American military personnel are smarter and savvier than previous generations but they share the same love for country and desire to take the fight to the enemy, according to Bing West, the tireless embed reporter who has chronicled the work of our men and women in uniform throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As the U.S. marks 13 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the last anniversary where significant combat forces are expected to be in Afghanistan. West has just published his sixth and final book detailing his time embedded with Americans in this war, entitled “One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War.”
West, a 74-year-old Vietnam veteran and former assistant secretary of defense, says he committed his time and risked his life time after time to tell a story that had to be told.
“I thought somebody had to tell the story who had been in combat at the same level that they were. The generals and colonels hadn’t been because they came up after Vietnam, so I thought I could go back with these platoons and try to explain to people what it’s really like down there and what they’re really doing,” said West.
“One Million Steps” traces the six-month assignment of a Marine platoon of the Third Battalion of the Fifth Marine Regiment in a small but deadly place called Sangin District in 2010 and 2011.
“It was the hardest battle of the war. More British troops, before the Marines got there, and more Americans were killed in Sangin than any other place in the country,” said West.
West says there’s a good reason why that sliver of Afghanistan was so much more violent than the rest of the country.
“The basic reason was the Marines and the British had gradually squeezed the Taliban tighter and tighter in Helmand Province, which was the heartland of the poppy fields that supply 90 percent of the heroin and opium to the world,” said West.
“The Taliban had great finances there. Gradually they were squeezed more and more and finally when they got to this one district called Sangin, the Taliban said, ‘They’re not going to take this from us.’ So that’s what caused the battle,” he said.
The platoon created lodging by “hacking caves out of farm walls”. West says a key three-mile stretch of the area was covered in thick vegetation, reminding him of Vietnam. He says the limited pathways were also natural targets for Taliban-placed land mines and other improvised explosive devices. That made for careful, tedious patrols.
“We went single file on these patrols with generally about 14 or 16 Marines on each patrol. The point man was watching out for the mines and he had a mine detector. He would drop bottle caps. The last Marine in line would pick them up and the rest of us made sure we walked right on the bottle caps where the point man had swept for mines,” said West, noting that even with such caution, the platoon suffered heavy casualties over the six months.
“On average we found one or two mines a day and probably killed about one Taliban a day. But this went on for 200 days. The platoon had begun with 52 men. Of the original 52, only 27 were standing at the end,” he said, marveling at how well the unit adapted to casualties.
“In the book, I try to explain how…they found the courage every day, kept the courage to keep going, and how they kept raising up leaders. When one leader would be hit, and we lost some terrific leaders, the next leader would take over,” said West.
Being in close quarters with American forces 30-40 years after the end of the Vietnam War, West says this generation is even more impressive in some ways then those he fought alongside decades ago.
“They’re smarter than we were. They’re more questioning of authority but the authority at the lower levels has a way of communicating back and forth with them about what they’re doing it. They plan better and they have a recognition of how to use technology that no one can match,” said West, giving an example of one major high-tech tool our forces now use.
“The way we use air on a battlefield, when we’re allowed to use it, is astonishing. We can see every individual on a battlefield from 10,000 feet. We now have a way that the soldier on the ground is looking at the same picture. So they have higher technology. They are more intelligent, and they’re just as dedicated as they were in the past,” said West.
While in theater, West had Marines fill out a survey covering many different topics. The Marines were rather pessimistic about the present and future in Afghanistan. The vast majority said the people of Afghanistan either couldn’t be trusted or were easily bullied by the Taliban. A majority expects the country to be a mess not long after the U.S. leaves.
Nonetheless, in a unit where many members were killed or wounded, 92 percent of the survivors said they would do their service all over again. West chalks that up to a special mentality that can be found in our heroes in uniform. He shared part of what he told the Marines when given the chance to address them by the platoon commander.
“You know that you joined because there was something in you that said, ‘I want to be a warrior.’ I’ll tell you what, anyone who wants to come back with me now, I can speak to the general and I can get you out of here. Who wants to come with me? Of course, no one raised his hand. I laughed and I said, ‘You see what I mean?’ recounted West.
“You like to complain. You bitch a little bit but you know you love being here because you’re having an adventure that only one of a thousand will ever have,” he said.
“There is such a thing in our culture as some people who believe they were born to be warriors. That doesn’t mean they spend their lives in the service, but it does mean they’re willing to go out and fight for us and go back into civilian life and be able to say, ‘Yes, I fought for my country,'” said West, who is greatly encouraged by the impact he expects these Marines to have on America in the future.
“When you look at these young men and women that are volunteering, they’re just terrific. So I have high hopes for where we’re going,” he said.
