:15:31,654
So you can see
where some of them IEDs and stuff
229
00:15:31,730 --> 00:15:33,857
have gone off in the past.
230
00:15:47,579 --> 00:15:52,676
Now, why is he doing that?
- They like to drop things, like, you know,
231
00:15:52,751 --> 00:15:55,413
grenades and things,
and they go there, drop grenades down.
232
00:15:55,487 --> 00:15:58,547
So, if you exit different
than the way you came in,
233
00:15:58,624 --> 00:16:01,024
you just lower your chances
234
00:16:01,093 --> 00:16:05,826
of them being able to drop a grenade
or something on you on the back side.
235
00:16:17,676 --> 00:16:19,371
Told you Mosul was nice.
236
00:16:24,717 --> 00:16:25,979
Oh, shit.
237
00:16:26,618 --> 00:16:28,085
- What's up, man?
- What's up?
238
00:16:28,153 --> 00:16:29,484
- Got everybody?
- Yeah.
239
00:16:29,555 --> 00:16:34,015
Shorts came! Damn.
I didn't know you were coming back. Okay.
240
00:16:34,093 --> 00:16:35,924
- Brothers' hug.
- Okay.
241
00:16:36,595 --> 00:16:40,258
Let's get the AC working ASAP.
What do you say about that?
242
00:16:41,667 --> 00:16:44,932
So, I told you I'd fucking make it.
- No shit, huh?
243
00:16:46,672 --> 00:16:48,139
- About time.
- What's up?
244
00:16:48,207 --> 00:16:53,406
- You have no idea what it took to get here.
- Yeah, I know. I've been tracking you.
245
00:16:53,812 --> 00:16:57,714
- No idea. But I'm here, which is cool.
- Hearing all that shit.
246
00:16:58,317 --> 00:17:01,809
In fact, we got our insurance
about 12 hours ago.
247
00:17:03,655 --> 00:17:06,089
- That was a big deal.
- I thought it would be.
248
00:17:06,158 --> 00:17:07,250
Yeah.
249
00:17:08,060 --> 00:17:11,860
I just got these new glasses,
just, basically, for this shit.
250
00:17:12,197 --> 00:17:15,064
Well, you look like a movie star.
I was thinking Brad Pitt.
251
00:17:15,134 --> 00:17:16,396
Shut up.
252
00:17:18,003 --> 00:17:21,962
What was it like to see me jump off
the Humvee and walk through the:::
253
00:17:22,341 --> 00:17:25,538
I think it was a lot more exciting
for you than it was for me:
254
00:17:25,611 --> 00:17:27,772
I spent six months in Iraq
with Joe last year,
255
00:17:27,846 --> 00:17:32,180
so I know what it's like
to have a brother, in arms, right next to me.
256
00:17:34,686 --> 00:17:37,678
- When do you think it's gonna be?
- Shot.
257
00:17:38,190 --> 00:17:41,091
That's a fucking bullet?
- Yeah, that was an AK-47 shot.
258
00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,958
This is known as
"The Bombed-out Palace,"
259
00:17:44,296 --> 00:17:47,732
versus "The Palace,"
which is the headquarters facility.
260
00:17:47,900 --> 00:17:49,663
That's the big, ornate one that...
261
00:17:49,735 --> 00:17:51,896
Isaac wasted no time
showing me around the base
262
00:17:51,970 --> 00:17:55,201
and introducing me to the men and women
he worked with:
263
00:17:55,274 --> 00:17:58,141
He was eager to show me
what life at FOB Courage was all about:
264
00:17:58,210 --> 00:18:00,371
Appreciate it, though, guys.
265
00:18:01,847 --> 00:18:06,250
The incoming attacks that have
happened on FOB Courage, around Mosul,
266
00:18:06,652 --> 00:18:09,177
this being one of the hotbeds
of the insurgency,
267
00:18:09,254 --> 00:18:10,653
a lot of times they use indirect fire
268
00:18:10,722 --> 00:18:14,453
to either harass, or try to kill,
Coalition forces:
269
00:18:15,027 --> 00:18:17,086
All of the trailer parks, as we call them,
270
00:18:17,162 --> 00:18:20,791
the living quarters the soldiers live in,
are surrounded, on Courage,
271
00:18:20,866 --> 00:18:24,063
with these large barriers:
They call them "Texas Barriers:"
272
00:18:24,703 --> 00:18:28,537
Looks like about nine-inches-thick cement,
about 12 feet tall:
273
00:18:29,374 --> 00:18:32,434
This particular one
happened on December 30th.
274
00:18:33,512 --> 00:18:37,949
It worked backwards,
but still worked in our favor.
275
00:18:38,350 --> 00:18:41,478
And I remember
soldiers laying here, bleeding.
276
00:18:41,887 --> 00:18:47,018
I remember soldiers sitting crouched down
in the bunker, in almost a fetal position.
277
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:51,056
It was a real wake-up call for us,
because it happened
278
00:18:51,130 --> 00:18:54,657
days after we arrived here
to start doing our missions.
279
00:18:59,438 --> 00:19:00,928
Basically, we've been given the assignment
280
00:19:01,006 --> 00:19:03,497
to develop intelligence
along the Syrian border.
281
00:19:03,575 --> 00:19:07,841
One of the larger problems in Iraq right now
is the flow of foreign fighters, money,
282
00:19:09,214 --> 00:19:11,614
resources to keep
the insurgency going, and...
283
00:19:11,683 --> 00:19:14,880
It started in Vietnam as a LRP,
Long-Range Patrol:
284
00:19:15,254 --> 00:19:19,122
After the close of Vietnam,
we became Long-Range Surveillance:
285
00:19:19,691 --> 00:19:21,818
The ability to go deep behind enemy lines
286
00:19:21,894 --> 00:19:25,990
and conduct reconnaissance,
or surveillance operations, on the enemy.
287
00:19:26,398 --> 00:19:29,424
Smugglers, they have their own
berm break that they can smuggle across.
288
00:19:29,501 --> 00:19:33,562
It's also reported that a lot
of the Syrian border police in this area
289
00:19:33,639 --> 00:19:35,607
are Syrian Intelligence.
290
00:19:35,974 --> 00:19:37,703
And all the foreign fighters
that we've been tracking
291
00:19:37,776 --> 00:19:39,471
from Saudi Arabia and Jordan
292
00:19:39,545 --> 00:19:43,345
have been going up to Qamishli
and then down into the Syrian border post
293
00:19:43,415 --> 00:19:44,541
and on their way into Iraq.
294
00:19:44,616 --> 00:19:47,744
You can see those items coming
right over the top of the cliffs.
295
00:19:47,819 --> 00:19:49,286
My guys have to sit down
with me
296
00:19:49,354 --> 00:19:52,983
and say, "Okay, here's where we think
guys are coming across the border.
297
00:19:53,058 --> 00:19:55,891
"Here's when we think it's happening,
and here's what we think is going on. "
298
00:19:56,728 --> 00:20:00,027
And then we take the teams
and put the teams out there,
299
00:20:00,098 --> 00:20:02,589
and the team's job is to confirm or deny.
300
00:20:02,668 --> 00:20:05,637
They don't have a location
for where the shots came from?
301
00:20:05,704 --> 00:20:09,697
They are to confirm that, "Yes,
there is people coming across the border: "
302
00:20:09,875 --> 00:20:12,901
Confirm they're doing vehicle or foot traffic,
303
00:20:13,278 --> 00:20:17,214
or deny. "No, I sat in this hole for
three days, and I didn't see a damn thing. "
304
00:20:17,282 --> 00:20:18,306
Good Lord.
305
00:20:18,383 --> 00:20:22,513
Update everybody. Say,
"They are not actively in contact right now. "
306
00:20:22,688 --> 00:20:25,623
Being an intel guy here,
in an infantry company,
307
00:20:25,691 --> 00:20:28,558
I get to know that,
when these guys go out on their mission,
308
00:20:28,627 --> 00:20:32,961
I know if I give them bad information
they might not come back at all:
309
00:20:33,198 --> 00:20:37,464
If I gave somebody bad information
and they died because of it,
310
00:20:38,370 --> 00:20:42,636
I'm the one at fault, you know.
I'm the one that has to live with it.
311
00:20:44,509 --> 00:20:46,909
But Isaac's command center
was not the only vantage point
312
00:20:46,979 --> 00:20:49,504
from which I wanted to see a mission,
313
00:20:49,581 --> 00:20:51,412
and I convinced my brother
to get us a spot
314
00:20:51,483 --> 00:20:54,452
on the next recon mission
out to the Syrian border:
315
00:20:56,154 --> 00:20:57,781
Since we know
you're going on this mission,
316
00:20:57,856 --> 00:20:59,414
yeah, I would have...
317
00:20:59,491 --> 00:21:02,892
I'd start packing it up,
and let Marotta help you.
318
00:21:03,262 --> 00:21:05,992
He'll tell you, "You need that,
you don't need that,"
319
00:21:06,064 --> 00:21:09,727
to help you pack light and to
make sure you have everything you need.
320
00:21:09,801 --> 00:21:11,029
Yes, sir.
321
00:21:12,437 --> 00:21:15,167
What day are you leaving? The 18th?
Yeah.
322
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:16,969
Y'all need to be drinking water.
323
00:21:17,042 --> 00:21:19,442
Right now?
Constantly.
324
00:21:19,878 --> 00:21:22,745
You think it's hot here?
Wait till you get out there.
325
00:21:22,814 --> 00:21:26,511
And you'd probably wear that
over tomorrow, on the Stryker run.
326
00:21:26,585 --> 00:21:30,385
Wear this over, and then bring something,
like a set of shorts and a T-shirt,
327
00:21:30,455 --> 00:21:32,616
for you to wear
while you're there tomorrow.
328
00:21:32,691 --> 00:21:36,684
Okay.
- To relax in, walk around and do whatever.
329
00:21:38,330 --> 00:21:40,821
Those laundry guys don't give a shit
about color, huh?
330
00:21:40,899 --> 00:21:42,161
No, they really don't.
331
00:21:42,234 --> 00:21:44,099
What the fuck is that?
332
00:21:45,103 --> 00:21:48,766
I was anxious to get outside the wire,
and this mission was my ticket:
333
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:50,899
The platoon I was to accompany
was based at Fort Marez,
334
00:21:50,976 --> 00:21:53,410
about 25 miles from Fort Courage:
335
00:21:54,179 --> 00:21:56,147
Isaac wanted to personally introduce me
to the soldiers
336
00:21:56,214 --> 00:21:59,183
that would be conducting
this recon mission:
337
00:21:59,484 --> 00:22:03,147
We caught a ride
on the morning Stryker run across Mosul:
338
00:22:04,523 --> 00:22:06,184
Strykers aren't the most comfortable way
to get around,
339
00:22:06,258 --> 00:22:10,354
and the inside can start to feel like an oven:
It's important to drink a lot of water:
340
00:22:19,137 --> 00:22:20,832
Gotta take a piss?
341
00:22:31,316 --> 00:22:33,716
- Doing all right?
- I'm about to pee.
342
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,318
- Just hold it in.
- It's hurting.
343
00:22:39,891 --> 00:22:42,621
I think you learn to develop
your bladder in the military.
344
00:22:42,694 --> 00:22:46,130
Really?
- You learn to find that inner happy place.
345
00:22:48,467 --> 00:22:52,369
And you store some piss in there,
relieve the pressure.
346
00:23:00,746 --> 00:23:03,840
We should be there any minute.
I mean, fuck.
347
00:23:06,952 --> 00:23:07,976
I gotta go.
348
00:23:08,053 --> 00:23:10,078
You gonna try to go
in your water bottle?
349
00:23:10,155 --> 00:23:14,216
No, I don't wanna pee in a fucking bottle.
I have to go that bad.
350
00:23:14,292 --> 00:23:17,125
I've had to fucking urinate for an hour.
351
00:23:19,264 --> 00:23:22,427
- Hey, we almost there?
- Against the wall.
352
00:23:24,136 --> 00:23:25,899
Go for it, big guy.
353
00:23:31,777 --> 00:23:33,210
Take a leak.
354
00:23:42,921 --> 00:23:47,483
What's funny is, since he was, like, 10,
it hasn't grown much.
355
00:24:02,741 --> 00:24:05,904
- We're going on, like, six minutes here.
That's right, son.
356
00:24:19,157 --> 00:24:23,924
Are you fucking serious, coach?
How long can a guy piss?
357
00:24:23,995 --> 00:24:27,089
He is doing pelvic thrusts
into the water bottle.
358
00:24:27,165 --> 00:24:30,601
What the fuck?
Now get your hand off me.
359
00:24:33,038 --> 00:24:36,235
That's my helmet, that's my jaw.
There we go.
360
00:24:43,648 --> 00:24:44,910
Gatorade.
361
00:24:50,922 --> 00:24:52,583
Glad to be going on today.
362
00:24:52,657 --> 00:24:55,524
Yeah, it'll be a good experience.
You'll see a lot of stuff.
363
00:24:56,628 --> 00:24:59,893
Hopefully, there'll be some excitement
on the mission.
364
00:24:59,965 --> 00:25:01,626
Excitement?
Yeah.
365
00:25:02,968 --> 00:25:05,801
Nothing too crazy that'll get you killed.
366
00:25:07,305 --> 00:25:10,001
We'll be doing over 200 klicks
off-road:
367
00:25:10,075 --> 00:25:13,511
- It's a serious road trip we're doing.
- Yes.
368
00:25:13,578 --> 00:25:15,045
When do you put your sunscreen on?
369
00:25:15,113 --> 00:25:18,310
- Before you get in this thing, or...
- I never put any sunscreen on.
370
00:25:18,383 --> 00:25:19,611
Really?
371
00:25:21,353 --> 00:25:23,514
I'm able to show you my life
372
00:25:23,722 --> 00:25:25,690
in a way
you never would have seen it before.
373
00:25:25,757 --> 00:25:27,281
So, get on in.
374
00:25:27,492 --> 00:25:32,054
I mean, think about it. Mom and Dad
don't know what I do. They just don't.
375
00:25:32,597 --> 00:25:35,498
Dad's well-read on all this shit, but he...
376
00:25:36,067 --> 00:25:38,900
I can tell him everything, but he just...
377
00:25:39,504 --> 00:25:43,304
You know, he listens, he hears,
he doesn't know.
378
00:25:43,775 --> 00:25:45,299
You get to see this shit first-hand.
379
00:25:45,777 --> 00:25:47,369
You're hit by an IED,
380
00:25:47,579 --> 00:25:50,878
no damage, no injuries, we're gonna
keep rolling towards the Higher.
381
00:25:50,949 --> 00:25:54,112
If this truck starts to roll over,
one thing you gotta remember.
382
00:25:54,185 --> 00:25:57,245
You've got to grab the gunner,
'cause I'm not gonna be able to, all right?
383
00:25:57,322 --> 00:26:00,621
Now, what do you mean by grab him?
You want me to pull him in?
384
00:26:00,692 --> 00:26:04,093
Yeah, pull him down, pull him in,
pull him over here with you.
385
00:26:04,162 --> 00:26:07,131
Hold onto him as tight as you can
so he doesn't get flipped out
386
00:26:07,198 --> 00:26:10,326
and this thing rolls over and crushes him
and cuts him in half.
387
00:26:10,402 --> 00:26:13,565
We're gonna be all jammed up in here,
there's gonna be shit flying everywhere.
388
00:26:13,638 --> 00:26:14,764
Don't worry about nothing.
389
00:26:14,839 --> 00:26:16,898
Leave your camera, whatever the fuck,
don't worry about it.
390
00:26:16,975 --> 00:26:18,567
Get out of this fucking truck.
391
00:26:18,643 --> 00:26:23,046
Gunners, stay low in the hatch.
Don't be General Patton in an AK death raid.
392
00:26:23,114 --> 00:26:26,572
You got, you know,
anywhere from two to maybe six guys
393
00:26:27,118 --> 00:26:28,449
that are out by themselves:
394
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:32,047
Their only link back to the big army
is a radio:
395
00:26:32,123 --> 00:26:35,217
Hope I don't see you for five days.
396
00:26:35,293 --> 00:26:37,158
And they have to know each other.
397
00:26:37,362 --> 00:26:39,193
They have to get along with each other.
398
00:26:48,406 --> 00:26:50,271
A lot of guys will get frustrated,
399
00:26:50,342 --> 00:26:54,574
because it takes a certain kind of person
400
00:26:55,413 --> 00:27:01,215
to go out, sit in a hole for five days
and not see a damn thing:
401
00:27:01,486 --> 00:27:05,650
You have to have a kid who can sit there
in the blazing-ass heat,
402
00:27:06,791 --> 00:27:08,418
looking through a scope:
403
00:27:08,493 --> 00:27:12,361
I mean, picture being one of those kids.
404
00:27:13,231 --> 00:27:16,200
Hello, Smith,
we're gonna stop for a second:
405
00:27:26,978 --> 00:27:29,708
There's a vehicle that's lost
its power steering and its brakes:
406
00:27:29,781 --> 00:27:32,511
They're both
on the same hydraulics system, so:::
407
00:27:32,584 --> 00:27:34,552
- Who has the wrenches?
- Power steering?
408
00:27:34,619 --> 00:27:35,677
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
409
00:27:35,754 --> 00:27:39,121
They're gonna be hurting
for the rest of the mission.
410
00:27:39,190 --> 00:27:40,885
Without the power steering,
every bump you hit
411
00:27:40,959 --> 00:27:43,587
shocks the steering wheel
and about breaks your hand.
412
00:27:59,778 --> 00:28:01,405
Where the hell are we?
413
00:28:01,479 --> 00:28:02,468
Uh...
414
00:28:05,316 --> 00:28:07,113
You're in the middle of fucking
nowhere, man.
415
00:28:09,254 --> 00:28:11,449
If you want to take your shit out
and dust it off,
416
00:28:11,523 --> 00:28:13,753
this is a good spot to do it.
We're going to be here for a while.
417
00:28:13,825 --> 00:28:16,157
- Okay.
- We're going to be here till it gets dark,
418
00:28:16,261 --> 00:28:19,458
and then we're going to go
and do a reconnaissance
419
00:28:19,531 --> 00:28:21,328
of our fucking site.
420
00:28:21,399 --> 00:28:24,698
Actually, it feels really good
to take this shit off your face.
421
00:28:24,769 --> 00:28:27,966
I was looking at the Lexus Hybrid,
the fucking Ford Escape,
422
00:28:28,039 --> 00:28:31,440
whatever that thing is, or the Toyota,
423
00:28:31,509 --> 00:28:34,501
but there's a waiting list
to get the Lexus or the Toyota hybrid.
424
00:28:34,579 --> 00:28:36,843
They're probably coming out
with those hydrogen cars.
425
00:28:36,915 --> 00:28:39,281
Yeah, I'm not going to wait
for a hydrogen car.
426
00:28:57,035 --> 00:28:59,265
You guys be careful, okay?
427
00:28:59,337 --> 00:29:03,467
Then you gotta pull this.
When are you guys going to get back?
428
00:29:03,541 --> 00:29:05,736
You guys ready? Let's go.
429
00:29:05,810 --> 00:29:08,973
We've got a lot of
intelligence-collection platforms:
430
00:29:09,047 --> 00:29:12,676
Everything from planes flying overhead
to satellites,
431
00:29:12,751 --> 00:29:14,742
you name it, it's probably out there:
432
00:29:14,819 --> 00:29:19,518
But nothing beats a set of human eyes
looking at a key piece of terrain:
433
00:29:20,191 --> 00:29:27,154
So the idea is, we find that key piece of
terrain and we watch it for days at a time:
434
00:29:31,803 --> 00:29:33,202
You doing all right, Jake?
435
00:29:33,271 --> 00:29:34,397
Yeah.
- Staying awake?
436
00:29:35,673 --> 00:29:37,368
So they're digging in tonight.
437
00:29:38,276 --> 00:29:39,868
Got their meals with them.
438
00:29:40,478 --> 00:29:41,604
Interesting.
439
00:29:42,013 --> 00:29:46,211
Jake's probably having the time of his life.
Where's the platoon at?
440
00:29:46,284 --> 00:29:48,775
It was established right out here.
441
00:29:51,856 --> 00:29:54,689
These missions are real rough
on the men:
442
00:29:55,193 --> 00:29:58,128
Typically, the longest we'll send them out
is five days,
443
00:29:58,196 --> 00:30:02,030
because of the extreme conditions
of the environment:
444
00:30:02,100 --> 00:30:07,231
It's very hot, it's extremely dusty
and it'll wear a guy out.
445
00:30:10,074 --> 00:30:12,565
Knowing Jake, I think he's getting by:
446
00:30:12,644 --> 00:30:15,807
He was never quite the dirty type that I was,
447
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,371
and we were in Scouts and stuff,
getting out in the field
448
00:30:19,851 --> 00:30:21,819
and rolling around in the dirt,
449
00:30:21,886 --> 00:30:23,683
and he's got good people there
to take care of him:
450
00:30:23,755 --> 00:30:26,690
So, I'm not worried about him:
451
00:30:28,159 --> 00:30:32,027
He won't soon forget
how bad conditions can be.
452
00:30:35,233 --> 00:30:37,064
He'll come back saying,
453
00:30:37,468 --> 00:30:43,031
"Yes, I went to the right place with the
right men to find what I was looking for,
454
00:30:43,107 --> 00:30:46,838
"in terms of figuring out
the heart of the American soldier: "
455
00:30:51,616 --> 00:30:55,245
Scientology, that big thing
out in fucking LA?
456
00:30:56,054 --> 00:30:57,351
Not for me.
457
00:30:57,422 --> 00:30:59,014
What's really interesting is that
458
00:30:59,090 --> 00:31:01,820
the whole rest of the world
are interested in these fuckers,
459
00:31:01,893 --> 00:31:04,521
but they're so out of touch with our lives.
460
00:31:05,063 --> 00:31:08,396
My life has nothing,
no similarity with Tom Cruise or whatever.
461
00:31:08,633 --> 00:31:11,397
Can't get enough of reading about him
and whatever fucking date...
462
00:31:11,469 --> 00:31:13,596
I don't know why that's so fascinating.
My wife doesn't get it, either.
463
00:31:13,671 --> 00:31:15,730
She's like, "Why do you read this shit?"
"I don't know. "
464
00:31:15,807 --> 00:31:17,707
You can go to Ranger School
for two months,
465
00:31:17,775 --> 00:31:20,835
come back and your chick's
been cheating on you for whatever reason.
466
00:31:20,979 --> 00:31:25,245
I went to basic training,
and the day I left for basic training,
467
00:31:25,316 --> 00:31:27,181
she was fucking
her next-door neighbor, dude.
468
00:31:27,252 --> 00:31:30,278
- I was like, "Are you kidding me?"
- Some other dude got my wife pregnant,
469
00:31:30,355 --> 00:31:33,847
and now some cocksucker is using
my nice little dresser.
470
00:31:33,925 --> 00:31:35,119
You didn't get that back?
- Fucking maple...
471
00:31:35,193 --> 00:31:39,596
I wanted to piss in it, because you can
never get that smell out of that oak.
472
00:31:40,832 --> 00:31:44,666
No one on my block,
that I grew up with, has been here,
473
00:31:46,638 --> 00:31:49,903
and a lot of people I grew up with
are still in the same hometown,
474
00:31:50,575 --> 00:31:53,567
drinking beer at the same bars they did
when they turned 21,
475
00:31:53,645 --> 00:31:55,738
and I don't want that life.
476
00:31:56,314 --> 00:31:58,805
So, do we sit out in the sun
for basically three days?
477
00:31:58,883 --> 00:31:59,941
Yeah.
478
00:32:00,018 --> 00:32:01,883
Is this what I signed myself up for here?
479
00:32:01,953 --> 00:32:03,511
You've got to look at what
the mission is, here:
480
00:32:03,588 --> 00:32:05,783
We're not here to
freaking go blow things up,
481
00:32:05,857 --> 00:32:09,588
we're here to confirm or deny certain
things are happening in certain areas.
482
00:32:09,827 --> 00:32:12,990
This is our little berm break here,
483
00:32:13,064 --> 00:32:17,000
you can kind of see
where the berm is down.
484
00:32:17,068 --> 00:32:19,628
The road picks up and goes into Syria.
485
00:32:19,704 --> 00:32:22,400
The mission out here,
you check it out, you send it to Higher,
486
00:32:22,473 --> 00:32:23,770
Higher decides
how they want to deal with it:
487
00:32:25,243 --> 00:32:28,371
There've been a couple
explosions from the city.
488
00:32:30,114 --> 00:32:32,912
That's where most of our traffic's
come through.
489
00:32:33,484 --> 00:32:34,781
My mom likes this job:
490
00:32:35,086 --> 00:32:38,249
She likes it a lot more than
any other job I'd have in the military:
491
00:32:38,323 --> 00:32:40,348
My issue is my family.
492
00:32:40,892 --> 00:32:45,795
I love the job, but there's some personal
stuff I'd like to have, too.
493
00:32:46,197 --> 00:32:49,428
Not sure if I can get that right now
because you're going to be deployed.
494
00:32:49,500 --> 00:32:52,560
You're going to be gone a year, home
a year, gone a year, home a year.
495
00:32:52,870 --> 00:32:54,861
So it's confusing.
496
00:32:54,939 --> 00:32:57,305
You're just an adrenaline junkie now,
you like the adrenaline rush,
497
00:32:57,375 --> 00:32:59,809
but you like your family, too.
498
00:33:03,915 --> 00:33:06,042
Do you guys hear gunfire?
All I heard was...
499
00:33:06,117 --> 00:33:10,713
Negative, one-four. All we've been hearing
is maybe mortar explosions, over.
500
00:33:11,589 --> 00:33:13,955
Roger: Did it cross the berm?
501
00:33:14,025 --> 00:33:17,017
Hey, do you see a vehicle
with its headlights on?
502
00:33:17,095 --> 00:33:20,087
Roger, one-six, we have eyes
on that area right now,
503
00:33:20,164 --> 00:33:22,724
and does it have its headlights on, over?
504
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:26,736
Roger: Tally 1-3 observed
a vehicle on the Syrian side of the berm
505
00:33:26,804 --> 00:33:28,931
and it appears to be going south
at this time, over:
506
00:33:29,007 --> 00:33:32,704
Roger, from our position
he's probably about five or six K's out,
507
00:33:32,777 --> 00:33:34,836
but we'll watch him, over.
508
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:37,240
Roger:
509
00:33:39,951 --> 00:33:45,082
Hell, we haven't seen anything,
not a single thing today.
510
00:33:45,156 --> 00:33:47,590
It's Sunday, man, I'm telling you.
511
00:33:47,759 --> 00:33:48,919
It's church day.
512
00:33:50,595 --> 00:33:52,620
First, you think it's miserable.
513
00:33:52,697 --> 00:33:56,360
You're in a dust storm
and you're pooping in a plastic Porta-John,
514
00:33:56,434 --> 00:34:01,394
and all these things that are gross,
you just come to accept them with time.
515
00:34:01,873 --> 00:34:03,238
You work past... I mean...
516
00:34:03,775 --> 00:34:06,539
I think anybody would adapt
to any environment, it's just human nature,
517
00:34:06,611 --> 00:34:09,978
but it's amazing how all the things you
think are horrible at first,
518
00:34:10,048 --> 00:34:12,312
you get used to,
and you don't even think about anymore.
519
00:34:12,383 --> 00:34:13,577
When I first joined the army,
520
00:34:13,651 --> 00:34:15,346
I did everything I could
not to have to shit in a field.
521
00:34:15,420 --> 00:34:18,719
Hold it for days at a time.
After a while, you're just like, "Fuck it. "
522
00:34:18,790 --> 00:34:20,758
Just dig it about a foot deep.
523
00:34:21,793 --> 00:34:23,693
Just put your hands back on the rocks
and squat over.
524
00:34:24,128 --> 00:34:26,528
Yeah, like this?
- Yeah, something like that.
525
00:34:26,597 --> 00:34:28,224
- Well, you want to lean forward.
- That's how you do it?
526
00:34:28,299 --> 00:34:30,893
Yeah. Takes a little bit of strength,
you gotta keep from falling in.
527
00:34:30,968 --> 00:34:35,200
It sucks after a while.
I hope you're a fast shitter, I take forever.
528
00:34:37,475 --> 00:34:41,707
See? This is why you want to go away.
The guys take pictures and stuff.
529
00:34:42,947 --> 00:34:44,938
And no privacy.
530
00:34:46,617 --> 00:34:49,814
Jesus, I make $1,877.
531
00:34:50,254 --> 00:34:51,619
That's with jump pay
and everything else?
532
00:34:51,689 --> 00:34:53,156
No, that's just base pay.
533
00:34:53,224 --> 00:34:54,714
It's base pay? That's not bad.
534
00:34:56,394 --> 00:34:57,759
- It's not good, either.
- Not bad.
535
00:34:57,829 --> 00:34:59,319
It's like purgatory.
536
00:35:00,598 --> 00:35:03,897
- It's not bad...
- It's not bad, but it's certainly not good.
537
00:35:04,535 --> 00:35:05,695
But it's still not that bad.
538
00:35:05,770 --> 00:35:10,104
Yeah, well, on the bright side,
you don't worry about clothes,
539
00:35:10,174 --> 00:35:13,371
because you wear
the same fucking thing every day.
540
00:35:14,979 --> 00:35:16,640
It's not bad.
541
00:35:16,714 --> 00:35:19,046
If you're doing this for the money,
you're retarded.
542
00:35:19,117 --> 00:35:21,847
You don't do it for the money. You can't.
543
00:35:21,919 --> 00:35:23,819
What do you do it for?
544
00:35:24,989 --> 00:35:27,184
I'm trying to figure that out right now,
545
00:35:27,258 --> 00:35:29,692
'cause I'm supposed to be re-enlisting
or getting out,
546
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:32,422
and I'm trying to figure out why I do this.
547
00:35:32,497 --> 00:35:33,725
It's funny, when you go home,
548
00:35:33,798 --> 00:35:35,026
come back
from a year-long deployment,
549
00:35:35,099 --> 00:35:37,431
and you go to the mall
and you see some fat guy
550
00:35:37,502 --> 00:35:38,799
stuffing his face with hot dogs,
551
00:35:38,870 --> 00:35:43,136
I'm thankful for that, because that guy
can kill himself on nitrate-cicles
552
00:35:43,641 --> 00:35:47,407
anytime he wants to. We fight for that,
that's what he wants and I'm happy for him.
553
00:35:47,578 --> 00:35:49,842
My niece, both of my nieces,
554
00:35:50,982 --> 00:35:53,917
they're going to have an education,
they're going to have a life.
555
00:35:53,985 --> 00:35:55,782
And it's because of me being over here
556
00:35:55,853 --> 00:35:58,913
that they're going to be able
to continue their life.
557
00:35:58,990 --> 00:36:02,619
Same with if you have kids
or anybody else has kids,
558
00:36:03,227 --> 00:36:05,593
I mean, we're out here for them.
559
00:36:05,663 --> 00:36:07,290
We work for them.
560
00:36:08,199 --> 00:36:10,599
Is it worth it if costs your life?
561
00:36:13,771 --> 00:36:15,500
Yeah, it'd be worth it.
562
00:36:15,573 --> 00:36:19,168
That's why I'm here.
I'd give my life for America any day.
563
00:36:19,243 --> 00:36:21,143
I wouldn't think twice.
564
00:36:23,014 --> 00:36:24,311
All right, put it on safe.
565
00:36:24,382 --> 00:36:27,078
These guys out here, I'm
going to know them for the rest of my life:
566
00:36:27,151 --> 00:36:29,449
When you spend
so much time out here with them
567
00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:31,988
and you get to know them,
they almost become brothers:
568
00:36:32,056 --> 00:36:35,355
So it's great, you have a new family:
569
00:36:37,428 --> 00:36:41,956
I've tried to make my dad proud
ever since I was a little kid.
570
00:36:42,233 --> 00:36:43,222
Um...
571
00:36:43,968 --> 00:36:47,665
It was hard to see if I was doing that,
572
00:36:47,738 --> 00:36:51,936
because young boys,
we get in trouble all the time.
573
00:36:53,244 --> 00:36:56,077
Think your dad's proud of you now?
Yeah.
574
00:36:56,380 --> 00:36:59,713
Yeah, we spend our whole lives
trying to make our dads proud, huh?
575
00:36:59,817 --> 00:37:04,311
Yeah, we do. We sure do.
576
00:37:05,156 --> 00:37:07,852
My dad answered my question
once: He's like, "Are you going to get out?"
577
00:37:07,925 --> 00:37:10,359
I'm like, "I don't know:
I don't know if I could stay in: "
578
00:37:10,528 --> 00:37:13,326
He was like, "The caliber of person you're
going to be working with in the military
579
00:37:13,397 --> 00:37:17,231
"is better than the caliber of person you're
going to meet 90% of the time
580
00:37:17,301 --> 00:37:19,735
"anywhere else in the work world. "
581
00:37:19,804 --> 00:37:23,831
It's just a different breed:
You go through different things together,
582
00:37:23,908 --> 00:37:29,210
and my friends here are closer than almost
any friends I've ever had in my entire life:
583
00:37:30,348 --> 00:37:33,715
When I've figured out why I do it,
I'll let you know.
584
00:37:37,588 --> 00:37:38,612
It's fucking hot.
585
00:37:40,057 --> 00:37:42,890
It's our last full day.
Sweet.
586
00:37:43,361 --> 00:37:45,454
What time are they picking us up?
587
00:37:46,330 --> 00:37:49,731
02:00.
- So we've got 10 hours left?
588
00:37:50,434 --> 00:37:52,595
About.
- But who's counting?
589
00:37:53,170 --> 00:37:54,296
I am.
590
00:37:54,405 --> 00:37:56,635
These guys ain't doing so bad.
591
00:37:57,141 --> 00:37:59,701
Me personally, I've got the shits right now.
592
00:37:59,777 --> 00:38:01,677
I'm sucking really bad.
593
00:38:07,451 --> 00:38:10,420
So you guys went for three days?
Yeah.
594
00:38:10,488 --> 00:38:12,149
Fortunately.
595
00:38:13,357 --> 00:38:14,949
How do you feel now?
596
00:38:16,861 --> 00:38:20,558
I feel great now,
now all these guys are here.
597
00:38:25,870 --> 00:38:27,804
Montgomery lands at one, six:
598
00:38:27,872 --> 00:38:32,969
Be advised first platoon is
mission complete, all teams are extracted
599
00:38:33,044 --> 00:38:37,105
and we are preparing to move back to
Marez at this time, over:
600
00:39:05,142 --> 00:39:09,340
Glad to be back at the base?
That was a fucking hellish drive:
601
00:39:09,413 --> 00:39:12,610
- Eight-and-a-half hours:
Honey, I'm home!
602
00:39:13,951 --> 00:39:15,350
I gotta pee!
603
00:39:18,122 --> 00:39:21,319
This company fucking needs us.
604
00:39:25,429 --> 00:39:26,919
Holy shit.
605
00:39:27,865 --> 00:39:29,992
You look like fucking poop.
606
00:39:30,334 --> 00:39:31,323
Yeah, but I like it.
607
00:39:31,402 --> 00:39:33,267
I didn't know you would grow facial hair.
608
00:39:33,371 --> 00:39:34,429
Shit.
609
00:39:34,638 --> 00:39:38,199
- You? Taking that...
- For fuck's sake man, you're filthy.
610
00:40:01,031 --> 00:40:04,330
Isaac was being called back
to the States for further training:
611
00:40:04,869 --> 00:40:08,464
But he didn't like leaving before the rest
of the soldiers in his company,
612
00:40:08,806 --> 00:40:12,435
and before being able to show me even
more of his unit's operations:
613
00:40:12,510 --> 00:40:16,378
But in the army, orders are orders
and he had to go:
614
00:40:19,417 --> 00:40:21,180
- Take care, man.
- Yeah, you, too.
615
00:40:22,953 --> 00:40:24,352
Stay out of trouble.
616
00:40:25,456 --> 00:40:27,515
I'm always out of trouble.
617
00:40:28,325 --> 00:40:31,488
See you back home. All right, man.
618
00:40:32,530 --> 00:40:34,293
Have fun.
619
00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:44,039
You guys want any snacks or anything?
620
00:40:44,108 --> 00:40:47,874
We got mail today,
so we got chips and stuff if you want.
621
00:40:48,579 --> 00:40:51,571
Can I watch just the first five minutes
of Season 2?
622
00:40:51,649 --> 00:40:53,514
I've seen most of Season 2 on TV,
623
00:40:53,584 --> 00:40:57,680
but I saw the end of the first season.
I never caught the first couple of episodes.
624
00:40:57,755 --> 00:40:59,279
This show is awesome.
625
00:40:59,356 --> 00:41:01,290
Is it good?
626
00:41:01,358 --> 00:41:03,292
I had a friend back home
make fun of me for watching this.
627
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:05,123
She's like, "That's just wrong.
628
00:41:05,196 --> 00:41:07,460
"A bunch of grown men sitting around,
watching The O: C: "
629
00:41:07,898 --> 00:41:10,389
It's great.
Dude, you have no idea
630
00:41:10,468 --> 00:41:14,404
how much comfort it was for me when these
guys were like, "Yeah, we love The O: C:"
631
00:41:14,472 --> 00:41:16,872
I'm like...
632
00:41:18,709 --> 00:41:21,143
Fucking Rangers and shit.
633
00:41:22,112 --> 00:41:23,443
It's like, I like it.
634
00:41:23,514 --> 00:41:26,813
I don't care what he thinks
is fair: He could have died out there!
635
00:41:27,184 --> 00:41:30,415
Who is the girl
with the purple hair?
636
00:41:31,322 --> 00:41:33,187
That woman's gorgeous.
637
00:41:34,058 --> 00:41:38,051
She's perfect, because she has
the black eyeliner,
638
00:41:38,128 --> 00:41:40,289
which is that mysterious look.
639
00:41:40,364 --> 00:41:42,855
The best two women in this show ever...
640
00:41:42,933 --> 00:41:45,766
Anna.
... Anna from season one.
641
00:41:46,971 --> 00:41:49,769
Perfect, and the bartender.
642
00:41:58,415 --> 00:42:00,212
Dude, Episode 4.
643
00:42:04,421 --> 00:42:06,821
I put it up there
near the Thanksgiving episode.
644
00:42:06,891 --> 00:42:09,655
Breakfast is ready:
My mom left early, so there's plenty:::
645
00:42:16,300 --> 00:42:18,530
This is fucking awesome, dude.
646
00:42:19,603 --> 00:42:23,130
What could possibly follow up
Season 2 of The O.C.?
647
00:42:23,941 --> 00:42:25,499
Target practice:
648
00:42:26,710 --> 00:42:29,042
Fisch, MacKay and Lackey wanted me
to share in the fun,
649
00:42:29,113 --> 00:42:30,944
so they arranged for me
to get in some trigger time:
650
00:42:31,015 --> 00:42:33,643
All right, put that buttstock
right on your shoulder.
651
00:42:35,753 --> 00:42:38,244
And I usually just lean it up.
652
00:42:38,689 --> 00:42:41,658
You don't really have to do that,
you can use this to balance it.
653
00:42:41,725 --> 00:42:42,919
Okay. Hold on to it, though?
654
00:42:42,993 --> 00:42:46,724
Yeah, it'll spill.
Fire three rounds, just pull back on it.
655
00:42:47,798 --> 00:42:49,265
How did I do?
656
00:42:49,333 --> 00:42:51,995
Hey. Hey, let's see, let's see.
657
00:42:52,403 --> 00:42:53,631
Pretty good.
658
00:42:53,804 --> 00:42:55,271
Where are the rest of the shots?
659
00:42:55,606 --> 00:42:57,836
So basically, with the EOD, the strike round
is gonna be down here somewhere
660
00:42:57,908 --> 00:42:59,170
if you're aiming at 25 meters.
661
00:42:59,243 --> 00:43:02,269
So that over distance, the rounds will come
up to the silhouette, you know,
662
00:43:02,346 --> 00:43:06,180
because the round travels out, goes up a
little bit, about 150, then comes back down.
663
00:43:06,250 --> 00:43:08,275
So you're hitting it actually low,
664
00:43:08,352 --> 00:43:10,752
as much as me. No offense!
665
00:43:10,821 --> 00:43:12,618
How you're shooting.
666
00:43:13,190 --> 00:43:16,182
- But not that bad. Supposed to hit there.
- No, hell, no. That's not bad.
667
00:43:16,260 --> 00:43:19,991
- But you got to remember...
- Where are all my other blasts?
668
00:43:21,498 --> 00:43:23,989
These guys take you on
as a brother
669
00:43:24,068 --> 00:43:28,505
and they train you hard
and they give you a bunch of shit,
670
00:43:28,572 --> 00:43:32,099
but they care about you
and they care about your development:
671
00:43:32,176 --> 00:43:35,543
So, when your life is on the line,
672
00:43:35,646 --> 00:43:39,980
it is extremely hard to explain,
but it's your buddy's life:
673
00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:43,619
You do worry about your own,
674
00:43:43,687 --> 00:43:47,248
but more importantly,
you're worried about your friends,
675
00:43:47,524 --> 00:43:51,324
making sure that these people
you have grown to be brothers with
676
00:43:51,395 --> 00:43:55,161
are making it
through there with you, successfully:
677
00:44:02,506 --> 00:44:04,667
Sometimes I'll flip through
the pictures of my daughter,
678
00:44:05,876 --> 00:44:07,138
my wife,
679
00:44:07,344 --> 00:44:09,778
usually it's the daughter, though,
680
00:44:10,347 --> 00:44:13,578
only because I want to be a part of her life,
and I'm not:
681
00:44:13,651 --> 00:44:18,884
The daughter's the one that I'm not
remembering as well as I'd like to:
682
00:44:20,791 --> 00:44:23,783
Jenny? Hello.
683
00:44:25,796 --> 00:44:31,564
I'll be coming home today
and I'll be flying into Fayetteville airport.
684
00:44:31,635 --> 00:44:34,365
We're supposed to be there at 18:28 local:
685
00:44:35,606 --> 00:44:38,939
Okay, and Joe can come, too,
if you want, whatever:
686
00:44:40,377 --> 00:44:42,937
But I gotta see you and the baby.
687
00:44:43,447 --> 00:44:46,939
I'm going to come home, and the one thing
I'm going to want to do
688
00:44:47,017 --> 00:44:50,418
is just pick her up, grab her and hug her.
689
00:44:52,089 --> 00:44:57,186
And the reality of it is that she may not let
me, because she won't remember who I am.
690
00:44:58,028 --> 00:45:01,691
I'm going to have to go home and
reacquaint myself with my own daughter,
691
00:45:01,765 --> 00:45:04,427
and prove to her that I love her:
692
00:45:33,197 --> 00:45:34,824
So you're sure
they haven't showed up yet?
693
00:45:34,898 --> 00:45:36,263
You know Jenny.
694
00:45:36,333 --> 00:45:39,325
You wanna go back
through and walk back out?
695
00:45:39,403 --> 00:45:40,870
- No.
- We can do that if you want.
696
00:45:40,938 --> 00:45:43,304
I do know her,
that's why I don't know why she's not here.
697
00:45:43,373 --> 00:45:45,034
That's surprising.
698
00:45:45,976 --> 00:45:47,841
I'm gonna check outside
for a minute.
699
00:45:50,280 --> 00:45:53,943
- Is Jake doing well over there?
- Yeah, he's having a good time.
700
00:45:54,818 --> 00:45:58,447
That's why I said
Jenny's probably road raging right now.
701
00:46:06,363 --> 00:46:09,730
- Well, did you talk to him?
- I talked to Joe.
702
00:46:09,867 --> 00:46:12,836
They're all coming.
I think they got two vehicles.
703
00:46:12,903 --> 00:46:16,771
I think it's important for people
in the military to have families
704
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:21,777
'cause it is a constant reminder to them
of why they're doing what they're doing,
705
00:46:21,845 --> 00:46:23,608
especially when they go in harm's way.
706
00:46:23,680 --> 00:46:27,707
- Combat jump? What did you do there?
- No, no, no.
707
00:46:28,085 --> 00:46:30,110
When my brother's home,
I don't like him being over there,
708
00:46:30,187 --> 00:46:32,155
I don't like him being gone:
709
00:46:32,222 --> 00:46:37,057
I understand it, but as much as I understand
it, it's still confusing to me.
710
00:46:37,127 --> 00:46:39,994
It's 'cause I take such a different
view point upon it.
711
00:46:40,297 --> 00:46:42,527
Or else I'd be there with him:
712
00:46:47,905 --> 00:46:50,601
Hi, baby.
- Hey...
713
00:46:50,808 --> 00:46:52,708
I missed you.
714
00:46:54,812 --> 00:46:57,280
Hunter, look. Look!
715
00:46:57,481 --> 00:46:59,881
- Hello.
- Dada?
716
00:47:00,751 --> 00:47:03,049
"I don't know who this guy is. "
717
00:47:07,925 --> 00:47:12,089
I don't know how he's doing it:
I can't do it: I couldn't leave her:
718
00:47:13,430 --> 00:47:15,330
I'd go out of my mind:
719
00:47:16,433 --> 00:47:21,598
Hunter's at a good age where she doesn't
necessarily notice
720
00:47:22,873 --> 00:47:27,469
in the moment, that he's gone.
I remind her of him all the time,
721
00:47:27,544 --> 00:47:31,947
but I think the person it's toughest on
is Isaac.
722
00:47:33,217 --> 00:47:35,617
We've got to get you warmed up, Hunter.
723
00:47:35,686 --> 00:47:37,881
He's sacrificing everything:
724
00:47:40,023 --> 00:47:42,184
She likes the sunglasses.
725
00:47:42,259 --> 00:47:43,453
Yeah, not really.
726
00:47:43,527 --> 00:47:47,930
Because he want to make this world
a better place for her to grow up in:
727
00:47:47,998 --> 00:47:50,728
Hunter, I swear, I'm cool.
728
00:47:50,801 --> 00:47:54,032
That's what we do everything for,
it's for our children:
729
00:47:54,104 --> 00:47:56,834
So he knows how important it is.
730
00:47:58,675 --> 00:48:02,873
It is his choice
to serve his country this way.
731
00:48:03,947 --> 00:48:06,279
And you can't choose your children's lives:
732
00:48:07,117 --> 00:48:11,144
You can't choose the circumstances
under which they'll live them:
733
00:48:14,958 --> 00:48:19,554
You just have to have the feeling that you
prepared them as best as you can:
734
00:48:25,769 --> 00:48:28,465
I know nothing's going to happen
to him out there:
735
00:48:28,739 --> 00:48:31,435
This is Isaac, I mean Isaac's like Superman.
736
00:48:31,508 --> 00:48:36,241
He's got the big guns
and everything going on there.
737
00:48:40,284 --> 00:48:43,549
Yeah, I wasn't too worried
about Isaac getting hurt.
738
00:48:45,856 --> 00:48:51,260
You can't really explain what it's like
when you reintegrate into society:
739
00:48:51,495 --> 00:48:53,019
You feel like you don't belong:
740
00:48:53,463 --> 00:48:57,194
Moreover, though,
you feel just like nobody understands you:
741
00:48:57,534 --> 00:49:00,628
When I came back from Iraq,
I couldn't go through Walmart
742
00:49:00,704 --> 00:49:03,229
without getting extremely irritated:
743
00:49:04,141 --> 00:49:06,439
I was consistently surrounded by people
744
00:49:06,510 --> 00:49:09,172
who were complaining
about cell phone bills
745
00:49:09,246 --> 00:49:14,206
and they didn't have the right size,
the food wasn't fresh enough, whatever:
746
00:49:16,086 --> 00:49:19,647
Man, none of that shit matters.
747
00:49:21,024 --> 00:49:25,586
To stare death in the face,
or to watch your best friend die,
748
00:49:25,662 --> 00:49:30,361
or to just be scared of dying.
749
00:49:31,668 --> 00:49:35,502
When that's over,
you're alive like you've never been before.
750
00:49:38,575 --> 00:49:41,669
You know, I can just look at him
and tell what he's
751
00:49:42,079 --> 00:49:46,880
saying non-verbally, I can read him a lot
better than a lot of other people can,
752
00:49:46,950 --> 00:49:49,919
what he's thinking or feeling
at the time.
753
00:49:50,854 --> 00:49:53,618
He wants to be on the ground, I know him:
754
00:49:54,291 --> 00:49:56,452
He doesn't want to be a guy at a desk:
755
00:49:57,027 --> 00:49:59,723
You can tell he wants to be the guy
taking over,
756
00:50:00,030 --> 00:50:03,295
charging a bunker or whatever,
kicking in the door.
757
00:50:04,868 --> 00:50:06,893
That's who Isaac truly is.
758
00:50:07,504 --> 00:50:10,530
I'm just like him, though,
I don't want to be at a desk at all:
759
00:50:10,607 --> 00:50:14,168
I want to be the guy on the ground,
pulling the trigger:
760
00:50:17,447 --> 00:50:21,474
It's a totally different world,
especially being over in Iraq with him:
761
00:50:21,918 --> 00:50:24,216
As a soldier, not as a civilian:
762
00:50:24,287 --> 00:50:27,222
That kid's been nothing
but impressive since he came into the army:
763
00:50:27,290 --> 00:50:31,590
He's got a six-month deployment to Iraq
done, with me:
764
00:50:32,095 --> 00:50:34,427
He, like me, thrives over there:
765
00:50:34,664 --> 00:50:37,462
I was scared at times, because
I was nervous about his well-being:
766
00:50:37,534 --> 00:50:39,263
I didn't want him to get killed:
767
00:50:39,336 --> 00:50:42,863
They got hit one time.
Shit, I was up in the talk,
768
00:50:42,939 --> 00:50:44,429
listening to the radio calls come over.
769
00:50:44,508 --> 00:50:47,909
They called off the battle-roster numbers,
I was making sure Joe wasn't one of them.
770
00:50:48,612 --> 00:50:52,241
Had it been Joe,
get four trucks full of cops, let's go:
771
00:50:52,315 --> 00:50:53,782
We go fucking breaking in doors:
772
00:50:53,850 --> 00:50:58,844
I mean, you're not supposed to involve the
emotion. But sometimes it's unavoidable.
773
00:50:59,623 --> 00:51:01,989
So that was the good and the bad with Joe.
774
00:51:02,059 --> 00:51:05,051
I could protect him
when he was in harm's way.
775
00:51:05,729 --> 00:51:08,459
I'd rather have him close than far away.
776
00:51:15,806 --> 00:51:17,296
What happened?
777
00:51:19,876 --> 00:51:22,674
Just driving along.
Zero seven went through,
778
00:51:22,979 --> 00:51:24,640
eight started going through.
779
00:51:24,981 --> 00:51:26,073
Boom.
780
00:51:26,583 --> 00:51:28,744
I drove through the dust and kept going:
781
00:51:28,819 --> 00:51:31,379
I heard a big fucking explosion,
dude:
782
00:51:31,455 --> 00:51:33,753
I drove through, I thought
it hit so hard, it was going to flip over:
783
00:51:33,924 --> 00:51:37,917
Once it knocked me down,
my ears were ringing extremely bad.
784
00:51:37,994 --> 00:51:40,121
I couldn't hear anything out of my left ear.
785
00:51:41,331 --> 00:51:43,265
I was checking myself to make sure
786
00:51:43,333 --> 00:51:46,268
that I wasn't bleeding anywhere
and didn't realize,
787
00:51:47,504 --> 00:51:50,268
trying to make sure that if I got hit,
I knew about it.
788
00:51:50,340 --> 00:51:53,173
Because I had the adrenaline pumping
like crazy at that point.
789
00:51:53,243 --> 00:51:56,371
I mean, there's a good chance
I might not have felt something right away.
790
00:51:56,446 --> 00:51:58,004
I was driving,
so I was pretty much watching forward,
791
00:51:58,081 --> 00:51:59,480
and I just caught it
out the corner of my eye.
792
00:51:59,549 --> 00:52:00,743
I had my sunglasses on.
793
00:52:00,817 --> 00:52:03,945
It was just a gray cloud, instantly,
at my window.
794
00:52:04,020 --> 00:52:07,478
And then, that's when
my window shattered in two spots.
795
00:52:11,394 --> 00:52:14,090
If that window wasn't as thick as it was,
796
00:52:14,164 --> 00:52:16,359
my head probably would have been
in Sergeant Beaudecker's lap:
797
00:52:16,433 --> 00:52:18,492
I was about that far away.
798
00:52:21,338 --> 00:52:25,434
After we got back to that base,
I took off my helmet and sat it in my lap
799
00:52:25,509 --> 00:52:28,740
and I noticed a tear in the cover
of my helmet:
800
00:52:28,812 --> 00:52:33,806
And I was looking at it closer,
and my helmet had a hole in it:
801
00:52:33,884 --> 00:52:37,684
And then I looked on the inside and I
realized that the hole inside had bulged out:
802
00:52:37,754 --> 00:52:41,690
It had just barely stopped the shrapnel
from penetrating all the way through:
803
00:52:43,894 --> 00:52:46,522
- Did its job.
- Yeah, it did.
804
00:52:46,830 --> 00:52:49,594
Grundy was pissed
he couldn't shoot anybody.
805
00:52:49,666 --> 00:52:52,066
Sometimes there's small-arms fire,
sometimes there isn't:
806
00:52:52,135 --> 00:52:54,433
If somebody shoots at me,
I'm going to take you out:
807
00:52:54,504 --> 00:53:01,501
There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it:
We love duking it out with people:
808
00:53:02,112 --> 00:53:04,342
They don't stand a chance against us.
809
00:53:04,614 --> 00:53:07,174
Their only chance is with IEDs because
810
00:53:07,250 --> 00:53:11,084
they know that they can't
just stand toe to toe with us
811
00:53:11,154 --> 00:53:12,849
and have a fight.
812
00:53:14,057 --> 00:53:15,046
Hey...
813
00:53:15,859 --> 00:53:18,623
There's a possible IED.
It's a box in the middle of the road.
814
00:53:18,695 --> 00:53:21,186
So you're going to look out for it.
815
00:53:21,898 --> 00:53:25,334
We were all still thinking about
what happened that morning:
816
00:53:25,435 --> 00:53:28,427
I looked at it as falling off a horse:
817
00:53:28,505 --> 00:53:30,973
I knew that if I didn't get up there
right away,
818
00:53:31,041 --> 00:53:33,373
there's a good chance
I might get a little gun-shy:
819
00:53:33,443 --> 00:53:36,173
I just basically needed to get back into it
820
00:53:37,214 --> 00:53:39,239
and feel comfortable up there again.
821
00:53:39,883 --> 00:53:40,975
How far out are those?
822
00:53:41,051 --> 00:53:42,313
It's down by where we got blown up.
823
00:53:42,385 --> 00:53:44,410
Is it in the northbound or southbound lane?
Do you know?
824
00:53:45,455 --> 00:53:47,252
It's part of our job:
825
00:53:47,891 --> 00:53:50,826
We can't really just be like,
"Something bad happened this morning,
826
00:53:50,894 --> 00:53:52,521
"we're taking the rest of the day off. "
827
00:53:52,596 --> 00:53:55,929
We have stuff we have to do,
just keep on going with it.
828
00:54:34,537 --> 00:54:37,631
I've been dating Joe
for three-and-a-half years:
829
00:54:37,807 --> 00:54:40,833
Joe's just, I think he's changed.
830
00:54:41,678 --> 00:54:43,543
He's more independent,
831
00:54:44,848 --> 00:54:45,940
brave...
832
00:54:46,016 --> 00:54:49,247
He was brave before, but he didn't really
get a chance to show it like he has now.
833
00:54:51,087 --> 00:54:53,385
I think it's just because he went to Iraq:
834
00:54:53,590 --> 00:54:55,888
I think that changed him a lot:
835
00:54:56,059 --> 00:55:01,964
Joe was always really afraid to argue
with me or yell at me or anything like that:
836
00:55:02,098 --> 00:55:05,932
Now, whenever he gets mad,
he just screams.
837
00:55:10,974 --> 00:55:13,670
Things are different now
than they used to be, but
838
00:55:13,743 --> 00:55:17,679
I think that things would be different
anyway, just because it's been three years.
839
00:55:17,747 --> 00:55:22,775
Everything's not gonna be the same as it
was whenever you first started dating, but
840
00:55:24,120 --> 00:55:28,318
I just think he's changed
because of the war. And the army.
841
00:55:28,558 --> 00:55:30,253
...only until you said something
842
00:55:30,560 --> 00:55:32,824
did I remember
that you used to mess with me.
843
00:55:32,896 --> 00:55:34,921
He expects me to be a strong person and
844
00:55:35,532 --> 00:55:36,760
me to never cry
845
00:55:37,967 --> 00:55:40,936
and to show no emotion,
like he has to.
846
00:55:41,137 --> 00:55:44,868
But I can't,
and I think he gets mad at me when I cry,
847
00:55:45,175 --> 00:55:46,164
so,
848
00:55:47,077 --> 00:55:49,637
which is hard,
because I cry about a lot of things.
849
00:55:49,846 --> 00:55:53,009
- Yeah, I don't want to be the only guy here.
- Why?
850
00:55:53,116 --> 00:55:59,487
I'm sensitive, and he used to be:
But that wore away, you know?
851
00:56:01,224 --> 00:56:04,489
He has to be tough, and I have to be tough.
852
00:56:04,761 --> 00:56:08,697
I'm not tough all the time, so...
853
00:56:09,999 --> 00:56:13,435
But I'm sure that would mean
just as much, just think...
854
00:56:15,071 --> 00:56:19,371
Here we are, down here in Marez,
Kurds up here.
855
00:56:20,043 --> 00:56:24,605
Gonna take RAV Toyota to Saab
to Lexus up to Dahuk, okay?
856
00:56:32,389 --> 00:56:34,550
We're basically conducting
what's called a food trip:
857
00:56:34,624 --> 00:56:37,957
Basically to buy things
that you can't easily buy
858
00:56:38,027 --> 00:56:40,052
or order through the supply system:
859
00:56:40,130 --> 00:56:43,224
And Dahuk is one of the places
860
00:56:43,299 --> 00:56:45,529
that you can go and walk around the market
861
00:56:45,969 --> 00:56:48,938
and be somewhat safe.
862
00:56:58,615 --> 00:57:03,382
As soon as we arrived in Dahuk, I was
amazed by the different mood in the air:
863
00:57:06,122 --> 00:57:10,889
Precautions were still taken, but
the stress level was lower here in the North
864
00:57:11,027 --> 00:57:13,154
as our Sunni interpreter, Ali, assured me:
865
00:57:15,598 --> 00:57:18,499
...any friendly guy in the market,
maybe he'll shake your hand like this.
866
00:57:18,568 --> 00:57:21,036
Walking together,
it means a good thing, not a bad thing.
867
00:57:21,104 --> 00:57:22,128
Yeah?
868
00:57:22,205 --> 00:57:23,695
Just... I wanna let you know.
869
00:57:23,773 --> 00:57:27,504
Sometimes, maybe he will see you,
he'll kiss you. It's okay.
870
00:57:28,845 --> 00:57:30,437
Okay... You know what I mean.
871
00:57:30,547 --> 00:57:33,038
It's unfortunately in a no-fly zone:
872
00:57:33,116 --> 00:57:36,313
It kept Saddam
out of this northern part of Iraq:
873
00:57:36,586 --> 00:57:39,987
So it enabled the Kurds
protection, first of all,
874
00:57:40,056 --> 00:57:44,254
and secondly, they had the ability
to create their own economy,
875
00:57:44,327 --> 00:57:49,390
their own justice system,
and you could tell. It was night and day.
876
00:57:49,466 --> 00:57:52,867
When we go out in town, you'll see,
we can walk around
877
00:57:52,936 --> 00:57:54,801
and not get shot at and not get bombed:
878
00:57:58,274 --> 00:58:01,835
It's one of the few chances
that most people get to interact with locals:
879
00:58:02,111 --> 00:58:04,944
You can't really walk down the street
here in Mosul,
880
00:58:05,148 --> 00:58:06,638
just go talking to people and stuff.
881
00:58:07,450 --> 00:58:10,544
Whereas Dahuk, because of our
relationship with the Kurds,
882
00:58:10,653 --> 00:58:13,178
it allows us to interact with them:
883
00:58:13,556 --> 00:58:16,116
- Where'd you learn how to speak English?
- Go to school.
884
00:58:16,192 --> 00:58:17,659
You go to school?
885
00:58:17,727 --> 00:58:21,561
In my mind at least,
it shows that there is a chance for Iraq:
886
00:58:21,831 --> 00:58:23,992
Up here, everything's going well:
887
00:58:24,067 --> 00:58:28,470
You have Christians, Muslims, walking
down the street together, no problems:
888
00:58:28,538 --> 00:58:29,664
It's really interesting:
889
00:58:35,812 --> 00:58:37,780
Okay. Ready?
890
00:58:38,948 --> 00:58:43,612
Happy birthday to you
891
00:58:44,053 --> 00:58:48,183
- Happy birthday to you
- Happy birthday to you
892
00:58:48,525 --> 00:58:53,428
Happy birthday dear Joe
Happy birthday Hunter and Joe
893
00:58:53,496 --> 00:58:54,485
Joe
894
00:58:55,064 --> 00:58:59,797
- Happy birthday to you
- Happy birthday to you
895
00:59:01,804 --> 00:59:05,433
American soldier, they leave
his mom, dad, kids, wife
896
00:59:05,508 --> 00:59:08,204
coming here to help the Iraqi people:
897
00:59:08,344 --> 00:59:12,474
Some people say they die for nothing,
that's wrong.
898
00:59:13,116 --> 00:59:15,516
They're doing a great job
for the Iraqi people.
899
00:59:15,585 --> 00:59:17,678
I've been with American soldiers
for two years:
900
00:59:17,754 --> 00:59:20,552
I know what they do for the Iraqi people:
901
00:59:22,058 --> 00:59:25,152
The terrorists attack my house,
they kill my brother,
902
00:59:25,228 --> 00:59:28,254
they shot another of my brother,
they burned the house,
903
00:59:28,331 --> 00:59:32,427
they're doing the bad stuff
because they know I work with Americans.
904
00:59:34,003 --> 00:59:36,301
If they kill my brother,
my father in the future,
905
00:59:36,372 --> 00:59:39,739
I'll stay with the army, too,
because I believe them.
906
00:59:43,479 --> 00:59:44,707
Whatever.
907
00:59:45,181 --> 00:59:46,205
You want your country
to have freedom?
908
00:59:46,282 --> 00:59:47,271
Yep,
909
00:59:47,517 --> 00:59:50,145
because I want freedom for my country.
910
00:59:50,587 --> 00:59:53,920
You see my company,
everybody's my brother
911
00:59:53,990 --> 00:59:56,288
because we're working together:
912
00:59:57,627 --> 00:59:59,527
We're staying together:
913
01:00:02,031 --> 01:00:04,499
I lost a brother once...
914
01:00:05,702 --> 01:00:06,794
- Me, too.
You, too.
915
01:00:06,869 --> 01:00:07,995
Yeah.
916
01:00:10,840 --> 01:00:12,808
Did it make you mad?
- But not for nothing.
917
01:00:12,875 --> 01:00:14,069
Not for nothing.
918
01:00:14,143 --> 01:00:15,804
For a great thing.
919
01:00:35,732 --> 01:00:39,691
Visiting Kurdistan opened my eyes
to the bright potential that Iraq could have:
920
01:00:41,504 --> 01:00:44,564
When I thought about the loss
of Ali's brother,
921
01:00:44,807 --> 01:00:48,038
I was brought back to a dark time
in my own life:
922
01:00:49,145 --> 01:00:51,409
Who's this?
- This is Thad.
923
01:00:51,648 --> 01:00:54,344
Thad Rademacher?
- Yeah, jeez.
924
01:00:54,417 --> 01:00:55,577
The one and only?
925
01:00:55,652 --> 01:00:56,880
- Brother.
Predecessor?
926
01:00:56,953 --> 01:00:58,318
I didn't expect Thad to die:
927
01:00:58,388 --> 01:01:02,518
I didn't expect any of my family
that I left back here to get hurt:
928
01:01:02,725 --> 01:01:06,821
Then, one dies,
thereby hurting so many others.
929
01:01:08,898 --> 01:01:12,163
Now, I got chaos in the Middle East
and I got chaos at home.
930
01:01:12,235 --> 01:01:15,068
It's pretty much bullshit.
It's a two-front war.
931
01:01:15,138 --> 01:01:17,368
It's what defeated Napoleon.
It's not fair.
932
01:01:19,375 --> 01:01:21,309
There's a lot of pain associated with it:
933
01:01:21,377 --> 01:01:23,436
The first part was to feel the need
to protect him:
934
01:01:23,513 --> 01:01:26,175
Well, I wasn't:
I didn't protect him from the drugs
935
01:01:26,249 --> 01:01:28,513
and the stupid crap
that he wanted to do with his life:
936
01:01:28,584 --> 01:01:32,350
I didn't convince him
that it was against his best interest:
937
01:01:33,222 --> 01:01:36,191
The other part
that made it extremely painful
938
01:01:37,994 --> 01:01:42,761
was the true, pure sadness inside Mom.
939
01:01:44,233 --> 01:01:49,432
He already was showing signs
of being bipolar even when he was little:
940
01:01:49,906 --> 01:01:52,397
He reminded me of a hero
in a Greek play with
941
01:01:52,475 --> 01:01:55,171
a flaw that he just could not overcome:
942
01:01:56,479 --> 01:01:59,414
It was just
943
01:02:04,087 --> 01:02:07,579
tragic, in the true sense of the word.
944
01:02:10,560 --> 01:02:12,084
And after that,
945
01:02:15,631 --> 01:02:19,761
I really truly worried
about the rest of the family,
946
01:02:20,103 --> 01:02:22,697
because I felt pretty sure
that some of you were struggling
947
01:02:22,772 --> 01:02:24,831
with the same thing I was:
948
01:02:24,974 --> 01:02:27,272
Why weren't we able to get through to him?
949
01:02:27,343 --> 01:02:30,835
Why couldn't we help him?
What could we have done differently?
950
01:02:32,615 --> 01:02:37,109
It's his decision.
I mean, his actions got him where he is.
951
01:02:37,186 --> 01:02:42,453
But for a long part
of my rebellious childhood,
952
01:02:42,792 --> 01:02:44,953
he used to rebel with me:
953
01:02:45,027 --> 01:02:48,360
We were the people
who could talk to each other
954
01:02:48,431 --> 01:02:51,992
about what we were doing and...
I don't know.
955
01:02:53,336 --> 01:02:56,134
He hardly ever looked at me with disgust.
956
01:02:58,040 --> 01:02:59,905
You know, I mean,
at the time that Thad died
957
01:02:59,976 --> 01:03:02,945
I didn't know
where we were going from there.
958
01:03:03,946 --> 01:03:07,211
Nothing else I could do for him.
I just couldn't...
959
01:03:08,618 --> 01:03:11,382
That's where faith comes in sometimes.
960
01:03:12,488 --> 01:03:17,824
Maybe God had a better idea for us,
'cause I was sure as hell out of ideas.
961
01:03:20,596 --> 01:03:23,463
I don't really talk to God,
I talk to Thad:
962
01:03:25,935 --> 01:03:28,233
Figure he cares a little bit more
about what I have to say,
963
01:03:28,304 --> 01:03:30,431
and he'll tell God himself.
964
01:03:32,041 --> 01:03:33,872
Claus got hit pretty hard, but so did Joe.
965
01:03:33,943 --> 01:03:38,209
Joe started to lose touch.
966
01:03:38,581 --> 01:03:42,108
I believe one event in your life
really changes...
967
01:03:44,020 --> 01:03:46,386
Changes your life around,
makes you who you are.
968
01:03:46,455 --> 01:03:48,184
And I think that was it right there
969
01:03:48,257 --> 01:03:51,158
because you never know
when you're gonna go:
970
01:03:51,460 --> 01:03:55,157
So what do you feel you need
to accomplish before you die?
971
01:03:56,199 --> 01:03:58,463
It was a very traumatic moment for me,
972
01:03:58,534 --> 01:04:04,029
seeing him on the couch not breathing
and such, and having to perform CPR.
973
01:04:05,141 --> 01:04:08,076
That was probably the
most traumatic moment in my entire life.
974
01:04:08,144 --> 01:04:09,702
Nothing's topped that so far,
975
01:04:09,812 --> 01:04:12,713
in all the things
I've been in over in Iraq.
976
01:04:13,516 --> 01:04:18,453
I grew up with Thad
and I spent lots and lots of time with him:
977
01:04:20,823 --> 01:04:24,919
It hurts a lot to lose a fellow soldier,
978
01:04:24,994 --> 01:04:30,296
but nothing hurts as bad
as watching your brother die.
979
01:04:43,546 --> 01:04:45,707
You need a haircut:
I think I do:
980
01:04:52,622 --> 01:04:54,749
Reuniting with my family
gave me some idea
981
01:04:54,824 --> 01:04:57,657
of what Isaac and Joe had missed
during their time in country:
982
01:05:03,532 --> 01:05:06,592
While I was in Iraq,
Claus had become a father:
983
01:05:08,037 --> 01:05:10,062
Look at that little baby.
984
01:05:10,473 --> 01:05:11,872
I told her to go pass out.
985
01:05:11,941 --> 01:05:15,342
But the one I was most anxious to see
was Joe:
986
01:05:16,012 --> 01:05:17,206
Jacob.
987
01:05:20,316 --> 01:05:21,374
Joe?
988
01:05:40,770 --> 01:05:43,534
What's up, there, cutie?
Can we snuggle?
989
01:05:43,839 --> 01:05:45,238
Can I spoon you?
990
01:05:47,610 --> 01:05:50,204
Hey, it's good to see you, too.
I haven't seen you in a while.
991
01:05:50,279 --> 01:05:52,144
You little fucker. Come here.
992
01:05:52,214 --> 01:05:54,808
It wasn't just Thad's death,
it was also leading up to it:
993
01:05:55,785 --> 01:05:57,753
At that point in time,
I was transitioning
994
01:05:57,820 --> 01:06:01,517
to where a brother wasn't the person you
always fought with, you know what I mean?
995
01:06:01,590 --> 01:06:04,320
It was more becoming a best friend.
996
01:06:05,294 --> 01:06:07,660
But he was even better than that
because he's a brother.
997
01:06:11,300 --> 01:06:12,699
Hey, there's no muscling, I'm an old man.
998
01:06:12,768 --> 01:06:14,201
You're the young one.
999
01:06:14,270 --> 01:06:16,898
You're the young warrior of the army.
1000
01:06:18,941 --> 01:06:21,171
So, you made sergeant, or what?
1001
01:06:24,013 --> 01:06:26,743
You have not actually officially
gotten sergeant yet,
1002
01:06:26,816 --> 01:06:28,875
but you're going to get it, or...
1003
01:06:29,819 --> 01:06:30,808
That's cool.
1004
01:06:31,420 --> 01:06:34,719
When is your ceremony, or whatever?
Whenever they give you your...
1005
01:06:34,790 --> 01:06:37,350
- November 1.
- November 1?
1006
01:06:38,461 --> 01:06:41,123
- That's a while, ain't it?
- No.
1007
01:06:41,197 --> 01:06:42,289
You gonna be back by then,
1008
01:06:42,365 --> 01:06:43,798
or are they gonna give it to you
while you're over there?
1009
01:06:43,866 --> 01:06:44,855
Over there.
1010
01:06:44,934 --> 01:06:46,162
Where are you gonna go?
1011
01:06:47,103 --> 01:06:49,128
Up north somewhere in Iraq.
1012
01:06:49,205 --> 01:06:51,639
Up north?
They haven't told you where?
1013
01:06:51,707 --> 01:06:56,201
I know where I'm going.
It's just some city I can't even pronounce.
1014
01:06:57,079 --> 01:07:01,846
I got to go out on a five-day mission with
one of Isaac's groups, Connor and I did.
1015
01:07:02,184 --> 01:07:06,086
The army has been a very maturing
and defining event
1016
01:07:06,155 --> 01:07:08,919
in the lives of both Isaac and Joe:
1017
01:07:10,026 --> 01:07:14,725
Especially with Joe.
I mean, Joe went in as a snot-nosed kid
1018
01:07:14,797 --> 01:07:18,824
and three years later is a man, now.
1019
01:07:18,901 --> 01:07:22,337
I mean, he's matured a lot more
than he ever would have done
1020
01:07:22,405 --> 01:07:23,838
if he hadn't been in the army.
1021
01:07:24,840 --> 01:07:27,741
It was the right experience
at the right time for him,
1022
01:07:27,810 --> 01:07:30,040
especially after he lost Thad:
1023
01:07:30,780 --> 01:07:33,476
To tell you the truth,
I think if he would've lived,
1024
01:07:33,549 --> 01:07:36,382
I don't think I'd be where I am right now:
1025
01:07:36,752 --> 01:07:38,743
I think he changed a lot of lives
after he died:
1026
01:07:40,322 --> 01:07:45,123
I know he really changed my life
once he died, and I couldn't understand.
1027
01:07:45,194 --> 01:07:49,927
I always was asking myself, "Why? Why?
Why did this happen, God? Why?
1028
01:07:50,366 --> 01:07:52,061
"Why did you
take away my brother from me?
1029
01:07:52,134 --> 01:07:55,763
"He was only 20 years old: Why did you take
my best friend in the world at the time?
1030
01:07:56,639 --> 01:07:58,368
"Why would you do that?"
1031
01:07:58,441 --> 01:08:03,504
It's really sad to say this, but I don't think
it was because it was his time to go,
1032
01:08:03,579 --> 01:08:06,139
I think it was to help other people:
1033
01:08:09,885 --> 01:08:12,217
Does that factor in
going into combat again?
1034
01:08:13,355 --> 01:08:15,585
It's very different over there,
1035
01:08:15,658 --> 01:08:18,593
'cause if everybody
watched out for just themselves,
1036
01:08:18,661 --> 01:08:21,027
you'd be defending for yourself
and that's it:
1037
01:08:21,097 --> 01:08:23,463
Now, if I watch out for five of my buddies,
1038
01:08:23,532 --> 01:08:27,127
and they all watch out
for five of their buddies, which includes me,
1039
01:08:27,203 --> 01:08:28,795
the whole team watches out for each other,
1040
01:08:28,871 --> 01:08:30,532
you got five guys defending you:
1041
01:08:30,806 --> 01:08:34,298
You gotta fucking watch out for everybody.
That's how you survive over there.
1042
01:08:34,376 --> 01:08:36,970
It's not your own skin.
So you don't think about your death.
1043
01:08:37,046 --> 01:08:39,071
If death comes, it comes.
1044
01:08:41,417 --> 01:08:44,909
How do you think my experience
over there differed from yours?
1045
01:08:44,987 --> 01:08:49,447
You said, "You wouldn't really understand,
'cause you're a civilian over there: "
1046
01:08:50,993 --> 01:08:54,019
You were over there for,
what, two, three weeks?
1047
01:08:54,597 --> 01:08:57,657
Three and a half.
- Three and a half, whatever.
1048
01:08:58,367 --> 01:09:01,768
I was over there for seven months
doing missions every single day.
1049
01:09:01,837 --> 01:09:04,397
It's totally different
than just going on one mission.
1050
01:09:05,407 --> 01:09:06,533
I don't know what Joe needs.
1051
01:09:06,609 --> 01:09:08,839
Joe needs me to go out
and kill some people.
1052
01:09:09,011 --> 01:09:11,002
Get some confirmed kills,
1053
01:09:11,580 --> 01:09:13,673
then maybe I can sit next to him
at the dinner table.
1054
01:09:14,783 --> 01:09:18,913
What's your job?
- Look for trouble. Look for bad guys.
1055
01:09:19,622 --> 01:09:21,590
Wait for stuff to happen.
1056
01:09:21,790 --> 01:09:26,750
Wait for the guy to be in the wrong place
at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing.
1057
01:09:29,064 --> 01:09:31,862
And when he is?
- He dies.
1058
01:09:34,870 --> 01:09:38,567
I'll never be hard enough for Joe,
which is fine with me:
1059
01:09:38,641 --> 01:09:41,735
When I was 20, I was hard,
I could kick his ass.
1060
01:09:42,178 --> 01:09:46,581
I used to box. I'd get in the ring with Joe,
as tough as he is.
1061
01:09:47,383 --> 01:09:51,444
But I'm 30 now, I'm not hard,
I'm a big pussy. I'm fine with that.
1062
01:09:52,254 --> 01:09:53,414
Right?
1063
01:09:55,758 --> 01:09:56,315
Kick it.
1064
01:09:59,128 --> 01:10:03,861
I did go back,
to find the war I'd missed on my first trip,
1065
01:10:04,567 --> 01:10:08,526
the tougher, uglier side of war that
soldiers like my brothers know all too well:
1066
01:10:08,737 --> 01:10:10,898
You're more or less
looking for personnel,
1067
01:10:10,973 --> 01:10:14,272
IED-making material, anything suspicious:
1068
01:10:14,343 --> 01:10:17,244
My second trip brought me
to the heart of the Sunni Triangle,
1069
01:10:17,313 --> 01:10:21,113
the Al-Anbar province, where Joe and Isaac
had done their first deployment to Iraq:
1070
01:10:22,751 --> 01:10:25,015
I went out every chance I got:
1071
01:10:26,255 --> 01:10:29,884
During the day on presence patrols
and civil-affairs missions:::
1072
01:10:29,959 --> 01:10:33,554
...for an IED that's on the corner
of that intersection over there.
1073
01:10:33,662 --> 01:10:37,223
IA soldiers saw it
and they're gonna bring in EOD now
1074
01:10:37,299 --> 01:10:39,529
to come over and take a look
and disarm it:
1075
01:10:39,602 --> 01:10:44,266
2155, they found it. They're just looking
for the base station now.
1076
01:10:44,640 --> 01:10:45,664
Play ball.
1077
01:10:48,344 --> 01:10:49,504
We're gonna pass it to the pilots...
1078
01:10:49,578 --> 01:10:52,069
During the night, I went on
cordon searches and raids:::
1079
01:10:52,681 --> 01:10:54,945
I counted at least
three IED receivers...
1080
01:10:55,017 --> 01:10:57,417
:: As my understanding grew
of the adrenaline of war:
1081
01:10:57,486 --> 01:10:59,716
When you take the knee,
it's a lower silhouette.
1082
01:10:59,788 --> 01:11:02,313
This up-close
and personal view of Iraq
1083
01:11:02,391 --> 01:11:07,385
created within me a deeper empathy
for the Iraqi people and their struggle:
1084
01:11:19,008 --> 01:11:21,499
As I was returning
from a civil-affairs mission,
1085
01:11:21,577 --> 01:11:24,205
word came over the radio of a tragedy:
1086
01:11:24,613 --> 01:11:28,413
Fuck. Shit.
That's terrible.
1087
01:11:29,385 --> 01:11:34,220
Air medevac. They're requesting
it, anyway, so it can't be that good.
1088
01:11:35,924 --> 01:11:37,221
Over the last three months,
1089
01:11:37,860 --> 01:11:42,593
troops around the area of Camp Habbaniyh
have been targeted by a foreign sniper:
1090
01:11:44,133 --> 01:11:47,125
Do you know that the sniper
just struck again?
1091
01:11:47,303 --> 01:11:50,864
- Did he? Where at?
- Just on the bridge.
1092
01:11:51,774 --> 01:11:54,504
- Really?
Yeah. Just came over the radio.
1093
01:11:55,544 --> 01:11:57,512
- Who got hit?
- Where's this at?
1094
01:11:57,680 --> 01:11:59,272
On the bridge.
1095
01:12:00,883 --> 01:12:02,009
Shit.
1096
01:12:02,151 --> 01:12:04,346
- Did the sniper die, or...
- Is somebody dead?
1097
01:12:05,554 --> 01:12:08,079
They wanted a medevac
by helicopter.
1098
01:12:11,026 --> 01:12:14,553
Keep that under wraps. All right?
1099
01:12:15,898 --> 01:12:18,696
I grew up with him since fourth grade.
1100
01:12:18,767 --> 01:12:20,826
The kid who just got killed?
You knew him from the fourth grade?
1101
01:12:20,903 --> 01:12:24,100
Yeah. I talked him into joining the army.
1102
01:12:24,173 --> 01:12:26,107
We're buddies from back home.
1103
01:12:34,216 --> 01:12:36,207
Was he on guard duty?
1104
01:12:36,452 --> 01:12:38,579
Yeah. I don't know.
I really don't want to talk about it, man.
1105
01:12:38,754 --> 01:12:40,381
Not now, anyway.
1106
01:12:41,523 --> 01:12:43,150
I'd like to get out by the house by 611,
1107
01:12:43,225 --> 01:12:45,693
just to give a little payback
to these fucking scumbags.
1108
01:12:45,761 --> 01:12:47,922
Then you could see.
We don't know where the guy is.
1109
01:12:47,996 --> 01:12:49,429
I'd just shoot anybody on the other side.
1110
01:12:49,498 --> 01:12:52,490
We don't even know if it came from there.
We don't know anything.
1111
01:12:52,568 --> 01:12:55,662
All we know is a guy got shot.
Other than that, we don't know shit.
1112
01:12:55,738 --> 01:12:57,171
Who the fuck cares?
1113
01:12:57,272 --> 01:12:58,830
You know what,
sitting here fucking bitching about it,
1114
01:12:58,907 --> 01:13:00,465
not being out in sector,
ain't gonna get us kills.
1115
01:13:00,576 --> 01:13:02,635
I fucking guarantee that 100%.
1116
01:13:02,711 --> 01:13:04,872
Jumping out at fucking
something you don't know anything about
1117
01:13:04,947 --> 01:13:06,676
is gonna get people killed, too.
1118
01:13:06,749 --> 01:13:09,775
Now you can either hurry up
and you can fucking...
1119
01:13:09,852 --> 01:13:12,252
Getting out in sector is how
you're gonna get your fucking kills.
1120
01:13:12,321 --> 01:13:15,484
Let's wait another day and see what they
come up with, intel on where he's at.
1121
01:13:15,557 --> 01:13:17,718
'Cause if he's not on the north side
and was from the south side,
1122
01:13:17,793 --> 01:13:19,693
then you're sitting in the house
for no reason.
1123
01:13:22,998 --> 01:13:26,764
I'm actually trying to get some sleep
1124
01:13:26,835 --> 01:13:30,134
because I have to go out
with the snipers tomorrow.
1125
01:13:35,010 --> 01:13:38,810
This is the moment where you go,
"What the fuck was I thinking?"
1126
01:13:41,183 --> 01:13:45,017
But it'll be cool to see what the snipers do.
1127
01:13:46,622 --> 01:13:50,683
Hopefully, it will shut Joe up a little bit.
1128
01:13:52,761 --> 01:13:55,491
Of course, he'll have done it
120 times more than I have,
1129
01:13:55,564 --> 01:14:00,001
but at least I can say
I spent a day doing what he does.
1130
01:14:02,938 --> 01:14:05,702
All right, we're going out
to the 636 gridline:
1131
01:14:05,774 --> 01:14:09,540
It's gonna be this house over here.
1132
01:14:09,611 --> 01:14:13,342
Major Cooper has been there,
Mongo's been there, Parson's been there.
1133
01:14:13,415 --> 01:14:17,579
So, the only new guys will be Hollywood
and then the two sergeants.
1134
01:14:18,120 --> 01:14:20,782
Hollywood,
that was McCann's nickname for me:
1135
01:14:20,956 --> 01:14:22,480
McANN: I just showed you a little while ago.
1136
01:14:23,058 --> 01:14:27,392
We're gonna send Parsons up first,
and then Mongo up,
1137
01:14:28,363 --> 01:14:30,194
and then we'll rope up all the gear.
1138
01:14:32,100 --> 01:14:35,160
He's gonna climb up first.
I'm gonna go up second.
1139
01:14:35,237 --> 01:14:37,797
However you guys do that afterwards
is up to Frank.
1140
01:14:38,273 --> 01:14:41,765
I'm immediately gonna go to the balcony
and start doing shit.
1141
01:14:42,811 --> 01:14:44,278
Everybody's got a gist of what's going on.
1142
01:14:44,346 --> 01:14:45,904
You know Hollywood.
We told you, right, Hollywood?
1143
01:14:46,215 --> 01:14:47,239
Yeah, go up.
1144
01:14:47,316 --> 01:14:48,783
There's a hole
you gotta crawl through.
1145
01:14:48,851 --> 01:14:50,910
When you're crawling through...
1146
01:14:50,986 --> 01:14:53,477
You wanna not touch anything
going through the hole.
1147
01:14:53,555 --> 01:14:56,080
We don't know how sturdy the wall is.
1148
01:14:56,825 --> 01:15:00,090
When Mongo told me to go,
I had no choice:
1149
01:15:00,896 --> 01:15:04,798
I climbed 25 feet up that
swaying rope ladder into pitch darkness:
1150
01:15:05,067 --> 01:15:06,659
Let's have one shooter down here.
1151
01:15:06,735 --> 01:15:09,568
All right, that's good.
- And then we'll have a look over here.
1152
01:15:11,139 --> 01:15:13,130
There is a bulletproof chamber.
1153
01:15:13,709 --> 01:15:16,007
You can set up the other gun position
out there.
1154
01:15:16,078 --> 01:15:20,105
- I'm just gonna watch. Yeah.
- Just hang out?
1155
01:15:20,549 --> 01:15:22,608
The bricks are just stacked in the hole.
1156
01:15:26,788 --> 01:15:28,483
If he goes back through,
we're killing him.
1157
01:15:29,758 --> 01:15:31,726
If he goes back through,
we're shooting him.
1158
01:15:32,327 --> 01:15:34,955
Me and Frank are very much alike,
1159
01:15:35,030 --> 01:15:36,964
which is probably
why I didn't like him at first:
1160
01:15:37,666 --> 01:15:41,466
He's definitely a loner:
He's got no wife, no kids:
1161
01:15:42,237 --> 01:15:44,034
I think he's pushing 30:
1162
01:15:44,172 --> 01:15:45,161
He's one of the few people...
1163
01:15:45,240 --> 01:15:48,971
I mean, I value everyone's opinion here
to an extent,
1164
01:15:50,279 --> 01:15:51,507
but I would follow him anywhere.
1165
01:15:51,580 --> 01:15:53,411
I trust him that much:
1166
01:15:56,818 --> 01:15:59,616
These people... They pick
through the same garbage piles every day.
1167
01:15:59,688 --> 01:16:01,155
What new do they find?
1168
01:16:01,223 --> 01:16:03,020
They're probably putting an IED in.
You watching?
1169
01:16:03,091 --> 01:16:05,616
Yeah, I'm watching. It's a she.
1170
01:16:10,165 --> 01:16:14,329
Man, this sucks. It's fucking 9:15
and no one's doing anything bad.
1171
01:16:15,137 --> 01:16:17,605
There's only one way to get rid
of the bad guys, and that's killing them:
1172
01:16:17,673 --> 01:16:20,767
To beat these people,
you gotta act just like them:
1173
01:16:20,842 --> 01:16:22,833
Feels a little strange when you shoot them:
1174
01:16:23,178 --> 01:16:25,772
Especially when you watch them
when their eyes go white.
1175
01:16:26,515 --> 01:16:27,914
It's a little weird,
1176
01:16:27,983 --> 01:16:33,387
but it's kind of like if you ever get a tattoo.
You get one, you kind of want another.
1177
01:16:34,423 --> 01:16:36,550
- You want some?
Yes, please.
1178
01:16:43,332 --> 01:16:47,291
Dude, give me my fucking M&M's,
man. Give it to me. Put that...
1179
01:16:47,703 --> 01:16:49,500
- Give me my M&M's.
- No.
1180
01:16:50,505 --> 01:16:52,063
Do not touch my fucking bag
with your fingers.
1181
01:16:52,140 --> 01:16:55,268
Can't let people at home know
we have M&M's.
1182
01:16:56,144 --> 01:17:00,376
You gotta make it seem worse than
it really is or they quit sending me shit.
1183
01:17:00,582 --> 01:17:01,947
We don't have M&M's.
1184
01:17:04,386 --> 01:17:06,320
I was talking to Ashley
the other night online.
1185
01:17:06,388 --> 01:17:07,980
They're on Christmas break right now.
1186
01:17:08,056 --> 01:17:10,752
I needed Melissa's address
to send her a Christmas present.
1187
01:17:10,826 --> 01:17:12,555
What did you get her?
1188
01:17:12,628 --> 01:17:15,563
Just a gay-ass fucking
teddy-bear thing, online.
1189
01:17:16,365 --> 01:17:17,798
You know how many Christmas presents
1190
01:17:17,866 --> 01:17:21,063
I've bought for any girl
in the last three years?
1191
01:17:21,870 --> 01:17:24,498
None. I break up with them in October.
1192
01:17:26,708 --> 01:17:28,437
I was just gonna pull
the standard flowers.
1193
01:17:29,111 --> 01:17:32,774
- You can't buy flowers for Christmas.
- The fuck you can't.
1194
01:17:32,848 --> 01:17:34,509
You can't buy a girl flowers for Christmas.
1195
01:17:34,583 --> 01:17:36,517
You can do whatever the hell
you want with flowers.
1196
01:17:36,585 --> 01:17:38,314
You don't buy a girl flowers
for fucking Christmas.
1197
01:17:38,387 --> 01:17:41,220
If you have limited options, yes, you can.
1198
01:17:41,289 --> 01:17:43,814
- Frank?
- Dude, I'm telling you.
1199
01:17:43,892 --> 01:17:45,951
- That's a good move you didn't do that.
- Well, I didn't do it, did I?
1200
01:17:46,028 --> 01:17:47,359
This is true.
1201
01:17:47,429 --> 01:17:49,329
You bought her a teddy bear.
The teddy bear was nice.
1202
01:17:49,398 --> 01:17:50,865
And she plays soccer.
1203
01:17:50,932 --> 01:17:55,335
So, you can dress them up,
little customized things.
1204
01:17:55,771 --> 01:17:57,864
So, I made it a soccer player,
1205
01:17:57,939 --> 01:18:01,340
put her name on the front
and her number on the back.
1206
01:18:01,476 --> 01:18:05,139
- That was it.
- How much was the teddy bear?
1207
01:18:05,547 --> 01:18:08,380
More than I'm willing to say
for a fucking gay-ass teddy bear.
1208
01:18:08,450 --> 01:18:14,150
I think underneath all this
rough and tough brute of a man is...
1209
01:18:14,222 --> 01:18:16,622
Is really a teddy bear himself.
1210
01:18:16,692 --> 01:18:18,159
Maybe. Maybe.
1211
01:18:19,661 --> 01:18:20,787
Site to traffic.
1212
01:18:22,030 --> 01:18:23,463
Yeah, I'm on:
1213
01:18:24,332 --> 01:18:27,130
There's a small Ford over here:
1214
01:18:28,804 --> 01:18:31,272
You got three cars parked on the side:::
1215
01:18:36,244 --> 01:18:38,610
It's weird 'cause, you know,
you get one kill,
1216
01:18:39,781 --> 01:18:43,114
even the guys here who don't have kills,
they all want one:
1217
01:18:43,185 --> 01:18:46,245
'Cause you know you're not really a sniper
until you get a kill:
1218
01:18:46,722 --> 01:18:50,522
I wanted one and then when I got one,
I wanted another.
1219
01:18:51,093 --> 01:18:53,391
You kind of feel bad, in a way.
1220
01:18:53,462 --> 01:18:58,229
Not that you feel bad for the guy,
it's just not an everyday, normal thing,
1221
01:18:58,400 --> 01:19:01,130
blowing someone away,
shooting someone.
1222
01:19:02,370 --> 01:19:05,203
Any target that you'd ever find
hard to do?
1223
01:19:05,273 --> 01:19:10,802
I actually had a situation
with some children:
1224
01:19:10,879 --> 01:19:12,471
They were going around a street corner:
1225
01:19:12,547 --> 01:19:15,675
One of the bigger ones, I would've guessed
from the back, was like 18:
1226
01:19:15,751 --> 01:19:17,616
I'd put him as a military-age male:
1227
01:19:17,686 --> 01:19:19,210
And he had an AK.
1228
01:19:19,821 --> 01:19:22,654
So, immediately I went for the rifle.
1229
01:19:23,525 --> 01:19:28,326
And when they came back around,
one of the youngest ones had the AK.
1230
01:19:29,097 --> 01:19:30,587
So, you know, I was like, "Sons of bitches.
1231
01:19:30,665 --> 01:19:33,293
"They gave the little kid the gun
to come back with. "
1232
01:19:34,436 --> 01:19:35,630
There're some people down there.
1233
01:19:35,704 --> 01:19:37,604
I just can't see anybody with weapons.
1234
01:19:37,672 --> 01:19:40,732
They got so many kids
walking down there and shit.
1235
01:19:40,809 --> 01:19:43,277
Precision fire, buddy. Precision.
1236
01:19:44,346 --> 01:19:46,507
And I started my trigger pull,
1237
01:19:46,581 --> 01:19:49,846
and at the last second, Lacker said,
"Dude, that gun's a toy. "
1238
01:19:49,918 --> 01:19:53,615
You know, I double-checked real fast,
and it was a toy.
1239
01:20:13,308 --> 01:20:16,573
I saw the guy down
at the mosque: He had an AK:
1240
01:20:18,446 --> 01:20:21,279
And his buddy took him around the corner:
1241
01:20:21,917 --> 01:20:23,509
Did you get him?
1242
01:20:29,257 --> 01:20:31,885
What's your most vivid memory
of Iraq?
1243
01:20:36,097 --> 01:20:41,763
Right now, for real, it's probably
that little kid that I didn't shoot.
1244
01:20:45,006 --> 01:20:46,337
Do you guys have
midnight chow here?
1245
01:20:46,408 --> 01:20:47,841
Fuck, no.
1246
01:20:47,909 --> 01:20:48,967
Are you serious?
1247
01:20:49,044 --> 01:20:51,205
Stay hungry, baby. Stay hungry.
1248
01:20:51,780 --> 01:20:53,304
You still thinking about
going out, Jake?
1249
01:20:53,515 --> 01:20:54,846
Yeah. Fuck, yeah.
1250
01:20:56,184 --> 01:20:57,742
How'd the mission go?
How'd the mission...
1251
01:20:58,086 --> 01:21:00,054
The guys were like,
"That's how quick it happens sometimes.
1252
01:21:00,121 --> 01:21:05,024
"A guy came around the corner with an AK,
positive identification.
1253
01:21:05,093 --> 01:21:06,082
"Boom:"
1254
01:21:06,995 --> 01:21:09,088
I mean, it'll be interesting to talk to Joe,
1255
01:21:09,164 --> 01:21:12,156
'cause he was all like,
"120 missions, you only went on one:"
1256
01:21:12,667 --> 01:21:17,229
Now it's like, "Yeah, I'm about 15, 16,
I'm still not at 120."
1257
01:21:18,840 --> 01:21:20,967
So, you know:
1258
01:21:22,143 --> 01:21:23,872
Merry Christmas to you, too.
1259
01:21:23,945 --> 01:21:26,641
Hey, we'll spend the next one together.
1260
01:21:27,782 --> 01:21:29,613
Won't go five years.
1261
01:21:33,355 --> 01:21:36,518
Next morning, at dawn,
I set out on another mission:
1262
01:21:36,591 --> 01:21:39,685
If you all want to take off,
we're going to start pushing yards, here.
1263
01:21:40,128 --> 01:21:42,062
This time, with the lead element
of the Iraqi Army
1264
01:21:42,130 --> 01:21:45,930
as it pushed into Jazirah
with the aid of US Marine advisors:
1265
01:21:49,471 --> 01:21:51,666
I was determined to cram
as much combat experience
1266
01:21:51,740 --> 01:21:54,265
into this five-week trip as I could:
1267
01:21:56,645 --> 01:21:59,045
I got shots fired up here
in front of me, three.
1268
01:21:59,114 --> 01:22:03,244
The Iraqi soldiers ran towards
the gunfire: And I ran with them:
1269
01:22:05,553 --> 01:22:08,920
By the time we reached the enemy position,
they had already fled across the river:
1270
01:22:08,990 --> 01:22:11,891
Hey, sir, they're on the other side
of the river. Three guys.
1271
01:22:13,328 --> 01:22:17,025
On the other side of the river. They ran.
There's three guys with rifles.
1272
01:22:17,966 --> 01:22:21,424
Our unit ran into another patrol
of Iraqi soldiers under the supervision
1273
01:22:21,503 --> 01:22:25,337
of Staff Sergeant Edward Allier,
whom I'd met earlier that week:
1274
01:22:25,440 --> 01:22:29,206
That's a freaking informant's house
over there.
1275
01:22:29,277 --> 01:22:31,871
Speaks good English. I got a mark.
1276
01:22:31,947 --> 01:22:36,077
Know what he told me?
He's like, "There's no militants here. "
1277
01:22:36,151 --> 01:22:37,311
Same thing, same thing.
1278
01:22:37,485 --> 01:22:39,510
He was real concerned
about how long we're gonna be here.
1279
01:22:39,955 --> 01:22:42,423
Told you we'd see how the dark side
of the Force worked.
1280
01:22:42,724 --> 01:22:45,522
- That's dangerous. That's dangerous.
- I know it is. I hear you.
1281
01:22:46,027 --> 01:22:48,188
That's dangerous.
You're taking your life in your own hands.
1282
01:22:48,263 --> 01:22:49,252
I'm not responsible for anything.
1283
01:22:49,397 --> 01:22:51,831
After you say
that I was running after the Iraqi army.
1284
01:22:51,900 --> 01:22:52,992
- So that's always a good sign.
Yeah.
1285
01:22:53,068 --> 01:22:55,764
- And they were going in the right direction.
- They were going towards the bullets.
1286
01:22:55,870 --> 01:22:57,428
Which is also a positive thing.
1287
01:22:57,505 --> 01:22:59,769
I knew this could be
a dangerous mission:
1288
01:23:00,275 --> 01:23:04,211
Staff Sergeant Allier and this company
of inexperienced Iraqi troops
1289
01:23:04,279 --> 01:23:07,544
was leading the push
north of the Euphrates River into Jazirah:
1290
01:23:07,882 --> 01:23:09,406
Formerly a Ba'athist stronghold,
1291
01:23:10,051 --> 01:23:13,350
now the staging ground for the
domestic insurgency in the Sunni Triangle:
1292
01:23:14,789 --> 01:23:17,189
As the lead element
of a seven-battalion operation,
1293
01:23:17,726 --> 01:23:22,220
it wasn't a question of running into trouble,
but when:
1294
01:23:22,297 --> 01:23:26,631
629005. We're trying to find
a way around a canal. Over.
1295
01:23:31,272 --> 01:23:32,864
Grab that rock.
1296
01:23:37,379 --> 01:23:40,542
That ain't gonna cut it.
Oh, my God...
1297
01:23:53,228 --> 01:23:56,755
Instead of watching,
grab something and put it over there.
1298
01:24:04,372 --> 01:24:09,332
Mustafah, tell them to start grabbing shit.
We're moving way too fucking slow.
1299
01:24:16,951 --> 01:24:18,077
Very nice.
1300
01:24:18,286 --> 01:24:20,777
Instead of smoking,
pick the fucking dirt up.
1301
01:24:37,238 --> 01:24:39,297
Oh, Jesus! Let's go, rookie!
1302
01:24:43,945 --> 01:24:46,072
- We made it.
- We made it. This is it.
1303
01:24:48,249 --> 01:24:52,515
This bend in the road right here...
That's where we're at.
1304
01:24:52,821 --> 01:24:54,812
Your GPS isn't even on.
That's awesome.
1305
01:24:56,825 --> 01:25:00,921
The guy doesn't look at a map:
Just turns his GPS on:
1306
01:25:01,262 --> 01:25:03,958
And tells me I don't know where I'm at:
1307
01:25:04,999 --> 01:25:07,661
I try and freaking orient him
to the goddamn road.
1308
01:25:08,136 --> 01:25:09,535
I'm like, "Here's the bend in the road. "
1309
01:25:10,305 --> 01:25:13,103
I show him the fucking bend in the road
on the map that he's looking at.
1310
01:25:13,308 --> 01:25:14,297
He's not there.
1311
01:25:14,375 --> 01:25:18,334
Yeah, we're not there. We're fucking...
We're still 300 meters south.
1312
01:25:18,413 --> 01:25:19,880
Here's what's gonna happen.
1313
01:25:19,948 --> 01:25:22,075
Right now we're right here.
1314
01:25:23,051 --> 01:25:27,454
As soon as the Wahabi or whatever,
the terrorists, the insurgents,
1315
01:25:28,223 --> 01:25:30,885
start coming from this way
and taking this road...
1316
01:25:30,959 --> 01:25:33,757
I'm happy that I got a chance
to do this job,
1317
01:25:33,862 --> 01:25:38,265
because when I left the first time, I had a
1318
01:25:38,833 --> 01:25:40,858
negative opinion about the people here:
1319
01:25:42,103 --> 01:25:47,541
When I started seeing Iraqi soldiers
that I trained and ate and slept with
1320
01:25:48,176 --> 01:25:50,508
bleeding, getting shot
to my left and right,
1321
01:25:50,578 --> 01:25:53,138
doing the same kind of job
that my Marines would be doing,
1322
01:25:54,015 --> 01:25:57,951
that made me a little more open-minded
to start listening to them:
1323
01:26:01,256 --> 01:26:05,022
No one belongs to this car of this house.
1324
01:26:05,827 --> 01:26:07,988
Okay. Never seen that car before?
1325
01:26:09,764 --> 01:26:13,131
I don't want a long story.
Just answer my questions yes or no!
1326
01:26:13,201 --> 01:26:16,637
He's never seen it.
- Okay, burn the car. Burn the car.
1327
01:26:25,346 --> 01:26:27,439
What the fuck?
1328
01:26:27,549 --> 01:26:29,949
Some bad guy is shooting to us.
1329
01:26:30,118 --> 01:26:32,609
He needs to find out how many guys.
1330
01:26:34,122 --> 01:26:35,248
Fuck.
1331
01:26:36,824 --> 01:26:38,052
So they're in contact right now.
1332
01:26:38,126 --> 01:26:40,094
- They see them right now.
- Yeah, yeah, they see them.
1333
01:26:40,261 --> 01:26:41,956
- The soldiers see them right now.
- Yes.
1334
01:26:42,030 --> 01:26:43,292
So, why aren't they shooting at them?
1335
01:26:43,364 --> 01:26:44,888
- You know what? Don't shoot.
- They shoot them. They shoot.
1336
01:26:44,966 --> 01:26:47,161
Okay, all right, come with me.
1337
01:26:55,810 --> 01:26:58,074
So, they saw a truck drive up?
Yes.
1338
01:26:58,146 --> 01:26:59,909
Then they saw guys get out
and shoot at them.
1339
01:26:59,981 --> 01:27:01,778
- Yes.
- Burn the truck.
1340
01:27:02,383 --> 01:27:04,977
Buckeye Base, this is Buckeye Three.
1341
01:27:05,420 --> 01:27:08,878
Yeah, be advised,
I'm looking at the vehicle now.
1342
01:27:08,957 --> 01:27:11,755
We're searching it for any type of intel.
1343
01:27:11,826 --> 01:27:14,488
I'm looking at the license plate.
The license plate's been scratched
1344
01:27:14,562 --> 01:27:16,587
so that you can't identify the vehicle.
1345
01:27:16,664 --> 01:27:19,030
So, we are just gonna go ahead
and burn it in place.
1346
01:27:22,070 --> 01:27:25,938
Part of Allier's routine is to teach the
Iraqi soldiers how to interact with the locals
1347
01:27:26,241 --> 01:27:28,766
and provide security
through their presence on the street:
1348
01:27:30,144 --> 01:27:33,671
Guys like Staff Sergeant Allier,
he'll come back to this house several times:
1349
01:27:33,915 --> 01:27:35,678
And before you know it,
1350
01:27:35,750 --> 01:27:37,877
they'll come out and talk to him
when they see him:
1351
01:27:37,952 --> 01:27:40,682
He is developing relationships:
It's exactly what he is doing:
1352
01:27:40,755 --> 01:27:42,586
He's going to be working here
for a while now:
1353
01:27:42,790 --> 01:27:46,920
And half of what he's doing is role-playing:
He's trying to get the Iraqis,
1354
01:27:46,995 --> 01:27:50,328
particularly the Lieutenant,
to do the same thing: Rarely, they do:
1355
01:27:50,531 --> 01:27:53,295
The Iraqis, particularly here
in a Sunni region,
1356
01:27:53,668 --> 01:27:58,901
they're scared to death
of going into Sunni area.
1357
01:27:58,973 --> 01:28:03,000
Particularly the Shia soldiers, because they
automatically assume everybody is bad:
1358
01:28:03,278 --> 01:28:04,643
It will take them a little while:
1359
01:28:04,712 --> 01:28:07,943
They'll see Staff Sergeant Allier doing this,
after a while, they'll realize,
1360
01:28:08,016 --> 01:28:10,951
"I can do this, too, and they'll talk to me. "
1361
01:28:17,158 --> 01:28:19,592
By the way, Buckeye base,
1362
01:28:19,661 --> 01:28:23,529
we've asked several people
that live in Jazirah
1363
01:28:23,598 --> 01:28:25,293
where the Wahabis operate:
1364
01:28:26,167 --> 01:28:29,261
They indicated that there are none
in Jazirah:::
1365
01:28:29,604 --> 01:28:33,233
That there are no problems in Jazirah:
"Jazirah good-good:"
1366
01:28:33,308 --> 01:28:36,835
And they suggested
that we can go back to America. Over.
1367
01:28:39,280 --> 01:28:43,011
So, don't unpack my gear, 'cause
I'm gonna jump on the next bird.
1368
01:28:43,084 --> 01:28:44,312
I'm out.
1369
01:28:56,698 --> 01:28:58,495
Why is somebody dead?
1370
01:28:59,300 --> 01:29:00,927
The locals don't want to
say anything
1371
01:29:01,002 --> 01:29:04,028
because basically, it's like a bunch of
little gangs running around here:
1372
01:29:04,672 --> 01:29:06,697
They threaten the civilians:
1373
01:29:06,974 --> 01:29:08,737
They tell them,
"If you tell, we will kill you:"
1374
01:29:08,876 --> 01:29:11,003
People won't talk because they don't
want to be involved.
1375
01:29:11,112 --> 01:29:13,546
Get involved, you lose your life.
1376
01:29:14,315 --> 01:29:16,613
This is what I gotta deal with.
1377
01:29:16,718 --> 01:29:18,549
This is it, right here.
1378
01:29:19,887 --> 01:29:21,912
What's your bad day like?
1379
01:29:27,195 --> 01:29:30,187
Did you hear,
Buckeye six got a big cache?
1380
01:29:30,264 --> 01:29:32,698
They did? Nice.
- Just south of us.
1381
01:29:42,310 --> 01:29:44,710
63200. All this time we've been talking.
1382
01:29:45,546 --> 01:29:47,605
It was all just buried in there.
1383
01:29:47,682 --> 01:29:49,843
So, as we started walking along,
1384
01:29:49,917 --> 01:29:52,886
we just started finding the rice bags
or grain bags.
1385
01:29:52,954 --> 01:29:54,046
Just kind of sticking out.
1386
01:29:54,122 --> 01:29:56,750
And once you just pull the thread,
you started to see all kinds of stuff.
1387
01:29:58,693 --> 01:30:00,820
You see the weapons
we found in the big hole?
1388
01:30:00,895 --> 01:30:02,260
I don't believe you.
1389
01:30:02,330 --> 01:30:03,490
I think you brought it with you.
1390
01:30:03,564 --> 01:30:06,795
- Just there.
- Again.
1391
01:30:06,868 --> 01:30:10,269
Do you know how many?
Maybe 80 bombs.
1392
01:30:10,471 --> 01:30:11,802
Yeah.
80.
1393
01:30:12,006 --> 01:30:14,907
You know, we were supposed
to be here first.
1394
01:30:15,343 --> 01:30:20,975
But unfortunately, he couldn't translate
fast enough and you beat us here.
1395
01:30:22,550 --> 01:30:25,849
If it wasn't for him,
we would have found all this.
1396
01:30:26,354 --> 01:30:29,255
Yeah, next time.
But I heard you burned two vehicles.
1397
01:30:29,323 --> 01:30:30,813
Yeah, well.
1398
01:30:33,127 --> 01:30:34,424
Pull.
Pull.
1399
01:30:34,495 --> 01:30:36,156
- Move.
Okay.
1400
01:30:36,230 --> 01:30:37,219
Let's go.
1401
01:30:48,142 --> 01:30:50,337
I tried to fucking get you
to come out with me:
1402
01:30:50,411 --> 01:30:51,503
What?
1403
01:30:51,813 --> 01:30:53,508
I fucking begged you.
1404
01:30:53,581 --> 01:30:56,414
No, you begged
to take the company from me.
1405
01:30:56,484 --> 01:30:59,851
You're like, "How about you stay home
and I'll take your company?"
1406
01:30:59,921 --> 01:31:01,889
Could you imagine...
I couldn't even look at them soldiers
1407
01:31:01,956 --> 01:31:04,288
if you had been out there and I wasn't.
1408
01:31:04,358 --> 01:31:06,292
- I'm hating.
- You know why?
1409
01:31:06,360 --> 01:31:08,385
Because you weren't there!
1410
01:31:10,064 --> 01:31:13,659
- All right, I'm done talking.
Hey, you got that fire going?
1411
01:31:13,868 --> 01:31:14,994
Right, sir!
1412
01:31:15,536 --> 01:31:17,766
You got some good footage
of them blowing that shit up, though, right?
1413
01:31:18,039 --> 01:31:20,473
I got some good stuff,
but I was out of tape, so...
1414
01:31:20,741 --> 01:31:22,470
He got it from a distance.
1415
01:31:22,543 --> 01:31:25,535
Did you get a chance to get a picture
of all the ordnance and shit they found?
1416
01:31:25,713 --> 01:31:28,648
Yeah, I shot the hell out of that.
- Awesome.
1417
01:31:29,283 --> 01:31:31,843
Mr. Johnny-burn-him
journalist got
1418
01:31:31,919 --> 01:31:33,819
a really nice fucking shot.
1419
01:31:33,888 --> 01:31:36,914
Johnny-burn-him did it!
1420
01:31:36,991 --> 01:31:39,425
Oh, that license plate.
1421
01:31:39,494 --> 01:31:42,725
Oh, yes, right! You were looking out. That's
right, that's right, you were looking out.
1422
01:31:44,599 --> 01:31:46,464
He was. He was looking out.
1423
01:31:46,534 --> 01:31:49,162
He was looking out. He was looking out.
1424
01:31:49,237 --> 01:31:52,263
- Pull back, got the whole fucking truck.
Right, right.
1425
01:31:52,340 --> 01:31:54,308
You're looking out.
Yeah. You're looking out for me.
1426
01:31:54,375 --> 01:31:56,673
- He gave you some backup.
All right.
1427
01:31:56,744 --> 01:31:59,008
We got somewhat
of an honest journalist.
1428
01:31:59,080 --> 01:32:01,480
There you go...
No shit.
1429
01:32:04,919 --> 01:32:08,116
- Six-three-niner-four...
Six-three-nine four:::
1430
01:32:08,189 --> 01:32:10,589
Next day at the communications
center, word comes in
1431
01:32:10,658 --> 01:32:12,888
that Allier's company of Iraqi soldiers,
1432
01:32:13,027 --> 01:32:14,961
being led today
by Marine Gunner Kensington,
1433
01:32:15,229 --> 01:32:18,494
has been caught in a crossfire
with the insurgents:
1434
01:32:21,769 --> 01:32:25,398
Staff Sergeant Allier has taken
a group out to help, and I'm going with him:
1435
01:32:26,340 --> 01:32:27,830
Let's go, buddy.
1436
01:32:27,942 --> 01:32:29,534
This time, I didn't have to ask:
1437
01:32:29,610 --> 01:32:32,738
I walked to the Humvee
and Allier got me a seat on the ammo can:
1438
01:32:32,813 --> 01:32:34,280
You'll be driving
the second Humvee.
1439
01:32:34,482 --> 01:32:38,179
Big concern today is
that they did not mess with the stuff
1440
01:32:38,252 --> 01:32:39,742
as far as rigging it:
1441
01:32:39,887 --> 01:32:41,286
Hey, camera guy?
Yeah.
1442
01:32:41,355 --> 01:32:44,051
Get behind me.
Sit your ass right there.
1443
01:32:59,440 --> 01:33:01,465
They have RPGs, sir. Just...
1444
01:33:01,542 --> 01:33:04,010
- Be on the lookout for that.
Roger!
1445
01:33:04,111 --> 01:33:06,841
They had us in a crossfire
as soon as we got up here.
1446
01:33:06,914 --> 01:33:09,109
Those houses that we just left
1447
01:33:09,183 --> 01:33:11,515
and that berm across there...
1448
01:33:11,586 --> 01:33:14,146
They were wearing it out,
but it was just kicking up dirt.
1449
01:33:14,221 --> 01:33:15,415
They weren't hitting anybody.
1450
01:33:24,031 --> 01:33:26,022
All right, Mushtaq, get in the picture.
1451
01:33:26,100 --> 01:33:29,297
Do a picture of Mushtaq. Okay.
1452
01:33:29,370 --> 01:33:31,861
- Okay, now, okay.
- Mushtaq, Sharif.
1453
01:33:31,939 --> 01:33:32,997
Hello... Hello.
1454
01:33:33,074 --> 01:33:34,507
- Ali.
- Ali.
1455
01:33:37,445 --> 01:33:39,310
Okay, now watch the bad guys.
Look for Wahabi.
1456
01:33:39,380 --> 01:33:41,780
- No Wahabi.
- Look for Wahabi.
1457
01:33:41,849 --> 01:33:43,248
Now drive.
1458
01:33:59,734 --> 01:34:02,464
It was gonna be a long walk
back to base,
1459
01:34:06,040 --> 01:34:09,567
so I decided to run to the front of
the column to catch my ride in the Humvee:
1460
01:34:17,585 --> 01:34:20,179
Oh, fuck.
1461
01:34:24,859 --> 01:34:26,326
I think that was an IED:
1462
01:34:26,427 --> 01:34:28,725
What?
- I think that was an IED.
1463
01:34:33,067 --> 01:34:34,466
Oh, my God!
1464
01:35:35,763 --> 01:35:39,893
:: Medevac from the 110
to pick up DO A from that IED:
1465
01:37:36,584 --> 01:37:38,313
He needs to breathe.
1466
01:38:13,721 --> 01:38:17,088
On patrol today, when we were ambushed,
1467
01:38:19,159 --> 01:38:25,428
all the soldiers from Company 2
performed like professionals.
1468
01:38:31,272 --> 01:38:35,208
You had good discipline
when you were firing back.
1469
01:38:35,643 --> 01:38:37,270
You were not firing in the air.
1470
01:38:37,344 --> 01:38:39,835
You were firing at the terrorists.
1471
01:38:48,122 --> 01:38:54,789
So, I expect all of you...
If I fall down and get hurt or die,
1472
01:38:55,095 --> 01:38:57,029
I expect you to fight
1473
01:38:57,298 --> 01:39:02,099
and not get emotional, but to keep fighting
and keep your wits.
1474
01:39:35,569 --> 01:39:38,265
I was so glad to see you
in that moment.
1475
01:39:54,521 --> 01:39:57,046
It's kind of a moving thing, that:::
1476
01:39:57,291 --> 01:40:01,022
One brother thinks enough of his other
brothers to try and make a film
1477
01:40:01,095 --> 01:40:04,394
to understand what they are doing,
and understand:::
1478
01:40:04,932 --> 01:40:07,366
You know, sacrifice, commitment...
1479
01:40:08,302 --> 01:40:10,736
Something greater than themselves:
1480
01:40:26,387 --> 01:40:27,581
What's up?
1481
01:40:32,726 --> 01:40:35,786
Some of my reasons for going
I'm sure were personal:
1482
01:40:35,863 --> 01:40:39,060
Wanted to see if I could do it, handle it:
1483
01:40:39,733 --> 01:40:42,429
That's why I wanted to be a soldier
when I was a kid:
1484
01:40:42,503 --> 01:40:44,164
I could see that:
1485
01:40:44,271 --> 01:40:47,138
But I didn't really have anything
back here.
1486
01:40:47,207 --> 01:40:49,232
That you were sacrificing.
1487
01:40:50,711 --> 01:40:53,271
I don't have a family like you have.
1488
01:40:55,816 --> 01:40:57,249
Ready?
Ready.
1489
01:40:58,519 --> 01:41:02,011
Welcome to the Fox Company,
51st Infantry, Long Range Surveillance:
1490
01:41:02,322 --> 01:41:06,019
519th Military Intelligence Battalion
Change of Command Ceremony:
1491
01:41:06,660 --> 01:41:08,719
We are honored that you could join us
for today's ceremony,
1492
01:41:08,829 --> 01:41:12,026
where you witness the formal
and symbolic transfer of command
1493
01:41:12,099 --> 01:41:15,762
from Captain Thomas M: Hough
to Captain Isaac J: Rademacher:
1494
01:41:16,570 --> 01:41:19,232
In my heart of hearts,
I didn't want to leave the army:
1495
01:41:19,306 --> 01:41:20,830
I belong there.
1496
01:41:21,508 --> 01:41:22,497
So...
1497
01:41:22,576 --> 01:41:24,168
That's what I do.
1498
01:41:24,445 --> 01:41:28,211
We don't do it for the money,
or just to have a career,
1499
01:41:28,982 --> 01:41:30,973
it's because I feel like I'm called to do so:
1500
01:41:31,085 --> 01:41:33,553
It's my call to duty, if you will.
1501
01:41:34,888 --> 01:41:36,617
It's just who I am.
1502
01:41:42,896 --> 01:41:43,885
What did she say?
1503
01:41:43,964 --> 01:41:45,693
Poopy diaper. Yuck!
1504
01:41:45,833 --> 01:41:47,528
When it was just me and her before,
1505
01:41:47,601 --> 01:41:50,866
you know, she would always,
"Mommy! Mommy!"
1506
01:41:51,038 --> 01:41:56,704
And now, about 50% of the time,
I hear, "Daddy!"
1507
01:41:57,144 --> 01:41:58,577
And that's great.
1508
01:41:58,645 --> 01:42:02,945
Hunter what?
Hunter Rademacher?
1509
01:42:03,484 --> 01:42:07,887
I think when he does deploy,
it'll be very hard for her to understand
1510
01:42:08,021 --> 01:42:10,046
why her father's leaving her:
1511
01:42:10,124 --> 01:42:15,289
And it'll be my job to try to explain
as best I can
1512
01:42:15,629 --> 01:42:18,097
that, you know, it's not because
he doesn't love her.
1513
01:42:18,398 --> 01:42:21,856
It's because he has to do
what he has to do, and...
1514
01:42:22,703 --> 01:42:26,469
And he still loves her
and he'll always come back to her, so...
1515
01:42:26,540 --> 01:42:28,735
Raise your right hand and repeat after me.
1516
01:42:28,809 --> 01:42:31,835
- I, state your name...
- I, Joseph Edward Rademacher...
1517
01:42:31,945 --> 01:42:33,913
As you all know,
this is my little brother:
1518
01:42:34,014 --> 01:42:36,574
I just took command
of the LRS company today.
1519
01:42:36,884 --> 01:42:39,978
And now he's re-enlisting.
So this is a pretty big day for our family.
1520
01:42:40,154 --> 01:42:44,147
Everybody always asks me how I feel
about my little brother being in harm's way.
1521
01:42:44,224 --> 01:42:45,589
I always tell them the same thing.
1522
01:42:45,692 --> 01:42:48,752
One, Joe's a badass,
so I'm not worried about it.
1523
01:42:48,962 --> 01:42:52,693
And two, he is in the best battalion
in the United States Army.
1524
01:42:52,966 --> 01:42:55,935
And I think... I know I'm biased...
1525
01:42:56,003 --> 01:42:59,439
But I think he sets the example
for a lot of young soldiers out there.
1526
01:42:59,506 --> 01:43:02,407
So, let's give him a hand for re-enlisting.
1527
01:43:08,749 --> 01:43:11,217
I don't think things will be
as difficult as they were last time
1528
01:43:11,285 --> 01:43:14,118
because, I mean, he knows
what he is doing:
1529
01:43:15,022 --> 01:43:16,751
He's with all of his friends and:::
1530
01:43:18,192 --> 01:43:22,788
I don't think it'll change me that much,
either, being away from him, so...
1531
01:43:24,965 --> 01:43:27,024
It did last time, though. Jeez!
1532
01:43:27,668 --> 01:43:30,535
It's like I just finally got happy again.
1533
01:43:30,604 --> 01:43:32,697
Because I was depressed for a long time...
1534
01:43:33,340 --> 01:43:36,434
He even noticed.
He's like, "I'm here, what's wrong?"
1535
01:43:36,510 --> 01:43:38,068
"I don't know. "
1536
01:43:38,779 --> 01:43:42,943
And finally I'm happy again.
1537
01:43:45,485 --> 01:43:46,747
And then he leaves:
1538
01:43:46,820 --> 01:43:48,720
Hey, snipers, let's go.
1539
01:43:52,359 --> 01:43:56,159
I'm not mad at him for going:
He can't do anything about it:
1540
01:43:56,797 --> 01:43:58,890
He has to go. So...
1541
01:44:57,991 --> 01:45:00,926
I don't know if I've earned a seat
at the table with Joe:
1542
01:45:00,994 --> 01:45:04,191
But I do know that having walked
a mile in my brothers' shoes,
1543
01:45:04,264 --> 01:45:06,858
I understand each of them better now:
1544
01:45:11,538 --> 01:45:14,166
I know that we all miss our brothers:
1545
01:45:15,309 --> 01:45:21,714
But maybe, if we get to know them better,
they can never be gone from us:
1546
01:46:52,506 --> 01:46:56,272
Time doesn't mean a thing
1547
01:46:57,177 --> 01:46:59,611
Beckoning the sun
1548
01:47:00,480 --> 01:47:04,246
And all you have are memories
1549
01:47:05,819 --> 01:47:09,687
Life is never what it seems
1550
01:47:10,090 --> 01:47:13,025
Till you see it for yourself
1551
01:47:14,461 --> 01:47:18,659
Nobody else can know
1552
01:47:20,367 --> 01:47:23,131
I don't know how we got here
1553
01:47:26,640 --> 01:47:29,837
I don't know what's ahead
1554
01:47:32,779 --> 01:47:37,341
But wherever we are going to
1555
01:47:38,452 --> 01:47:41,910
Brother
1556
01:47:45,325 --> 01:47:48,453
Brother
1557
01:47:51,431 --> 01:47:56,391
We'll be brothers in arms
1558
01:48:12,452 --> 01:48:15,853
What's that picture on the wall
1559
01:48:16,423 --> 01:48:20,450
You were barely old enough to crawl
1560
01:48:21,928 --> 01:48:24,055
I had your back
1561
01:48:25,198 --> 01:48:28,656
Who are these men we have become
1562
01:48:29,169 --> 01:48:32,195
Or are we still little boys
1563
01:48:33,073 --> 01:48:36,474
Are they who we are fighting for
1564
01:48:39,079 --> 01:48:42,014
I don't know how we got here
1565
01:48:45,018 --> 01:48:48,579
I don't know what's ahead
1566
01:48:51,591 --> 01:48:55,721
But wherever we are going to
1567
01:48:56,496 --> 01:49:00,398
Brother
1568
01:49:03,103 --> 01:49:07,563
Brother
1569
01:49:09,109 --> 01:49:13,944
We'll be brothers in arms
1570
01:49:42,275 --> 01:49:45,711
Brother
1571
01:49:48,982 --> 01:49:51,678
Brother
1572
01:49:55,922 --> 01:49:58,413
Brother