| abstract | - I remember it was hot, very very hot. It was July 16, 2006 and my team was moving out to scout high up in the valley. We got reports of Taliban and Al'Qaeda activity. I put on my vest, rucksack, and helmet and headed out of my tent. I walked over to the barracks where I left my rifle, I checked the bullet count and grabbed 4 more clips and walked out of the building. I fell into ranks and stood at attention while MSG Brown walked in front of us. He said "Boys, the fight is getting worse and the enemy is getting smart, but boys, let's fuck shit up and let them hear our hell's bells." We all shouted "OORAH" and started to march out of the base to the small mountain trail. The trail was small and rocky, not to mention it was also long with no shade. I adjusted my rucksack so that the brace wasn't digging in my back. We marched up the hill and got to a valley with rock walls on both sides of our unit. This was never good, and MSG Brown knew so. He shouted back to us, "GUNS READY, TIGHTEN UP THE REAR, THE FLANK, AND COLUMN!" This was to insure there was no breaking points in our unit. We slowly walked into the valley, all 13 marines on edge aiming their guns up at the tops of the walls. The walls were about 15 feet, not too high but still dangerous. Suddenly, we heard goats walking down the valley, and a lone herder moving them along. MSG Brown yelled out in Arabic, "Go back the other way! United States Military!" He shouted this repeatedly, until finally the herder looked up and responded with some words in Arabic. MSG Brown turned to us and said, "He's headin..." BANG a gun shot from the herder, he had an AK-47 and he opened fire on our unit. Without hesitation I lifted my rifle, 2 shots in the chest and one in the head. It wasn't safe and I knew it. I was the next Marine in charge, I was a Staff Sergeant at the time. I shouted, "Move up the valley, check your corners. MOVE!" We all sprinted up the valley towards the opening with our guns scanning the area. Once we got to the opening it was a dead end, I thought to myself, "Well fuck, Richie, you really screwed us over now!" I looked around and saw a small crack in the rock with light shining out. I looked over to Wilson our DEMO guy and said, "Blow this portion of the wall, we need to knock it down." Wilson then said, "Oorah sir, stand back!" He planted C-4 and quickly took cover on the opposite wall. Blam! The wall came crumbling down revealing a temple-like building. We slowly moved in, checking around all the corners and making sure there were no insurgents hiding and waiting for us to turn a corner. We walked some more and entered a large room with a huge half-man, half-goat statue made of solid gold. I stared at it in amazement, and one of the men said, "Staffy, we can break this up and make a lot of good money!" I looked at him, but before I could say anything, I noticed a man in a long black and red robe standing behind the statue. I raised my gun and said, "United States Marines! Come out with your hands up!" He walked out slowly with his hands up, saying, "Brother, please do not shout in the temple of our lord." He had a creepy, low voice. I replied, "Shut your fucking mouth and tell us where we are!" He replied, "Excuse me brother, please do not shout and I shall explain. We are in the temple of Satan, the one true lord, he has helped us build this amazing temple, and as long as we sacrifice our enemies to him we shall live forever!" This was all very weird, I knew the guy was lying because he had wrinkles and scars all over himself. The thing that confused me is how he's in the middle of Afghanistan and could speak perfect English? I was still aiming my gun at him and I said, "What is your name?" He replied, "His son!" I was losing my patience, and my trigger finger was getting itchy. I shouted, "Don't fuck with me! Tell me your name and what you're doing here!" He frowned and replied in a growl, "I am his son! You must be upset about your friend Brown whom was killed in the valley earlier, well his body is on our alter" I slowly turned my head to see MSG Brown's naked body on an alter with his intestines torn out. The man tried to open his mouth, but before he could I put a bullet in his head. He fell to the ground with a loud thud and a paper fell out of his robes. I bent down and picked it up. Right as my hand touched the paper we heard a loud screech. All the marines jumped and aimed their guns down the corridor. I slowly backed up with rifle in hand, then out of nowhere people in robes started running at us from all corners. I gave the order "Open fire!" and shots rang out. I kept aiming at their chests, trying to take down as many as possible. There was blood building up on the floor. One of the marines screamed, "Bomb vest!" I said, "Oh Shit!" All of the men were strapped with bomb vests. I screamed, "Get the fuck out of here!", and with that me and all 12 marines ran out of the temple heading towards the valley. My radio started going crazy and I heard, "You cannot escape us!" I almost shat myself when I heard it through my earpiece. I kept running and radioed in, "Victor Zulu Foxtrot, there is a large enemy installment in the Kunjar Valley area 4456 immediate airstrike." They radioed back, "Solid Copy, danger close." I kept running and I looked back and only saw 6 marines I thought to myself, Too fuckin' late to take roll call. I shouted back, "Air strike danger close, watch your heads." Right after I finished saying that, I heard a huge explosion and missiles falling onto the target. I couldn't help but smile while I ran towards the Exfil point.
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