You know what a bad day at work for me is? Getting to the set.
And there's no cream cheese for the bagels.
Right, right.
Director. Right.
Couldn't motivate,
I don't know what, a dog to eat a bone.
You got it rough, man. I don't know how you deal with it.
That's a bad day for me.
Dear heavenly Father, we thank you:
You're a God that knows everything that's going on right now
and is intimately acquainted with our deployment,
with everything that's going on in each person's family,
their thoughts, their feelings. We pray that you would give us strength...
That kid, when you're holding her, she's either trying to fall asleep
or she's playing:
She just sat there for 10 minutes, as if she knew I was leaving.
But she had never done that before:
She was saying goodbye:
I mean, that's the most heart-wrenching thing ever:
I don't know how to describe it:
And you just hope that you can see that person again.
I may be walking out of the door for the last time
and abandoning the people I love the most:
And for what? A cause.
I mean, I already told you I believe in what I'm doing:
But, damn, you're asking a lot if I don't get to come back:
Lord, as we leave, keep us safe.
In your holy name we pray. Amen.
Even though this was Isaac's third deployment,
it still felt strange sending my brother off into combat:
But, it didn't feel that way for my youngest brother, Joe:
He'd spent one tour of duty in Iraq in Isaac's unit already:
That's the fun stuff. Kicking in the door,
going and clearing that building, that's fun stuff. It's good shit.
Is it 'cause it's such an adrenaline rush? Is that why it's fun?
You know what I mean? It's just like, life at a...
Even in training, or whatever, you're kicking down that door,
it's awesome. It's the best.
You had to have force:
You gotta have a sheepdog in order to protect the sheep from the wolves:
Sheep are, for the most part, innocent, you know:
Sheepdog, he's organized chaos. You have to have organized chaos
in order to have a free, orderly life.
Imagine. You're going into a house fully geared up, you know.
From head to toe.
You have to see it and do it.
Talking to Joe made me realize
how much he had changed, in the last two years,
and how close he'd become to Isaac:
I began to feel a distance, for the first time, between myself and my two brothers:
Why are you turning on the camera?
Hi there, Thad.
There were five Rademacher boys:
Isaac, Claus,
Thad, Joe, and me, Jake:
I'm the oldest brother, Joe, the youngest:
Behind us boys came our two sisters,
Hannah and Jane:
We all grew up in Decatur, Illinois:
That's it, yeah.
Our childhood was pretty typical: Trick-or-treating,
Don't take down my pants!
Scouts, soccer games, family vacations:
I guess it's what's called "all-American:"
Being the oldest, some of the parenting duties inevitably fell to me:
I enjoyed looking out for the younger ones,
and very quickly became accustomed to the role:
But as we boys grew into men, things changed:
Different paths were chosen:
Isaac graduated the top of his class in military tactics from West Point in 2000:
There, he met and married his wife, Jenny:
Joe followed Isaac into the military:
He joined the army in 2003
and had the rare opportunity to serve with his brother
for his first tour of duty:
Later, he graduated from Ranger School
and top of his class from Sniper School in 2004:
Now a captain, Isaac volunteered for a third deployment to Iraq,
where he serves as the operations officer
for an elite, long-range surveillance company:
There he is.
Dad, quit embarrassing me. Thank you, Isaac.
You, and Isaac, I think, developed as leaders of the group
because you were the older children, and
sometimes you were more dominant than he was,
and other times, he would dominate, depending on what was being done
and how they were playing together.
There you go, son.
He's doing well, he knows he's being filmed right now.
Both boys, I think, were interested off and on in the military,
at least in a peripheral way:
But anyway, Jacob couldn't make it into West Point,
but, his younger brother, Isaac,
became enamored with the idea,
and, lo and behold, you know, he ended up going to West Point.
You were the more thoughtful of the two,
and you were more into analyzing personalities
and why things happened the way that they did:
He was taking the part of the Pied Piper sometimes, with the other kids,
and, "Here, let's do this. "
It was a good time, growing up with five older brothers:
It wasn't rough, you guys never beat me up
or tied me to a tree or anything like that:
You were like, "We can't hurt this one. She's the first girl. "
Jacob started out as a finance major,
and ended up calling to say he was gonna change major in senior year.
And I said, "Maybe international finance
"or international business?"
No, he wanted to be an actor.
So, we had some interesting transatlantic phone calls, after that:
There's been a huge role reversal:
I was the one who was gonna go to West Point:
Isaac was the one that was gonna be a professional actor:
He won the acting award his senior year of high school: Was an athlete:
I basically had a career in high school to prepare for West Point.
Then I didn't get in.
I'll give you a text message when we're sitting.
Let's go.
Not only did I wanna be a soldier, I drove everything in my life towards it,
'cause I always wanted to go to war, always wanted to see it:
So I was floundering in life,
because what I had planned to do in my 20s was denied me:
So it's very interesting, you know: It was a role reversal:
Isaac got much more serious about his life, and I started looking for mine.
Where are you going? You're going to Kuwait.
I wanna know what's going on in Iraq because I have two brothers serving there:
Five hours to Kuwait.
These guys are putting their lives on the line:
Why are they doing it? I need to know.
It's important: I have a personal stake in that:
And that's why I set off with a bare-bones crew
to find my brothers' war in Iraq:
Bye-bye. Bye.
- Bye-bye. All the best. Thank you very much.
I'm tired, I have a headache, my eyes hurt from this prescription.
It's about 11:00. We just arrived in Kuwait.
We got to get out to the Hilton,
call this major so we make it to Iraq tomorrow.
- I said I wanna smell the Kuwaiti air. It's warm.
Wow.
Hey, mom. It's Jake.
I'm calling you from Kuwait.
Yeah, I'm in Kuwait. This is Jake. Yeah.
Little bit, little bit. I feel a little nauseous right now, I'm a little tired.
Still got a little on your chin. Don't leave it just lying here.
The change of climate? Is that what it is? Thought it was the malaria medicine.
Upon arriving at the Hilton,
I learned that our workers' comp insurance had been canceled:
Without this insurance,
I would lose my crew, production team back home,
and I'd be without medical insurance in a war zone:
All this work, and to fail this close:
I decided that I had to go on alone:
Last fucking minute, right as the bus comes,
one of them calls and says, "You got any insurance?"
Then he goes, "Now, here's the bad news. 50 fucking K."
It's fucking way more than what I thought it was gonna be.
So, we're on a bus, we're heading to the airport just outside Kuwait.
All the curtains are drawn, all the lights are out.
- I imagine that's for security. No, that's so we can sleep.
So we can sleep?
Again, like I said, it's for security. People are trying to kill us right now.
What I'd like you to do for me when you get off this bus
is take everything you got, helmet and vest, carry-on luggage,
set it down in these rows.
If you're going to Baghdad, set them down in these rows over here:
I've got four rows off to your left, out here:
When you get out here, it'll be out to your left:
Guys, I have a box built out here:
If your bag does not fit in that box, it goes on the pallet:
It does not go on the plane with you, all right?
So if it doesn't fit in that box, don't argue with me, put it on the pallet:
Bro, man, bro, man, bro, man, you gotta force it. It's too big.
- Okay. Okay?
Now, if it won't fit standing up and it won't fit sideways, it's too big.
- I think if I take this out... Sir...
If it doesn't fit sideways or standing up, it is too big, okay?
- You see these things on the side, though? - Sir, it is still too big.
Pay attention to it. Look at it.
It will not fit in there. It is too big.
All right. - It's longer than the box.
Okay, folks, does anyone have any weapons or ammunition
in their luggage that's on the ground?
Okay, let's get this going.
Your route for today is, you're going from here to Baghdad,
then you're going on to Mosul.
How many years have they been flying this thing?
They were flying them back in Vietnam, there.
Oh, yeah? - That's right.
This is the most reliable aircraft known to man, the C-130.
Workhorse.
- Were you in Vietnam? - Yup.
Military's all I know, and matter of fact, I grew up here:
That means, the first time I learned that I could learn something,
it was in the military.
Now, if you wanna do some shooting up front, stay off those maps.
You should have a great view today.
You guys can shoot outside, and look down, and, you know...
When the pilot heard of my plan to film my brother's unit in Mosul,
he invited me forward to ride in the cockpit:
The C-130, its job is actually to stay down low,
under the radar and everything,
go drop the guys out the back, like your brother,
and then escape.
That's what it was built for.
What we're doing over here is more like Southwest Airlines.
So we're the primary way that troops and stuff move around in the theater:
After flying 9,000 miles,
I expected that Isaac would meet me at the airport:
Hey. Jake Rademacher. Nice to meet you, soldier.
- He actually just called for you. - Oh, did he, really?
I was soon to learn that getting from one end of Mosul to the other
was a little more difficult than catching the nearest cab:
All right. Actions on contact.
Take small-arms fire and it's not effective, we should keep rolling.
He did arrange for a ride in his company's afternoon supply run:
Along the route, if we hit an IED, no vehicles are destroyed,
we should keep rolling up to Courage.
I have a call out for route clearance, and we'll get ready to roll. Any questions?
Shit.
Yeah, you guys will like Mosul down here. It's pretty nice.
I mean, I wouldn't buy no summer home here,
but I definitely think I'm gonna visit again.
Wow.
We're not in Kansas anymore, are we?
In this zone, if you look down the side of the road,
you'll see where some of them guard rails have been blown up.
So you can see where some of them IEDs and stuff
have gone off in the past.
Now, why is he doing that? - They like to drop things, like, you know,
grenades and things, and they go there, drop grenades down.
So, if you exit different than the way you came in,
you just lower your chances
of them being able to drop a grenade or something on you on the back side.
Told you Mosul was nice.
Oh, shit.
- What's up, man? - What's up?
- Got everybody? - Yeah.
Shorts came! Damn. I didn't know you were coming back. Okay.
- Brothers' hug. - Okay.
Let's get the AC working ASAP. What do you say about that?
So, I told you I'd fucking make it. - No shit, huh?
- About time. - What's up?
- You have no idea what it took to get here. - Yeah, I know. I've been tracking you.
- No idea. But I'm here, which is cool. - Hearing all that shit.
In fact, we got our insurance about 12 hours ago.
- That was a big deal. - I thought it would be.
Yeah.
I just got these new glasses, just, basically, for this shit.
Well, you look like a movie star. I was thinking Brad Pitt.
Shut up.
What was it like to see me jump off the Humvee and walk through the:::
I think it was a lot more exciting for you than it was for me:
I spent six months in Iraq with Joe last year,
so I know what it's like to have a brother, in arms, right next to me.
- When do you think it's gonna be? - Shot.
That's a fucking bullet? - Yeah, that was an AK-47 shot.
This is known as "The Bombed-out Palace,"
versus "The Palace," which is the headquarters facility.
That's the big, ornate one that...
Isaac wasted no time showing me around the base
and introducing me to the men and women he worked with:
He was eager to show me what life at FOB Courage was all about:
Appreciate it, though, guys.
The incoming attacks that have happened on FOB Courage, around Mosul,
this being one of the hotbeds of the insurgency,
a lot of times they use indirect fire
to either harass, or try to kill, Coalition forces:
All of the trailer parks, as we call them,
the living quarters the soldiers live in, are surrounded, on Courage,
with these large barriers: They call them "Texas Barriers:"
Looks like about nine-inches-thick cement, about 12 feet tall:
This particular one happened on December 30th.
It worked backwards, but still worked in our favor.
And I remember soldiers laying here, bleeding.
I remember soldiers sitting crouched down in the bunker, in almost a fetal position.
It was a real wake-up call for us, because it happened
days after we arrived here to start doing our missions.
Basically, we've been given the assignment
to develop intelligence along the Syrian border.
One of the larger problems in Iraq right now is the flow of foreign fighters, money,
resources to keep the insurgency going, and...
It started in Vietnam as a LRP, Long-Range Patrol:
After the close of Vietnam, we became Long-Range Surveillance:
The ability to go deep behind enemy lines
and conduct reconnaissance, or surveillance operations, on the enemy.
Smugglers, they have their own berm break that they can smuggle across.
It's also reported that a lot of the Syrian border police in this area
are Syrian Intelligence.
And all the foreign fighters that we've been tracking
from Saudi Arabia and Jordan
have been going up to Qamishli and then down into the Syrian border post
and on their way into Iraq.
You can see those items coming right over the top of the cliffs.
My guys have to sit down with me
and say, "Okay, here's where we think guys are coming across the border.
"Here's when we think it's happening, and here's what we think is going on. "
And then we take the teams and put the teams out there,
and the team's job is to confirm or deny.
They don't have a location for where the shots came from?
They are to confirm that, "Yes, there is people coming across the border: "
Confirm they're doing vehicle or foot traffic,
or deny. "No, I sat in this hole for three days, and I didn't see a damn thing. "
Good Lord.
Update everybody. Say, "They are not actively in contact right now. "
Being an intel guy here, in an infantry company,
I get to know that, when these guys go out on their mission,
I know if I give them bad information they might not come back at all:
If I gave somebody bad information and they died because of it,
I'm the one at fault, you know. I'm the one that has to live with it.
But Isaac's command center was not the only vantage point
from which I wanted to see a mission,
and I convinced my brother to get us a spot
on the next recon mission out to the Syrian border:
Since we know you're going on this mission,
yeah, I would have...
I'd start packing it up, and let Marotta help you.
He'll tell you, "You need that, you don't need that,"
to help you pack light and to make sure you have everything you need.
Yes, sir.
What day are you leaving? The 18th? Yeah.
Y'all need to be drinking water.
Right now? Constantly.
You think it's hot here? Wait till you get out there.
And you'd probably wear that over tomorrow, on the Stryker run.
Wear this over, and then bring something, like a set of shorts and a T-shirt,
for you to wear while you're there tomorrow.
Okay. - To relax in, walk around and do whatever.
Those laundry guys don't give a shit about color, huh?
No, they really don't.
What the fuck is that?
I was anxious to get outside the wire, and this mission was my ticket:
The platoon I was to accompany was based at Fort Marez,
about 25 miles from Fort Courage:
Isaac wanted to personally introduce me to the soldiers
that would be conducting this recon mission:
We caught a ride on the morning Stryker run across Mosul:
Strykers aren't the most comfortable way to get around,
and the inside can start to feel like an oven: It's important to drink a lot of water:
Gotta take a piss?
- Doing all right? - I'm about to pee.
- Just hold it in. - It's hurting.
I think you learn to develop your bladder in the military.
Really? - You learn to find that inner happy place.
And you store some piss in there, relieve the pressure.
We should be there any minute. I mean, fuck.
I gotta go.
You gonna try to go in your water bottle?
No, I don't wanna pee in a fucking bottle. I have to go that bad.
I've had to fucking urinate for an hour.
- Hey, we almost there? - Against the wall.
Go for it, big guy.
Take a leak.
What's funny is, since he was, like, 10, it hasn't grown much.
- We're going on, like, six minutes here. That's right, son.
Are you fucking serious, coach? How long can a guy piss?
He is doing pelvic thrusts into the water bottle.
What the fuck? Now get your hand off me.
That's my helmet, that's my jaw. There we go.
Gatorade.
Glad to be going on today.
Yeah, it'll be a good experience. You'll see a lot of stuff.
Hopefully, there'll be some excitement on the mission.
Excitement? Yeah.
Nothing too crazy that'll get you killed.
We'll be doing over 200 klicks off-road:
- It's a serious road trip we're doing. - Yes.
When do you put your sunscreen on?
- Before you get in this thing, or... - I never put any sunscreen on.
Really?
I'm able to show you my life
in a way you never would have seen it before.
So, get on in.
I mean, think about it. Mom and Dad don't know what I do. They just don't.
Dad's well-read on all this shit, but he...
I can tell him everything, but he just...
You know, he listens, he hears, he doesn't know.
You get to see this shit first-hand.
You're hit by an IED,
no damage, no injuries, we're gonna keep rolling towards the Higher.
If this truck starts to roll over, one thing you gotta remember.
You've got to grab the gunner, 'cause I'm not gonna be able to, all right?
Now, what do you mean by grab him? You want me to pull him in?
Yeah, pull him down, pull him in, pull him over here with you.
Hold onto him as tight as you can so he doesn't get flipped out
and this thing rolls over and crushes him and cuts him in half.
We're gonna be all jammed up in here, there's gonna be shit flying everywhere.
Don't worry about nothing.
Leave your camera, whatever the fuck, don't worry about it.
Get out of this fucking truck.
Gunners, stay low in the hatch. Don't be General Patton in an AK death raid.
You got, you know, anywhere from two to maybe six guys
that are out by themselves:
Their only link back to the big army is a radio:
Hope I don't see you for five days.
And they have to know each other.
They have to get along with each other.
A lot of guys will get frustrated,
because it takes a certain kind of person
to go out, sit in a hole for five days and not see a damn thing:
You have to have a kid who can sit there in the blazing-ass heat,
looking through a scope:
I mean, picture being one of those kids.
Hello, Smith, we're gonna stop for a second:
There's a vehicle that's lost its power steering and its brakes:
They're both on the same hydraulics system, so:::
- Who has the wrenches? - Power steering?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
They're gonna be hurting for the rest of the mission.
Without the power steering, every bump you hit
shocks the steering wheel and about breaks your hand.
Where the hell are we?
Uh...
You're in the middle of fucking nowhere, man.
If you want to take your shit out and dust it off,
this is a good spot to do it. We're going to be here for a while.
- Okay. - We're going to be here till it gets dark,
and then we're going to go and do a reconnaissance
of our fucking site.
Actually, it feels really good to take this shit off your face.
I was looking at the Lexus Hybrid, the fucking Ford Escape,
whatever that thing is, or the Toyota,
but there's a waiting list to get the Lexus or the Toyota hybrid.
They're probably coming out with those hydrogen cars.
Yeah, I'm not going to wait for a hydrogen car.
You guys be careful, okay?
Then you gotta pull this. When are you guys going to get back?
You guys ready? Let's go.
We've got a lot of intelligence-collection platforms:
Everything from planes flying overhead to satellites,
you name it, it's probably out there:
But nothing beats a set of human eyes looking at a key piece of terrain:
So the idea is, we find that key piece of terrain and we watch it for days at a time:
You doing all right, Jake?
Yeah. - Staying awake?
So they're digging in tonight.
Got their meals with them.
Interesting.
Jake's probably having the time of his life. Where's the platoon at?
It was established right out here.
These missions are real rough on the men:
Typically, the longest we'll send them out is five days,
because of the extreme conditions of the environment:
It's very hot, it's extremely dusty and it'll wear a guy out.
Knowing Jake, I think he's getting by:
He was never quite the dirty type that I was,
and we were in Scouts and stuff, getting out in the field
and rolling around in the dirt,
and he's got good people there to take care of him:
So, I'm not worried about him:
He won't soon forget how bad conditions can be.
He'll come back saying,
"Yes, I went to the right place with the right men to find what I was looking for,
"in terms of figuring out the heart of the American soldier: "
Scientology, that big thing out in fucking LA?
Not for me.
What's really interesting is that
the whole rest of the world are interested in these fuckers,
but they're so out of touch with our lives.
My life has nothing, no similarity with Tom Cruise or whatever.
Can't get enough of reading about him and whatever fucking date...
I don't know why that's so fascinating. My wife doesn't get it, either.
She's like, "Why do you read this shit?" "I don't know. "
You can go to Ranger School for two months,
come back and your chick's been cheating on you for whatever reason.
I went to basic training, and the day I left for basic training,
she was fucking her next-door neighbor, dude.
- I was like, "Are you kidding me?" - Some other dude got my wife pregnant,
and now some cocksucker is using my nice little dresser.
You didn't get that back? - Fucking maple...
I wanted to piss in it, because you can never get that smell out of that oak.
No one on my block, that I grew up with, has been here,
and a lot of people I grew up with are still in the same hometown,
drinking beer at the same bars they did when they turned 21,
and I don't want that life.
So, do we sit out in the sun for basically three days?
Yeah.
Is this what I signed myself up for here?
You've got to look at what the mission is, here:
We're not here to freaking go blow things up,
we're here to confirm or deny certain things are happening in certain areas.
This is our little berm break here,
you can kind of see where the berm is down.
The road picks up and goes into Syria.
The mission out here, you check it out, you send it to Higher,
Higher decides how they want to deal with it:
There've been a couple explosions from the city.
That's where most of our traffic's come through.
My mom likes this job:
She likes it a lot more than any other job I'd have in the military:
My issue is my family.
I love the job, but there's some personal stuff I'd like to have, too.
Not sure if I can get that right now because you're going to be deployed.
You're going to be gone a year, home a year, gone a year, home a year.
So it's confusing.
You're just an adrenaline junkie now, you like the adrenaline rush,
but you like your family, too.
Do you guys hear gunfire? All I heard was...
Negative, one-four. All we've been hearing is maybe mortar explosions, over.
Roger: Did it cross the berm?
Hey, do you see a vehicle with its headlights on?
Roger, one-six, we have eyes on that area right now,
and does it have its headlights on, over?
Roger: Tally 1-3 observed a vehicle on the Syrian side of the berm
and it appears to be going south at this time, over:
Roger, from our position he's probably about five or six K's out,
but we'll watch him, over.
Roger:
Hell, we haven't seen anything, not a single thing today.
It's Sunday, man, I'm telling you.
It's church day.
First, you think it's miserable.
You're in a dust storm and you're pooping in a plastic Porta-John,
and all these things that are gross, you just come to accept them with time.
You work past... I mean...
I think anybody would adapt to any environment, it's just human nature,
but it's amazing how all the things you think are horrible at first,
you get used to, and you don't even think about anymore.
When I first joined the army,
I did everything I could not to have to shit in a field.
Hold it for days at a time. After a while, you're just like, "Fuck it. "
Just dig it about a foot deep.
Just put your hands back on the rocks and squat over.
Yeah, like this? - Yeah, something like that.
- Well, you want to lean forward. - That's how you do it?
Yeah. Takes a little bit of strength, you gotta keep from falling in.
It sucks after a while. I hope you're a fast shitter, I take forever.
See? This is why you want to go away. The guys take pictures and stuff.
And no privacy.
Jesus, I make $1,877.
That's with jump pay and everything else?
No, that's just base pay.
It's base pay? That's not bad.
- It's not good, either. - Not bad.
It's like purgatory.
- It's not bad... - It's not bad, but it's certainly not good.
But it's still not that bad.
Yeah, well, on the bright side, you don't worry about clothes,
because you wear the same fucking thing every day.
It's not bad.
If you're doing this for the money, you're retarded.
You don't do it for the money. You can't.
What do you do it for?
I'm trying to figure that out right now,
'cause I'm supposed to be re-enlisting or getting out,
and I'm trying to figure out why I do this.
It's funny, when you go home,
come back from a year-long deployment,
and you go to the mall and you see some fat guy
stuffing his face with hot dogs,
I'm thankful for that, because that guy can kill himself on nitrate-cicles
anytime he wants to. We fight for that, that's what he wants and I'm happy for him.
My niece, both of my nieces,
they're going to have an education, they're going to have a life.
And it's because of me being over here
that they're going to be able to continue their life.
Same with if you have kids or anybody else has kids,
I mean, we're out here for them.
We work for them.
Is it worth it if costs your life?
Yeah, it'd be worth it.
That's why I'm here. I'd give my life for America any day.
I wouldn't think twice.
All right, put it on safe.
These guys out here, I'm going to know them for the rest of my life:
When you spend so much time out here with them
and you get to know them, they almost become brothers:
So it's great, you have a new family:
I've tried to make my dad proud ever since I was a little kid.
Um...
It was hard to see if I was doing that,
because young boys, we get in trouble all the time.
Think your dad's proud of you now? Yeah.
Yeah, we spend our whole lives trying to make our dads proud, huh?
Yeah, we do. We sure do.
My dad answered my question once: He's like, "Are you going to get out?"
I'm like, "I don't know: I don't know if I could stay in: "
He was like, "The caliber of person you're going to be working with in the military
"is better than the caliber of person you're going to meet 90% of the time
"anywhere else in the work world. "
It's just a different breed: You go through different things together,
and my friends here are closer than almost any friends I've ever had in my entire life:
When I've figured out why I do it, I'll let you know.
It's fucking hot.
It's our last full day. Sweet.
What time are they picking us up?
02:00. - So we've got 10 hours left?
About. - But who's counting?
I am.
These guys ain't doing so bad.
Me personally, I've got the shits right now.
I'm sucking really bad.
So you guys went for three days? Yeah.
Fortunately.
How do you feel now?
I feel great now, now all these guys are here.
Montgomery lands at one, six:
Be advised first platoon is mission complete, all teams are extracted
and we are preparing to move back to Marez at this time, over:
Glad to be back at the base? That was a fucking hellish drive:
- Eight-and-a-half hours: Honey, I'm home!
I gotta pee!
This company fucking needs us.
Holy shit.
You look like fucking poop.
Yeah, but I like it.
I didn't know you would grow facial hair.
Shit.
- You? Taking that... - For fuck's sake man, you're filthy.
Isaac was being called back to the States for further training:
But he didn't like leaving before the rest of the soldiers in his company,
and before being able to show me even more of his unit's operations:
But in the army, orders are orders and he had to go:
- Take care, man. - Yeah, you, too.
Stay out of trouble.
I'm always out of trouble.
See you back home. All right, man.
Have fun.
You guys want any snacks or anything?
We got mail today, so we got chips and stuff if you want.
Can I watch just the first five minutes of Season 2?
I've seen most of Season 2 on TV,
but I saw the end of the first season. I never caught the first couple of episodes.
This show is awesome.
Is it good?
I had a friend back home make fun of me for watching this.
She's like, "That's just wrong.
"A bunch of grown men sitting around, watching The O: C: "
It's great. Dude, you have no idea
how much comfort it was for me when these guys were like, "Yeah, we love The O: C:"
I'm like...
Fucking Rangers and shit.
It's like, I like it.
I don't care what he thinks is fair: He could have died out there!
Who is the girl with the purple hair?
That woman's gorgeous.
She's perfect, because she has the black eyeliner,
which is that mysterious look.
The best two women in this show ever...
Anna. ... Anna from season one.
Perfect, and the bartender.
Dude, Episode 4.
I put it up there near the Thanksgiving episode.
Breakfast is ready: My mom left early, so there's plenty:::
This is fucking awesome, dude.
What could possibly follow up Season 2 of The O.C.?
Target practice:
Fisch, MacKay and Lackey wanted me to share in the fun,
so they arranged for me to get in some trigger time:
All right, put that buttstock right on your shoulder.
And I usually just lean it up.
You don't really have to do that, you can use this to balance it.
Okay. Hold on to it, though?
Yeah, it'll spill. Fire three rounds, just pull back on it.
How did I do?
Hey. Hey, let's see, let's see.
Pretty good.
Where are the rest of the shots?
So basically, with the EOD, the strike round is gonna be down here somewhere
if you're aiming at 25 meters.
So that over distance, the rounds will come up to the silhouette, you know,
because the round travels out, goes up a little bit, about 150, then comes back down.
So you're hitting it actually low,
as much as me. No offense!
How you're shooting.
- But not that bad. Supposed to hit there. - No, hell, no. That's not bad.
- But you got to remember... - Where are all my other blasts?
These guys take you on as a brother
and they train you hard and they give you a bunch of shit,
but they care about you and they care about your development:
So, when your life is on the line,
it is extremely hard to explain, but it's your buddy's life:
You do worry about your own,
but more importantly, you're worried about your friends,
making sure that these people you have grown to be brothers with
are making it through there with you, successfully:
Sometimes I'll flip through the pictures of my daughter,
my wife,
usually it's the daughter, though,
only because I want to be a part of her life, and I'm not:
The daughter's the one that I'm not remembering as well as I'd like to:
Jenny? Hello.
I'll be coming home today and I'll be flying into Fayetteville airport.
We're supposed to be there at 18:28 local:
Okay, and Joe can come, too, if you want, whatever:
But I gotta see you and the baby.
I'm going to come home, and the one thing I'm going to want to do
is just pick her up, grab her and hug her.
And the reality of it is that she may not let me, because she won't remember who I am.
I'm going to have to go home and reacquaint myself with my own daughter,
and prove to her that I love her:
So you're sure they haven't showed up yet?
You know Jenny.
You wanna go back through and walk back out?
- No. - We can do that if you want.
I do know her, that's why I don't know why she's not here.
That's surprising.
I'm gonna check outside for a minute.
- Is Jake doing well over there? - Yeah, he's having a good time.
That's why I said Jenny's probably road raging right now.
- Well, did you talk to him? - I talked to Joe.
They're all coming. I think they got two vehicles.
I think it's important for people in the military to have families
'cause it is a constant reminder to them of why they're doing what they're doing,
especially when they go in harm's way.
- Combat jump? What did you do there? - No, no, no.
When my brother's home, I don't like him being over there,
I don't like him being gone:
I understand it, but as much as I understand it, it's still confusing to me.
It's 'cause I take such a different view point upon it.
Or else I'd be there with him:
Hi, baby. - Hey...
I missed you.
Hunter, look. Look!
- Hello. - Dada?
"I don't know who this guy is. "
I don't know how he's doing it: I can't do it: I couldn't leave her:
I'd go out of my mind:
Hunter's at a good age where she doesn't necessarily notice
in the moment, that he's gone. I remind her of him all the time,
but I think the person it's toughest on is Isaac.
We've got to get you warmed up, Hunter.
He's sacrificing everything:
She likes the sunglasses.
Yeah, not really.
Because he want to make this world a better place for her to grow up in:
Hunter, I swear, I'm cool.
That's what we do everything for, it's for our children:
So he knows how important it is.
It is his choice to serve his country this way.
And you can't choose your children's lives:
You can't choose the circumstances under which they'll live them:
You just have to have the feeling that you prepared them as best as you can:
I know nothing's going to happen to him out there:
This is Isaac, I mean Isaac's like Superman.
He's got the big guns and everything going on there.
Yeah, I wasn't too worried about Isaac getting hurt.
You can't really explain what it's like when you reintegrate into society:
You feel like you don't belong:
Moreover, though, you feel just like nobody understands you:
When I came back from Iraq, I couldn't go through Walmart
without getting extremely irritated:
I was consistently surrounded by people
who were complaining about cell phone bills
and they didn't have the right size, the food wasn't fresh enough, whatever:
Man, none of that shit matters.
To stare death in the face, or to watch your best friend die,
or to just be scared of dying.
When that's over, you're alive like you've never been before.
You know, I can just look at him and tell what he's
saying non-verbally, I can read him a lot better than a lot of other people can,
what he's thinking or feeling at the time.
He wants to be on the ground, I know him:
He doesn't want to be a guy at a desk:
You can tell he wants to be the guy taking over,
charging a bunker or whatever, kicking in the door.
That's who Isaac truly is.
I'm just like him, though, I don't want to be at a desk at all:
I want to be the guy on the ground, pulling the trigger:
It's a totally different world, especially being over in Iraq with him:
As a soldier, not as a civilian:
That kid's been nothing but impressive since he came into the army:
He's got a six-month deployment to Iraq done, with me:
He, like me, thrives over there:
I was scared at times, because I was nervous about his well-being:
I didn't want him to get killed:
They got hit one time. Shit, I was up in the talk,
listening to the radio calls come over.
They called off the battle-roster numbers, I was making sure Joe wasn't one of them.
Had it been Joe, get four trucks full of cops, let's go:
We go fucking breaking in doors:
I mean, you're not supposed to involve the emotion. But sometimes it's unavoidable.
So that was the good and the bad with Joe.
I could protect him when he was in harm's way.
I'd rather have him close than far away.
What happened?
Just driving along. Zero seven went through,
eight started going through.
Boom.
I drove through the dust and kept going:
I heard a big fucking explosion, dude:
I drove through, I thought it hit so hard, it was going to flip over:
Once it knocked me down, my ears were ringing extremely bad.
I couldn't hear anything out of my left ear.
I was checking myself to make sure
that I wasn't bleeding anywhere and didn't realize,
trying to make sure that if I got hit, I knew about it.
Because I had the adrenaline pumping like crazy at that point.
I mean, there's a good chance I might not have felt something right away.
I was driving, so I was pretty much watching forward,
and I just caught it out the corner of my eye.
I had my sunglasses on.
It was just a gray cloud, instantly, at my window.
And then, that's when my window shattered in two spots.
If that window wasn't as thick as it was,
my head probably would have been in Sergeant Beaudecker's lap:
I was about that far away.
After we got back to that base, I took off my helmet and sat it in my lap
and I noticed a tear in the cover of my helmet:
And I was looking at it closer, and my helmet had a hole in it:
And then I looked on the inside and I realized that the hole inside had bulged out:
It had just barely stopped the shrapnel from penetrating all the way through:
- Did its job. - Yeah, it did.
Grundy was pissed he couldn't shoot anybody.
Sometimes there's small-arms fire, sometimes there isn't:
If somebody shoots at me, I'm going to take you out:
There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it: We love duking it out with people:
They don't stand a chance against us.
Their only chance is with IEDs because
they know that they can't just stand toe to toe with us
and have a fight.
Hey...
There's a possible IED. It's a box in the middle of the road.
So you're going to look out for it.
We were all still thinking about what happened that morning:
I looked at it as falling off a horse:
I knew that if I didn't get up there right away,
there's a good chance I might get a little gun-shy:
I just basically needed to get back into it
and feel comfortable up there again.
How far out are those?
It's down by where we got blown up.
Is it in the northbound or southbound lane? Do you know?
It's part of our job:
We can't really just be like, "Something bad happened this morning,
"we're taking the rest of the day off. "
We have stuff we have to do, just keep on going with it.
I've been dating Joe for three-and-a-half years:
Joe's just, I think he's changed.
He's more independent,
brave...
He was brave before, but he didn't really get a chance to show it like he has now.
I think it's just because he went to Iraq:
I think that changed him a lot:
Joe was always really afraid to argue with me or yell at me or anything like that:
Now, whenever he gets mad, he just screams.
Things are different now than they used to be, but
I think that things would be different anyway, just because it's been three years.
Everything's not gonna be the same as it was whenever you first started dating, but
I just think he's changed because of the war. And the army.
...only until you said something
did I remember that you used to mess with me.
He expects me to be a strong person and
me to never cry
and to show no emotion, like he has to.
But I can't, and I think he gets mad at me when I cry,
so,
which is hard, because I cry about a lot of things.
- Yeah, I don't want to be the only guy here. - Why?
I'm sensitive, and he used to be: But that wore away, you know?
He has to be tough, and I have to be tough.
I'm not tough all the time, so...
But I'm sure that would mean just as much, just think...
Here we are, down here in Marez, Kurds up here.
Gonna take RAV Toyota to Saab to Lexus up to Dahuk, okay?
We're basically conducting what's called a food trip:
Basically to buy things that you can't easily buy
or order through the supply system:
And Dahuk is one of the places
that you can go and walk around the market
and be somewhat safe.
As soon as we arrived in Dahuk, I was amazed by the different mood in the air:
Precautions were still taken, but the stress level was lower here in the North
as our Sunni interpreter, Ali, assured me:
...any friendly guy in the market, maybe he'll shake your hand like this.
Walking together, it means a good thing, not a bad thing.
Yeah?
Just... I wanna let you know.
Sometimes, maybe he will see you, he'll kiss you. It's okay.
Okay... You know what I mean.
It's unfortunately in a no-fly zone:
It kept Saddam out of this northern part of Iraq:
So it enabled the Kurds protection, first of all,
and secondly, they had the ability to create their own economy,
their own justice system, and you could tell. It was night and day.
When we go out in town, you'll see, we can walk around
and not get shot at and not get bombed:
It's one of the few chances that most people get to interact with locals:
You can't really walk down the street here in Mosul,
just go talking to people and stuff.
Whereas Dahuk, because of our relationship with the Kurds,
it allows us to interact with them:
- Where'd you learn how to speak English? - Go to school.
You go to school?
In my mind at least, it shows that there is a chance for Iraq:
Up here, everything's going well:
You have Christians, Muslims, walking down the street together, no problems:
It's really interesting:
Okay. Ready?
Happy birthday to you
- Happy birthday to you - Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Joe Happy birthday Hunter and Joe
Joe
- Happy birthday to you - Happy birthday to you
American soldier, they leave his mom, dad, kids, wife
coming here to help the Iraqi people:
Some people say they die for nothing, that's wrong.
They're doing a great job for the Iraqi people.
I've been with American soldiers for two years:
I know what they do for the Iraqi people:
The terrorists attack my house, they kill my brother,
they shot another of my brother, they burned the house,
they're doing the bad stuff because they know I work with Americans.
If they kill my brother, my father in the future,
I'll stay with the army, too, because I believe them.
Whatever.
You want your country to have freedom?
Yep,
because I want freedom for my country.
You see my company, everybody's my brother
because we're working together:
We're staying together:
I lost a brother once...
- Me, too. You, too.
Yeah.
Did it make you mad? - But not for nothing.
Not for nothing.
For a great thing.
Visiting Kurdistan opened my eyes to the bright potential that Iraq could have:
When I thought about the loss of Ali's brother,
I was brought back to a dark time in my own life:
Who's this? - This is Thad.
Thad Rademacher? - Yeah, jeez.
The one and only?
- Brother. Predecessor?
I didn't expect Thad to die:
I didn't expect any of my family that I left back here to get hurt:
Then, one dies, thereby hurting so many others.
Now, I got chaos in the Middle East and I got chaos at home.
It's pretty much bullshit. It's a two-front war.
It's what defeated Napoleon. It's not fair.
There's a lot of pain associated with it:
The first part was to feel the need to protect him:
Well, I wasn't: I didn't protect him from the drugs
and the stupid crap that he wanted to do with his life:
I didn't convince him that it was against his best interest:
The other part that made it extremely painful
was the true, pure sadness inside Mom.
He already was showing signs of being bipolar even when he was little:
He reminded me of a hero in a Greek play with
a flaw that he just could not overcome:
It was just
tragic, in the true sense of the word.
And after that,
I really truly worried about the rest of the family,
because I felt pretty sure that some of you were struggling
with the same thing I was:
Why weren't we able to get through to him?
Why couldn't we help him? What could we have done differently?
It's his decision. I mean, his actions got him where he is.
But for a long part of my rebellious childhood,
he used to rebel with me:
We were the people who could talk to each other
about what we were doing and... I don't know.
He hardly ever looked at me with disgust.
You know, I mean, at the time that Thad died
I didn't know where we were going from there.
Nothing else I could do for him. I just couldn't...
That's where faith comes in sometimes.
Maybe God had a better idea for us, 'cause I was sure as hell out of ideas.
I don't really talk to God, I talk to Thad:
Figure he cares a little bit more about what I have to say,
and he'll tell God himself.
Claus got hit pretty hard, but so did Joe.
Joe started to lose touch.
I believe one event in your life really changes...
Changes your life around, makes you who you are.
And I think that was it right there
because you never know when you're gonna go:
So what do you feel you need to accomplish before you die?
It was a very traumatic moment for me,
seeing him on the couch not breathing and such, and having to perform CPR.
That was probably the most traumatic moment in my entire life.
Nothing's topped that so far,
in all the things I've been in over in Iraq.
I grew up with Thad and I spent lots and lots of time with him:
It hurts a lot to lose a fellow soldier,
but nothing hurts as bad as watching your brother die.
You need a haircut: I think I do:
Reuniting with my family gave me some idea
of what Isaac and Joe had missed during their time in country:
While I was in Iraq, Claus had become a father:
Look at that little baby.
I told her to go pass out.
But the one I was most anxious to see was Joe:
Jacob.
Joe?
What's up, there, cutie? Can we snuggle?
Can I spoon you?
Hey, it's good to see you, too. I haven't seen you in a while.
You little fucker. Come here.
It wasn't just Thad's death, it was also leading up to it:
At that point in time, I was transitioning
to where a brother wasn't the person you always fought with, you know what I mean?
It was more becoming a best friend.
But he was even better than that because he's a brother.
Hey, there's no muscling, I'm an old man.
You're the young one.
You're the young warrior of the army.
So, you made sergeant, or what?
You have not actually officially gotten sergeant yet,
but you're going to get it, or...
That's cool.
When is your ceremony, or whatever? Whenever they give you your...
- November 1. - November 1?
- That's a while, ain't it? - No.
You gonna be back by then,
or are they gonna give it to you while you're over there?
Over there.
Where are you gonna go?
Up north somewhere in Iraq.
Up north? They haven't told you where?
I know where I'm going. It's just some city I can't even pronounce.
I got to go out on a five-day mission with one of Isaac's groups, Connor and I did.
The army has been a very maturing and defining event
in the lives of both Isaac and Joe:
Especially with Joe. I mean, Joe went in as a snot-nosed kid
and three years later is a man, now.
I mean, he's matured a lot more than he ever would have done
if he hadn't been in the army.
It was the right experience at the right time for him,
especially after he lost Thad:
To tell you the truth, I think if he would've lived,
I don't think I'd be where I am right now:
I think he changed a lot of lives after he died:
I know he really changed my life once he died, and I couldn't understand.
I always was asking myself, "Why? Why? Why did this happen, God? Why?
"Why did you take away my brother from me?
"He was only 20 years old: Why did you take my best friend in the world at the time?
"Why would you do that?"
It's really sad to say this, but I don't think it was because it was his time to go,
I think it was to help other people:
Does that factor in going into combat again?
It's very different over there,
'cause if everybody watched out for just themselves,
you'd be defending for yourself and that's it:
Now, if I watch out for five of my buddies,
and they all watch out for five of their buddies, which includes me,
the whole team watches out for each other,
you got five guys defending you:
You gotta fucking watch out for everybody. That's how you survive over there.
It's not your own skin. So you don't think about your death.
If death comes, it comes.
How do you think my experience over there differed from yours?
You said, "You wouldn't really understand, 'cause you're a civilian over there: "
You were over there for, what, two, three weeks?
Three and a half. - Three and a half, whatever.
I was over there for seven months doing missions every single day.
It's totally different than just going on one mission.
I don't know what Joe needs.
Joe needs me to go out and kill some people.
Get some confirmed kills,
then maybe I can sit next to him at the dinner table.
What's your job? - Look for trouble. Look for bad guys.
Wait for stuff to happen.
Wait for the guy to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing.
And when he is? - He dies.
I'll never be hard enough for Joe, which is fine with me:
When I was 20, I was hard, I could kick his ass.
I used to box. I'd get in the ring with Joe, as tough as he is.
But I'm 30 now, I'm not hard, I'm a big pussy. I'm fine with that.
Right?
Kick it.
I did go back, to find the war I'd missed on my first trip,
the tougher, uglier side of war that soldiers like my brothers know all too well:
You're more or less looking for personnel,
IED-making material, anything suspicious:
My second trip brought me to the heart of the Sunni Triangle,
the Al-Anbar province, where Joe and Isaac had done their first deployment to Iraq:
I went out every chance I got:
During the day on presence patrols and civil-affairs missions:::
...for an IED that's on the corner of that intersection over there.
IA soldiers saw it and they're gonna bring in EOD now
to come over and take a look and disarm it:
2155, they found it. They're just looking for the base station now.
Play ball.
We're gonna pass it to the pilots...
During the night, I went on cordon searches and raids:::
I counted at least three IED receivers...
:: As my understanding grew of the adrenaline of war:
When you take the knee, it's a lower silhouette.
This up-close and personal view of Iraq
created within me a deeper empathy for the Iraqi people and their struggle:
As I was returning from a civil-affairs mission,
word came over the radio of a tragedy:
Fuck. Shit. That's terrible.
Air medevac. They're requesting it, anyway, so it can't be that good.
Over the last three months,
troops around the area of Camp Habbaniyh have been targeted by a foreign sniper:
Do you know that the sniper just struck again?
- Did he? Where at? - Just on the bridge.
- Really? Yeah. Just came over the radio.
- Who got hit? - Where's this at?
On the bridge.
Shit.
- Did the sniper die, or... - Is somebody dead?
They wanted a medevac by helicopter.
Keep that under wraps. All right?
I grew up with him since fourth grade.
The kid who just got killed? You knew him from the fourth grade?
Yeah. I talked him into joining the army.
We're buddies from back home.
Was he on guard duty?
Yeah. I don't know. I really don't want to talk about it, man.
Not now, anyway.
I'd like to get out by the house by 611,
just to give a little payback to these fucking scumbags.
Then you could see. We don't know where the guy is.
I'd just shoot anybody on the other side.
We don't even know if it came from there. We don't know anything.
All we know is a guy got shot. Other than that, we don't know shit.
Who the fuck cares?
You know what, sitting here fucking bitching about it,
not being out in sector, ain't gonna get us kills.
I fucking guarantee that 100%.
Jumping out at fucking something you don't know anything about
is gonna get people killed, too.
Now you can either hurry up and you can fucking...
Getting out in sector is how you're gonna get your fucking kills.
Let's wait another day and see what they come up with, intel on where he's at.
'Cause if he's not on the north side and was from the south side,
then you're sitting in the house for no reason.
I'm actually trying to get some sleep
because I have to go out with the snipers tomorrow.
This is the moment where you go, "What the fuck was I thinking?"
But it'll be cool to see what the snipers do.
Hopefully, it will shut Joe up a little bit.
Of course, he'll have done it 120 times more than I have,
but at least I can say I spent a day doing what he does.
All right, we're going out to the 636 gridline:
It's gonna be this house over here.
Major Cooper has been there, Mongo's been there, Parson's been there.
So, the only new guys will be Hollywood and then the two sergeants.
Hollywood, that was McCann's nickname for me:
McANN: I just showed you a little while ago.
We're gonna send Parsons up first, and then Mongo up,
and then we'll rope up all the gear.
He's gonna climb up first. I'm gonna go up second.
However you guys do that afterwards is up to Frank.
I'm immediately gonna go to the balcony and start doing shit.
Everybody's got a gist of what's going on.
You know Hollywood. We told you, right, Hollywood?
Yeah, go up.
There's a hole you gotta crawl through.
When you're crawling through...
You wanna not touch anything going through the hole.
We don't know how sturdy the wall is.
When Mongo told me to go, I had no choice:
I climbed 25 feet up that swaying rope ladder into pitch darkness:
Let's have one shooter down here.
All right, that's good. - And then we'll have a look over here.
There is a bulletproof chamber.
You can set up the other gun position out there.
- I'm just gonna watch. Yeah. - Just hang out?
The bricks are just stacked in the hole.
If he goes back through, we're killing him.
If he goes back through, we're shooting him.
Me and Frank are very much alike,
which is probably why I didn't like him at first:
He's definitely a loner: He's got no wife, no kids:
I think he's pushing 30:
He's one of the few people...
I mean, I value everyone's opinion here to an extent,
but I would follow him anywhere.
I trust him that much:
These people... They pick through the same garbage piles every day.
What new do they find?
They're probably putting an IED in. You watching?
Yeah, I'm watching. It's a she.
Man, this sucks. It's fucking 9:15 and no one's doing anything bad.
There's only one way to get rid of the bad guys, and that's killing them:
To beat these people, you gotta act just like them:
Feels a little strange when you shoot them:
Especially when you watch them when their eyes go white.
It's a little weird,
but it's kind of like if you ever get a tattoo. You get one, you kind of want another.
- You want some? Yes, please.
Dude, give me my fucking M&M's, man. Give it to me. Put that...
- Give me my M&M's. - No.
Do not touch my fucking bag with your fingers.
Can't let people at home know we have M&M's.
You gotta make it seem worse than it really is or they quit sending me shit.
We don't have M&M's.
I was talking to Ashley the other night online.
They're on Christmas break right now.
I needed Melissa's address to send her a Christmas present.
What did you get her?
Just a gay-ass fucking teddy-bear thing, online.
You know how many Christmas presents
I've bought for any girl in the last three years?
None. I break up with them in October.
I was just gonna pull the standard flowers.
- You can't buy flowers for Christmas. - The fuck you can't.
You can't buy a girl flowers for Christmas.
You can do whatever the hell you want with flowers.
You don't buy a girl flowers for fucking Christmas.
If you have limited options, yes, you can.
- Frank? - Dude, I'm telling you.
- That's a good move you didn't do that. - Well, I didn't do it, did I?
This is true.
You bought her a teddy bear. The teddy bear was nice.
And she plays soccer.
So, you can dress them up, little customized things.
So, I made it a soccer player,
put her name on the front and her number on the back.
- That was it. - How much was the teddy bear?
More than I'm willing to say for a fucking gay-ass teddy bear.
I think underneath all this rough and tough brute of a man is...
Is really a teddy bear himself.
Maybe. Maybe.
Site to traffic.
Yeah, I'm on:
There's a small Ford over here:
You got three cars parked on the side:::
It's weird 'cause, you know, you get one kill,
even the guys here who don't have kills, they all want one:
'Cause you know you're not really a sniper until you get a kill:
I wanted one and then when I got one, I wanted another.
You kind of feel bad, in a way.
Not that you feel bad for the guy, it's just not an everyday, normal thing,
blowing someone away, shooting someone.
Any target that you'd ever find hard to do?
I actually had a situation with some children:
They were going around a street corner:
One of the bigger ones, I would've guessed from the back, was like 18:
I'd put him as a military-age male:
And he had an AK.
So, immediately I went for the rifle.
And when they came back around, one of the youngest ones had the AK.
So, you know, I was like, "Sons of bitches.
"They gave the little kid the gun to come back with. "
There're some people down there.
I just can't see anybody with weapons.
They got so many kids walking down there and shit.
Precision fire, buddy. Precision.
And I started my trigger pull,
and at the last second, Lacker said, "Dude, that gun's a toy. "
You know, I double-checked real fast, and it was a toy.
I saw the guy down at the mosque: He had an AK:
And his buddy took him around the corner:
Did you get him?
What's your most vivid memory of Iraq?
Right now, for real, it's probably that little kid that I didn't shoot.
Do you guys have midnight chow here?
Fuck, no.
Are you serious?
Stay hungry, baby. Stay hungry.
You still thinking about going out, Jake?
Yeah. Fuck, yeah.
How'd the mission go? How'd the mission...
The guys were like, "That's how quick it happens sometimes.
"A guy came around the corner with an AK, positive identification.
"Boom:"
I mean, it'll be interesting to talk to Joe,
'cause he was all like, "120 missions, you only went on one:"
Now it's like, "Yeah, I'm about 15, 16, I'm still not at 120."
So, you know:
Merry Christmas to you, too.
Hey, we'll spend the next one together.
Won't go five years.
Next morning, at dawn, I set out on another mission:
If you all want to take off, we're going to start pushing yards, here.
This time, with the lead element of the Iraqi Army
as it pushed into Jazirah with the aid of US Marine advisors:
I was determined to cram as much combat experience
into this five-week trip as I could:
I got shots fired up here in front of me, three.
The Iraqi soldiers ran towards the gunfire: And I ran with them:
By the time we reached the enemy position, they had already fled across the river:
Hey, sir, they're on the other side of the river. Three guys.
On the other side of the river. They ran. There's three guys with rifles.
Our unit ran into another patrol of Iraqi soldiers under the supervision
of Staff Sergeant Edward Allier, whom I'd met earlier that week:
That's a freaking informant's house over there.
Speaks good English. I got a mark.
Know what he told me? He's like, "There's no militants here. "
Same thing, same thing.
He was real concerned about how long we're gonna be here.
Told you we'd see how the dark side of the Force worked.
- That's dangerous. That's dangerous. - I know it is. I hear you.
That's dangerous. You're taking your life in your own hands.
I'm not responsible for anything.
After you say that I was running after the Iraqi army.
- So that's always a good sign. Yeah.
- And they were going in the right direction. - They were going towards the bullets.
Which is also a positive thing.
I knew this could be a dangerous mission:
Staff Sergeant Allier and this company of inexperienced Iraqi troops
was leading the push north of the Euphrates River into Jazirah:
Formerly a Ba'athist stronghold,
now the staging ground for the domestic insurgency in the Sunni Triangle:
As the lead element of a seven-battalion operation,
it wasn't a question of running into trouble, but when:
629005. We're trying to find a way around a canal. Over.
Grab that rock.
That ain't gonna cut it. Oh, my God...
Instead of watching, grab something and put it over there.
Mustafah, tell them to start grabbing shit. We're moving way too fucking slow.
Very nice.
Instead of smoking, pick the fucking dirt up.
Oh, Jesus! Let's go, rookie!
- We made it. - We made it. This is it.
This bend in the road right here... That's where we're at.
Your GPS isn't even on. That's awesome.
The guy doesn't look at a map: Just turns his GPS on:
And tells me I don't know where I'm at:
I try and freaking orient him to the goddamn road.
I'm like, "Here's the bend in the road. "
I show him the fucking bend in the road on the map that he's looking at.
He's not there.
Yeah, we're not there. We're fucking... We're still 300 meters south.
Here's what's gonna happen.
Right now we're right here.
As soon as the Wahabi or whatever, the terrorists, the insurgents,
start coming from this way and taking this road...
I'm happy that I got a chance to do this job,
because when I left the first time, I had a
negative opinion about the people here:
When I started seeing Iraqi soldiers that I trained and ate and slept with
bleeding, getting shot to my left and right,
doing the same kind of job that my Marines would be doing,
that made me a little more open-minded to start listening to them:
No one belongs to this car of this house.
Okay. Never seen that car before?
I don't want a long story. Just answer my questions yes or no!
He's never seen it. - Okay, burn the car. Burn the car.
What the fuck?
Some bad guy is shooting to us.
He needs to find out how many guys.
Fuck.
So they're in contact right now.
- They see them right now. - Yeah, yeah, they see them.
- The soldiers see them right now. - Yes.
So, why aren't they shooting at them?
- You know what? Don't shoot. - They shoot them. They shoot.
Okay, all right, come with me.
So, they saw a truck drive up? Yes.
Then they saw guys get out and shoot at them.
- Yes. - Burn the truck.
Buckeye Base, this is Buckeye Three.
Yeah, be advised, I'm looking at the vehicle now.
We're searching it for any type of intel.
I'm looking at the license plate. The license plate's been scratched
so that you can't identify the vehicle.
So, we are just gonna go ahead and burn it in place.
Part of Allier's routine is to teach the Iraqi soldiers how to interact with the locals
and provide security through their presence on the street:
Guys like Staff Sergeant Allier, he'll come back to this house several times:
And before you know it,
they'll come out and talk to him when they see him:
He is developing relationships: It's exactly what he is doing:
He's going to be working here for a while now:
And half of what he's doing is role-playing: He's trying to get the Iraqis,
particularly the Lieutenant, to do the same thing: Rarely, they do:
The Iraqis, particularly here in a Sunni region,
they're scared to death of going into Sunni area.
Particularly the Shia soldiers, because they automatically assume everybody is bad:
It will take them a little while:
They'll see Staff Sergeant Allier doing this, after a while, they'll realize,
"I can do this, too, and they'll talk to me. "
By the way, Buckeye base,
we've asked several people that live in Jazirah
where the Wahabis operate:
They indicated that there are none in Jazirah:::
That there are no problems in Jazirah: "Jazirah good-good:"
And they suggested that we can go back to America. Over.
So, don't unpack my gear, 'cause I'm gonna jump on the next bird.
I'm out.
Why is somebody dead?
The locals don't want to say anything
because basically, it's like a bunch of little gangs running around here:
They threaten the civilians:
They tell them, "If you tell, we will kill you:"
People won't talk because they don't want to be involved.
Get involved, you lose your life.
This is what I gotta deal with.
This is it, right here.
What's your bad day like?
Did you hear, Buckeye six got a big cache?
They did? Nice. - Just south of us.
63200. All this time we've been talking.
It was all just buried in there.
So, as we started walking along,
we just started finding the rice bags or grain bags.
Just kind of sticking out.
And once you just pull the thread, you started to see all kinds of stuff.
You see the weapons we found in the big hole?
I don't believe you.
I think you brought it with you.
- Just there. - Again.
Do you know how many? Maybe 80 bombs.
Yeah. 80.
You know, we were supposed to be here first.
But unfortunately, he couldn't translate fast enough and you beat us here.
If it wasn't for him, we would have found all this.
Yeah, next time. But I heard you burned two vehicles.
Yeah, well.
Pull. Pull.
- Move. Okay.
Let's go.
I tried to fucking get you to come out with me:
What?
I fucking begged you.
No, you begged to take the company from me.
You're like, "How about you stay home and I'll take your company?"
Could you imagine... I couldn't even look at them soldiers
if you had been out there and I wasn't.
- I'm hating. - You know why?
Because you weren't there!
- All right, I'm done talking. Hey, you got that fire going?
Right, sir!
You got some good footage of them blowing that shit up, though, right?
I got some good stuff, but I was out of tape, so...
He got it from a distance.
Did you get a chance to get a picture of all the ordnance and shit they found?
Yeah, I shot the hell out of that. - Awesome.
Mr. Johnny-burn-him journalist got
a really nice fucking shot.
Johnny-burn-him did it!
Oh, that license plate.
Oh, yes, right! You were looking out. That's right, that's right, you were looking out.
He was. He was looking out.
He was looking out. He was looking out.
- Pull back, got the whole fucking truck. Right, right.
You're looking out. Yeah. You're looking out for me.
- He gave you some backup. All right.
We got somewhat of an honest journalist.
There you go... No shit.
- Six-three-niner-four... Six-three-nine four:::
Next day at the communications center, word comes in
that Allier's company of Iraqi soldiers,
being led today by Marine Gunner Kensington,
has been caught in a crossfire with the insurgents:
Staff Sergeant Allier has taken a group out to help, and I'm going with him:
Let's go, buddy.
This time, I didn't have to ask:
I walked to the Humvee and Allier got me a seat on the ammo can:
You'll be driving the second Humvee.
Big concern today is that they did not mess with the stuff
as far as rigging it:
Hey, camera guy? Yeah.
Get behind me. Sit your ass right there.
They have RPGs, sir. Just...
- Be on the lookout for that. Roger!
They had us in a crossfire as soon as we got up here.
Those houses that we just left
and that berm across there...
They were wearing it out, but it was just kicking up dirt.
They weren't hitting anybody.
All right, Mushtaq, get in the picture.
Do a picture of Mushtaq. Okay.
- Okay, now, okay. - Mushtaq, Sharif.
Hello... Hello.
- Ali. - Ali.
Okay, now watch the bad guys. Look for Wahabi.
- No Wahabi. - Look for Wahabi.
Now drive.
It was gonna be a long walk back to base,
so I decided to run to the front of the column to catch my ride in the Humvee:
Oh, fuck.
I think that was an IED:
What? - I think that was an IED.
Oh, my God!
:: Medevac from the 110 to pick up DO A from that IED:
He needs to breathe.
On patrol today, when we were ambushed,
all the soldiers from Company 2 performed like professionals.
You had good discipline when you were firing back.
You were not firing in the air.
You were firing at the terrorists.
So, I expect all of you... If I fall down and get hurt or die,
I expect you to fight
and not get emotional, but to keep fighting and keep your wits.
I was so glad to see you in that moment.
It's kind of a moving thing, that:::
One brother thinks enough of his other brothers to try and make a film
to understand what they are doing, and understand:::
You know, sacrifice, commitment...
Something greater than themselves:
What's up?
Some of my reasons for going I'm sure were personal:
Wanted to see if I could do it, handle it:
That's why I wanted to be a soldier when I was a kid:
I could see that:
But I didn't really have anything back here.
That you were sacrificing.
I don't have a family like you have.
Ready? Ready.
Welcome to the Fox Company, 51st Infantry, Long Range Surveillance:
519th Military Intelligence Battalion Change of Command Ceremony:
We are honored that you could join us for today's ceremony,
where you witness the formal and symbolic transfer of command
from Captain Thomas M: Hough to Captain Isaac J: Rademacher:
In my heart of hearts, I didn't want to leave the army:
I belong there.
So...
That's what I do.
We don't do it for the money, or just to have a career,
it's because I feel like I'm called to do so:
It's my call to duty, if you will.
It's just who I am.
What did she say?
Poopy diaper. Yuck!
When it was just me and her before,
you know, she would always, "Mommy! Mommy!"
And now, about 50% of the time, I hear, "Daddy!"
And that's great.
Hunter what? Hunter Rademacher?
I think when he does deploy, it'll be very hard for her to understand
why her father's leaving her:
And it'll be my job to try to explain as best I can
that, you know, it's not because he doesn't love her.
It's because he has to do what he has to do, and...
And he still loves her and he'll always come back to her, so...
Raise your right hand and repeat after me.
- I, state your name... - I, Joseph Edward Rademacher...
As you all know, this is my little brother:
I just took command of the LRS company today.
And now he's re-enlisting. So this is a pretty big day for our family.
Everybody always asks me how I feel about my little brother being in harm's way.
I always tell them the same thing.
One, Joe's a badass, so I'm not worried about it.
And two, he is in the best battalion in the United States Army.
And I think... I know I'm biased...
But I think he sets the example for a lot of young soldiers out there.
So, let's give him a hand for re-enlisting.
I don't think things will be as difficult as they were last time
because, I mean, he knows what he is doing:
He's with all of his friends and:::
I don't think it'll change me that much, either, being away from him, so...
It did last time, though. Jeez!
It's like I just finally got happy again.
Because I was depressed for a long time...
He even noticed. He's like, "I'm here, what's wrong?"
"I don't know. "
And finally I'm happy again.
And then he leaves:
Hey, snipers, let's go.
I'm not mad at him for going: He can't do anything about it:
He has to go. So...
I don't know if I've earned a seat at the table with Joe:
But I do know that having walked a mile in my brothers' shoes,
I understand each of them better now:
I know that we all miss our brothers:
But maybe, if we get to know them better, they can never be gone from us:
Time doesn't mean a thing
Beckoning the sun
And all you have are memories
Life is never what it seems
Till you see it for yourself
Nobody else can know
I don't know how we got here
I don't know what's ahead
But wherever we are going to
Brother
We'll be brothers in arms
What's that picture on the wall
You were barely old enough to crawl
I had your back
Who are these men we have become
Or are we still little boys
Are they who we are fighting for
I don't know how we got here
I don't know what's ahead
But wherever we are going to
Brother
We'll be brothers in arms
Brother