Mountains of Kunar

Greetings all, after another lengthy delay. We suffered a tough hit this past week, when 10 soldiers died in a Chinook crash in Kunar...you probably read or heard about it, as it was the biggest single loss here since the Chinook with 16 onboard was shot down last summer. While I didn't know any of them personally, we all feel the loss, and are appreciative of all the thoughts & prayers sent out here, so thank you for that.

The crash occurred in a valley very similar to the ones you see in these photos, so you can get an idea of what it's like for these air crews to conduct helo operations in this terrain...just on our inserts during the air assault, there were tricky situations on where they could touch down - many wound up tumbling out of helos that night, into landing zones of jagged tree stumps and splintered forest.

We began our inserts, boarding the Chinooks the night of April 11 (I had to mention the date, as it was the 12th birthday of a certain effervescent soccer superstar, my sister/goddaughter Annie). By the time we inserted, hiked and traversed for most of the early morning hours, then caught an hour's sleep, this was the scene when the sun came up. It was incredibly invigorating to be in that thin, clear mountain air, although some java would have been nice. Thank heavens for choc-covered espresso beans, and you who have sent me supplies of my crack-like addiction...

This terrain was no joke. It would be tough climbing without gear, much less with a combat load and full pack. But the views were incredible, and the trees amazing. Later I'd be more familiar with areas that had been stripped for timber, but early on, I was fortunate to see how massive the trees of this region grew to be.

One of the few shots I have of the platoon on the move, descending a ridgeline, with Pierre the cameraman and his own full combat load. While he did present a nice blue target, it was impressive what he managed to haul, and film on the move.

Another mountain shot...my camera battery worked very rarely in the morning cold, so I couldn't get shots of the snow that was actually BELOW our elevation. We were up there.

Trying to give a sense of the angles that the Marines were constantly traversing through our movements in the area. Footing was tricky in some places, especially where trees had been cleared and the dirt was loose. Those inclines weren't too forgiving if your weight shifted and your balance shifted with it...

Marines navigating among boulders and huge fallen trees...sometimes it seemed like Land of the Lost or some other cartoonish place with some of the obstacles we'd cross.

We wound up spending that night on an incline like this one, after another full day and evening on the move. It left me wishing for grappling hooks and straps, or a hammock, or anything that wasn't at a 60-degree angle!

One of those don't-take-a-bad-step slopes. While on a similar move a couple days later, a couple of units had to MEDEVAC some Marines for injuries suffered after falls. Fortunately, that would be the worst news for the battalion on this op.

Some local boys are questioned as we pass them by on the mountain trails. They were the only Afghans we saw all day. This region is remote, but clearly some of the troublemakers were staying out of sight, especially since they were often picked up in radio contact, watching our movements.

This was some of the most even ground in the overwatch position we wound up in for the night. I spent most of the few sleep hours down the ravine with a couple other Marines, looking for gear of ours that had taken off down the nearly vertical mountainside. Not good times.

See the bent tree trunk on the right side of the photo? That was my cursed spot!

Sitting with Greg the reporter before stepping off. We had reached our first objective at that point, and the platoon was about to begin a search of a village known to shelter enemy fighters and leadership. More to follow...