In his latest book, One Million Steps, Bing West describes the daily battles of a platoon of U.S. Marines he embedded with as they engaged in one of the mostly desperate and deadly engagements with the Taliban in Afghanistan’s Sangin Province, a fight in which half of them would be killed or injured.
First, you were once a young Marine in Vietnam yourself. Following your experience embedded with the Marines of 3/5 Battalion in Afghanistan’s Sangin Province, what the hell is it that still compels young Americans to raise their right hand and volunteer? These men served multiple tours in combat in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The work conditions aren’t great. The pay sucks. Your friends might die and so could you. When you get home, nobody knows what you have been through. What kind of people are they? What is it they see that others don’t? What is their war like?
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