Combat Obscura (2018) - full transcript

For years, Miles Lagoze served in Afghanistan as a Combat Camera, shooting footage and editing videos for Marine Corps recruiting purposes. In this devastating film, Lagoze assembles his own footage and that of his fellow combat cameramen into a never-before-seen look at the daily life of Marines from the ultimate insider's point of view. More than a mere compilation of violence, the edit ingeniously repurposes the original footage to reveal the intensity and paradoxes of war in an age of ubiquitous cameras, when all soldiers can record themselves with helmet-cams and cellphones. Combat Obscura revels in the chasm separating civilian from military life and questions the psychological toll war exacts on all that it touches.

You better get
that shit.

- Get over here!
- More air!

Hey, Roddy,
how do we hear 'em?

About to have
a drop right here!

-Air!
- Get that! Get that!

I think it's time
to get out.

-Shut up.

- Holy shit!

Was that not
the wrong building?

That's the wrong
building.

Holy shit!



Yeah, boy!

-# Damn, yeah #

# We are, we are about to #

-# Kick it #
-# Freestyle, freestyle #

-# Freestyle #
-# Yeah #

-# Freestyle, freestyle #

# Oh, really #

Wait, don't fuck up
the beat again.

Come on, come on.
Give me a beat.

- You start, grunt!
- I got you. I got you.

Now, while I'm going,
you better be ready.

My name is Waldo.

And I'm down from the South, yo.

And this book right here,



we advertising about guns, ho.

-All right, now.

-Are you having a problem--
-Richie had a gun

-in the background.

Are you having a problem
meeting your expectations?

Do you need to get on that

"next level"?

-Oh, shit!

- Hey, it's the squad--

Fuck yo,
bitch-ass nigga!

-Eat a dick!

# Eat a dick! #

-# Oh! #
-# What's up? #

-# Eat a dick! #
-# What's up? #

# What's up, head bussas? #

# We some head bussas #

-Oh, shit. Oh, shit.

Oh, shit. Oh, shit.

Get back in there!

# We some head bussas #

# White bones pressure #

I need to win, nigga.

I need to buy a new one.
I need to win.

-Oh, shit!

Fuck your purity.

All right.
Just talk to me.

Don't look at the camera.

Uh...

What's your, uh...

What's your role out here,
as squad leader?

Uh, on this deployment,

a combat engineer's job

is to lead sweep
in front of the patrol.

And, uh, make sure
the rest of that patrol

doesn't hit any IEDs,
anything like that.

Just keep your eyes out
for indicators, command wires,

everything like that.

And, uh, if we do
come across an IED,

to cordon it off,

we make sure everybody gets
a safe distance

away from it,
and everything like that.

The mission of
a Marine Corps Scout Sniper

is detachment of one
or more snipers,

performing an assigned task
of engaging selected targets,

targets of opportunity,

collecting
and recording information,

or a combination of all,

contributing
to the accomplishment

of this Corps GS mission.

Okay, um...

Can you say it
in your own words?

Actually, can we do this, uh...

right now, 'cause I'm supposed
to stop here

in like, 30 minutes.

It'll be like,
three minutes, or...

All right. Let's go.

I'm gonna put this
right here.

- Huh?
-Where does this shit go?

It'll probably go
to AFN, on the chow hall.

At Leatherneck,
or it'll go to CNN.

-Shit like that.
-Really?

- Yeah.
-All right, well, hey.

Let's do this after, then.

You don't wanna
do it now?

-No.
- Okay.

Whoo!

Eh?

I'm becoming, like,
a combat junkie.

Like...

if I don't...

If I don't film combat, and...

I feel like
the patrol's worthless.

That's awesome.

Let's go!

Pre-firefight PT.

-Gotta limber up.

-Gotta limber up
-Stay loose.

before we get in a firefight.

There you go.

-Come on.

First exercise is gonna be...

-the sun gods.
-Sun gods.

-All right.
-Okay? We'll do, uh...

Do ten, I could count.

-All right, everybody good?
-Oh, yeah.

-I'm ready.
-Starting position.

- Begin.

One, two, three.

-One...
- Four, five, six,

-seven, eight, nine, ten.

-Whoo.
- All right.

Good stretch.
Good stretch, guys.

-Good stretch.
-That was good, guys...

The next exercise is gonna be...

the air squats.

In case we gotta leap
tall buildings.

-Yeah.
-Good one, good one.

All right,
I'll count the repetition.

You guys just do it. Ready?

Okay.

One...

Oh, just feel
that burn.

Like this, combat stance.
Combat stance.

-Oh, combat stance.
-Oh, yeah.

I'm great...

All right. That was good,
that was good.

Okay, next exercise
is gonna be...

finger curls.

Finger curls, yeah. For that...

-Trigger control.
-Trigger control.

-Ready?
-Start shooting.

-On me.
-All right.

-On you.
-Tecount.

Let's get ready.

-One, two, three.
- One.

-One, two, three.
- Two.

-One, two, three.
- Three.

- Yeah!
- One, two, three, four.

One, two, three...

- Hey!

Make sure
that doesn't

fucking go through the roof!

- They're coming up!
- They're coming up!

-Come on, come on, come on.
-Come on! Come on!

Hey, they're flashing fire.

Camilo,
get the fuck over here, now!

- What do you want?
- Smoke, right?

Hey, we'll grab the smoke!

All right, go!

Hey, where's the shot flare?

Yeah, I got it. Hold on.

Hurry up.

-Go!
- What'll we do?

Bring this fucking fire up!

- Zero.
-We're in the field!

Bring the fucking fire up!

What's the distance?

- In the field!

All right,
we are triggered.

- We good?
- Hey!

- Yeah.
-Don't worry about it.

-What's the distance?
-Ready?

-Go, drop it.
-Distance?

Three hundred.

-Hey!

-Hey! Get your heads down!
-Hey, get the fuck down!

-Get down!
-200 meters right!

-Let's go!

Get down!

-Ready?
- Hey!

-We're locked in at them!

-Pipe!

Whoa!

He's just tiring himself out,
and he doesn't even realize it.

And he's spinning
out of control.

Yeah, I'd grab
one of the lungs

in this case, actually.

There you go,
you got it.

Hell, yeah.

You have to throw in
your fucking knees.

Get on your knees.

Can you get a terp, uh,
to the radio, for me?

This kid just came over here

after about five minutes,
asking me for something.

He made the "boom" motion
with his hands,

and he said, "Bomb."

-Hey, Ali, can you ask this kid

if he knows
where there's a bomb at?

-Hey, Ali, can you ask him

why he came up to me
and tell me...

uh, he said "the bomb,"

and then, he tried to tell me
that there was a bomb.

Uh, south of where I'm at
right now.

All right, Ali, thanks.
This kid's lying to me.

'Cause he just sat here
and made a sign for a bomb.

-And he said "bomb" twice.
- Oh, you're full of shit.

And he pointed to the 611.

All right.
Thanks, Ali.

Little fucking liar.

One of the benefits
of being, uh, in Afghanistan.

The only benefit
of being in Afghanistan.

Does that work
for him?

You're all accomplices
to this crime.

Oh, are you afraid

I'm gonna shoot you
with this camera?

It doesn't shoot bullets,
I promise.

Why are you so angry?

Cheer up. Salaam alaikum.

Hey, make sure you get
my third wife.

-Right there.
- This one?

That one, right there.

- That one?
- In about ten years

she's definitely gonna be
a keeper.

- Oh, I agree.
- Yeah.

She just needs
to grow hair.

-Good.
- od.

- Good.

- Good, good.
- Good.

- All right.

Terminating footage now.

There's like water on the lens.

That looks pretty cool.

It feels good.

-Here.
- I smell like

a dirty gym locker.

You are a dirty gym locker.

It's fucking bullshit.

I'm a dirty woman's
gym locker.

I would love
a dirty woman's gym locker.

Wait, wait.
You're not smoking?

No, bro.

Fuck my life.

Sorry,
I'm not addicted

to fucking marijuana
like you four.

Ah, whoa.

Yeah, that's why--

"Hey, let me get some.
Let me get some..."

I only do it
at night, though,

-you fucking idiot.
-"Hey, hey, can I get some--

-Let meet some post, man."
-Do I do it--

Do I do it
during the day?

-We get to him.
- Ever?

-It's every night, though.
-Yeah, I know.

-Every night.
- No shit.

It's at night, though.

It's still every night.

- It keeps me awake.
-"Dude let me got some."

'Cause I get paranoid.

At least I don't do it
during the day,

you fucking idiots.

Oh, shit. Oh, shit!

Come over here, kids.

We wanna have
a rock fight with you.

I wanna shoot somebody.

Look at all those dudes
on mopeds, dude.

-That's sketchy as shit, dude.
-The guy that shot from--

- Look at that.
-Looks annoying, though.

- There's like 18 dudes.
- Looks like...

-Yeah.
- Hey, 18 dudes on bikes.

Yeah. 18 dudes.

ighteen not being
an exaggeration.

-I'm not sure.
-There was quite a few, though.

If I see an AK,

I'm gonna level them
with this .240.

They're going fast
as shit, too. Look at them.

They actually burst
through that target.

Yeah,
look at them all.

Dude,
that is Taliban as shit.

Um, there are local
nationals out there.

They, uh, seem to want us here.

Um, I mean, they have a lot
of problems on their own.

And, uh,
they're looking forward to us,

you know, helping them out.

And, uh, I mean, that's what
we're trying to do, so.

Oh, you do?

Get the fuck out
of the way, Seven.

Seven.

Get the fuck out
of the... You're in my shot.

-I'm interviewing him.
-Oh, sorry.

- Move.
-No, I'll just be... quiet.

- Move.
-I just gotta do this.

-You talk?
-Yeah.

Okay.

Fucking idiot.
All right.

So, um...

What, uh, what's next?

Uh, next here?

Um, so far, we just keep,
uh, building,

you know, the relationship
between the locals.

Take that T-shirt off.

Everyone has that T-shirt.

Tell him to pick up his...

He's holding it up
in the air.

- All right,

I'll give you one break.

Tell him to stop
right there.

God, I hope we still
have more recycled part.

I need plenty of stock.

Go.
Down on your chest.

Lemme see
your hands.

Stand up. Stand up.

Hands. Down on your knees.

I want him to be... I want both
of his hands down on the ground.

-I wanna see his hands.

Down.

Where is it, Vera?

Pull it down.

Yeah,
and when you travel...

You have a problem
down with me?

The red wire...

And she was just
an innocent girl.

And she's saying,
"I'm gonna be dying soon.

Because of him,
he passed away from me."

Tell her, tell her,

no, she's not gonna die.

Tell her we're here to help her,
and that we're very sorry.

- "Thank God

-you are patient with me."

"I have two children with him,

I mean, what should I do?

I mean, nobody of my family

can take care
of those two little kids."

Tell her,
I can do it for her.

- We should go.
- Yeah, go ahead.

Hey, uh, tell him
we need every man

in this whole group of compounds
to my right now.

-And yes, women, too.

We have that, too. All women.

- Okay.

You know why we're here, right?

It's because there's a very
high-value individual here.

I don't care, right now,

about their customs
or their courtesies.

I want every single man
that is here,

-I want them out here.

-Hey, bud.

No, no, no...

Hey, if every man
does not come out,

we're gonna go in, and pull
every single one of them out.

What do we got?

Turban,
uh, his head wrapped

with a black, uh, turban, and...

Right here.

All green, black vest,
white turban.

Like a white dot
on top of his head.

You. Come here.

Yeah, roger.

-Roger.
-Yes.

It looks like
we just broke up

a Taliban meeting.

This is a Taliban
meeting, true. It sure is.

We need to fucking POI
all these guys and take 'em all.

You, here.

And pull everybody
in green, okay?

Hey,
what's the deal?

Get everybody
in green.

All right,
he's fucking...

We still
don't know what's going on...

I can go over there,
and do those three fuckers.

Do you want
the three?

Over there.

I'm talking
about going over there

and do those three.

Let's take him
to the back.

Hey, Jamal.
All right, coming your way.

Hey. We got this guy coming.

Hey, Thomas.

-When we get back to it...
-They're not talking.

-What's up?
-They're not talking.

-All right. Everybody come here.
- Hey.

Be prepared...

Hey, they're sending
3rd for aid support.

All right, good.

- Hey.
- Good shit.

I need a lighter.

-We got in past the red light.
-A man with ragged clothes...

Classic, though.

The guy in the green
was just, like, smiling.

It was weird.

Sir?

Because he's,
he's one of the inside men.

Hey, look at where
he was sitting, too.

He was sitting at a pretty,
kinda, like central location,

where everybody's
paying attention to him.

He's the head shit.

Hey, that's a solid break.

I don't... a day out,

it could be less, a day less,
means one dead found.

Check this out.

But no one's
talking to him.

Get them all inside.

You got it,
you got it secured, man?

Yeah,
I got it secured.

Whoa, bro.

- Hey, look at that.
- Take care.

It's a goat.

-Yeah, might be a goat.
-Is it a goat?

It's a goat.

No wires
running through it?

No, I don't see any.

I got something
on the side, man.

So,
I think we're good.

Looks like peanuts.

Get him away
from the damn door.

Hey.

Get on fucking back there.

Hey, don't look.
Don't look.

-Hey, guys. Turn, turn around.
- Hey.

Don't look. Don't look.

- Over here, Miles.
-They go for you, sir.

- Hey, hey! You!
- I got it, hey.

Hey,
sit your fucking ass down.

Hey, can anyone
come and help with this?

We're gonna have
to have, like, a...

Wow, that was good.

Hey, Stuart.

Can I relay with Six,
to get a loader come in

and have him bring us all
some water?

- I already did, buddy.
-All right, man.

You said it.

And we're not allowed
to say that shit.

- No, I'm not.
-I know that.

Yeah, but...

Oh, yeah.

To, uh, send a patrol to, uh,

take in those guys.

Tell him
to come here.

We have 360 degrees security.

And they all look
innocent anyways.

- Say it again?

You fucker.

Yeah, ask me again, then.

What do you think?

-About these guys?
- Yeah.

I don't know.

I'm, I'm jaded. I'm...

I think these guys
are all just hanging out.

I don't think
they're bad guys, but...

when we kill 'em,

we see the same dudes
in the same clothes.

So, who knows?

You wanna see it?

It'll be easy
to get me in trouble, Arty.

Your name is Frank?

-Yes, sir.
-What does it mean?

Therefore,
it's not a real a birth name.

I need to do some thinking.

Allahu akbar.
Allahu akbar.

Bring it in real close,

so I can get this over with.

We got everybody?

Overall, patrol didn't go
as planned

and everybody knows
I'm not gonna be the dead horse.

We sat there
and we got the cordon.

And we had
suspicious individuals,

looked like a Taliban meeting.

I have, to this...

for the rest of my fucking
deployment, say it was.

We can't control that. Whatever.

It wasn't how we planned,

but everybody reacted good.
We'd be around, you know.

What was supposed to happen

went to, uh, what did happen.

Um, good job overall, and uh...

That's all I got.

So, all those guys
are fucking...

All those guys are free to go.

Every fucking one of 'em.

Are they pissed?

- I would be pissed.

So, mate...

that's our fucking role today.

Um, that's it. Do what you do.

Look at that back.

Look at that,
fucking motivation right there.

Look at that.
Oh, check out this back.

What's that shit?
What's that shit?

Yes, sir!

- Get some!

- Get some!

- Get some!

- Get some!

-Get some!
- Hell, yeah!

- Yeah!

- We're going up!

Get it!

Get it! Yeah!

- One, two!

-Three, four, five.

- Get some! Get some!

- That's about ten!
- Get some!

Check.

- You gotta hit it.
- Hit it. Oh, yeah.

Oh, god, no.

So here we are,
staying in Afghanistan,

Patrol Base Alcatraz.

With two dudes, whose names
I'm not gonna mention.

Luckily, for us,

Afghanistan's a hash farm.

You keep calling it
a hash farm.

What do you think?
This is risky as possible.

Oh, yeah.

Dude, I'm way
too fucked up to be on camera.

Someone spit some
fucking rhymes.

No, ask me... Interview me
while we're fucked up.

I'm gonna put it
in a movie.

-Do you think, uh...

Did you ever think
you were gonna be deployed?

To something like this
right now?

-Yeah.
-Yeah. All right, well,

to be quite frank with you,
Mr. Lawyer,

I, uh... No. Fuck no, man.

You know, you join
the Marine Corps,

you think the Marine Corp is
like a bunch of perfect people,

-you know.
- Yeah.

That don't do anything bad,
don't curse.

And they're jusreally
squared away killers, you know.

And then,
the Marine Corps is filled up

with the most fucked up
individuals I've ever met.

-Yeah.
- You know?

Just like me, you know?

Sir.

These guys are like...

Hey.

Salaam.

Salaam alaikum.

- Salaam!
-Well, what's going on out here?

- Come in.
- Come now.

- Sure great to see you.
- Hello. Good morning.

Hello. Good morning.

What's up?

Hey, hey, hey.
Get this, get this.

This a machine gun.

One Talib, we shoot him
with machine gun.

-Oh, yeah? Let me see.
-Yeah.

Tell him to, uh,
prove one.

-Come.
-Bring it over?

Uh, here, hey.

- Take this.
- Oh, no, no, no.

I can't fucking
be carrying this shit around.

Hey, be careful
with that thing.

Yeah, grunt.

Hey, do not blow
anyone's head off.

No, I'm not. This is the safety?

- Yeah.
- Safety?

Yeah, yeah.

Boom, boom, and then...

- No...
-Yeah.

This one worked,
they changed it.

No, no, no.
It's good.

He's probably thinking,

"This guy cannot smoke at all."

I don't think this guy
can outsmoke me at all.

They're making fun of me.

Hey!

Red? My eyes?

It's good, man.

Gunner shooting the Taliban,
the Sangin.

Radio, to me.

That is
an intense firefight.

- That's a jock.

What's with the music?

Music, come on.

This is
a recruiting video, isn't it?

This is Afghani, ain't it?

Yeah. Commander.

Commando!

You know, how awesome
would combat be

if there's a rise against
point or something,

and some kind of like,
rock band,

where you fucking just make
it look like someone's dead?

He's gonna be
the point man.

-He's gonna be our rear guard.
- Okay.

Whatever
the enemy has planned,

by the grace of God...

they're not gonna succeed.

Let us pray.

Father, in the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth...

Right, get support.

Back up.

-Pipe!

- On that truck!

- Twelve o' clock!

Too close!

Smack, shift! This side!

Where's he coming from?

Out of that square!

Right in front of us
on the hole!

Hey!

You see the smoke
right in front of us?

- Yeah.
- See that

-fucking square?
- Yeah!

Shoothe fucking square!

Down! Down!

Not that square,
up to the left of it.

Fuck you, motherfuckers!

- He missed it.
- Fuck, man.

-You gotta get it in there.
- He missed it!

They were looking
in the completely wrong spot.

Fucking run!

Fucking run!

- Yeah!
- Run, bitch!

Oh, god.

This is the point
where you just start...

Shooting people.

...blowing everything up.

-And they're just--
- I'm good.

It's not worth it,
just shoot everything, dude.

Blow every damn thing up
around here.

They'll get the idea.

Hey! Hey, we got it!

Get inside!

Hey, tell them to start.

- Fall out!
- Hey, we got boarders

-in that compound!
- I know.

- Go, go, go!

- Fuck you!
- Go, go, go!

- Jesus fuckin--

Whoa!

Jesus fucking...

- Shit.

Use gunshots!

What?

Hey, gunshot!
Everybody, get in, get in!

- What?
- Snipers!

Sniper! Holy shit!

I don't know,
where did that come from?

Hey! We took
a round right there! Gunshot!

- Oh, fuck!

- Oh, shit!
- Shit!

Oh, shit!

- He's dead!

He's dead!
No, get him out to Two!

- Go, go, go.
- Hey, I'm hit!

-Hey, I'm hit.
- Come on!

- Hey.
- Gunshot!

Get him out of here!

- You go grab him!

You're fucking gone, man!

- Hauser!

- You're good, Hauser!
- Hey, I'm bleeding.

- Let's go!
- In the house!

In the high compound!

-In the compound!

Get him to the COC!

-He's hit.

Go!

Get him in!

Hey,
I'm fucking bleeding.

Don't, don't...
In their way, 'cause...

You're not on auto.

All right,
this motherfucker's bleeding.

We got him in the COC right now.

We're all huddled in here.

'Cause our battalion
doesn't feel that we need air.

But, yeah.

There's everyone back there.

Gotta love the little room.

- Everybody,

say hi to MTV.

One of us just go
out there, and fucking

tell Charles
to shoot the cars down,

so I thought, "Fuck it."

-Fucking death, man.
-You have some five mil.

Well, the blood is fucking...

-It stopped flowing already.
- How you feeling?

I'd like some action.

It's fucking stupid, dude.

- Yeah.
- Yeah, it is.

I don't know
what the fuck's going on.

Who the fuck is there?

Who the fuck is anything?

He asked, said Fazaj, fucking...

I don't know
why Matt isn't here yet.

We got some nice fucking...

We're right here by ourselves.

You just realized
that shit, man?

- Fucking shrapnel.
-Is everyone good in here?

There was sniper fire.

I felt it went ght fucking
by me and hit the ground.

- Get it done.
- Uh-huh.

You got shrapnel
in yours, sit down.

Combat camera,
let me see your face.

Shrapnel in your face.

- Yeah.
- On your face.

Look. It's gonna be
the fastest medevac ever.

-All right.
-We're still taking indirect.

We're still taking small arms.

We have to get him on the bird.

As fast as possible.

Where's the bird landing?

Some place.

We have to be fast.

-Oh, man.
-All right?

-I got it.
-You good?

- I'm good.
-You good?

Go, let's go.

Grab this, grab this.

Grab it in front of him.

Where are we
gonna stop, then?

Does it burn?

What are you doing, idiot?

-Stop right here till it lands.
- Stop on the bird.

Stop right here
till it lands.

Right here.

We're right behind the bird
for right now.

- Set him down.
- Get him this way.

Get him in the steepest one,
guys.

'Scuse me.

How you doing,
brother?

Hauser,
how you feeling, man?

You're going home,
manI fucking love you, man.

-Hauser, how you doing, buddy?
- Good.

Breathing all right?

- Go, go, go!
- Go!

Advance to the fucking bird.

Watch the bird!
Watch the bird!

Run!

Let's go.
Come on, go!

Go!

Go!

How you doing, buddy?

Another day, man. Another day.

So, what happened
to you today?

Yeah, I got fucking...

shrapnel in my head.

Just... just a boo-boo.

Uh...

I don't, I don't wanna...

I don't want any more combat.

It's like, I'm good after this.

You ready to go home,
aren't you?

Yeah.

I think everybody
is, today.

How you feeling?

I don't know.

Scared.

I mean, I'm fine now, but...

when it was happening,
I was like...

"What the fuck, dude?"

I never thought that...

they'd get that close, you know.

I know, I never thought
they'd hit us in the compound.

Where were you
when that happened?

I was, uh...

over that side.

But, trucks, sniper fucking...

just missed me, hit the ground.

And I was like, "Holy shit."

And then, fucking...

And then, fucking...
They fucking hit us with a...

30 mike-mike, exploded.

Grenade launcher.

Right? Grenade launcher?

I'm, I'm a cameraman.
I don't know.

I don't know
what that shit's called.

So...

I fucking...

I saw the guy that got hit.

Hauser.
They started dragging him.

And, uh, and anyways,
I was bleeding.

And, uh...

What's going on?

Anyway.

Uh, so, I was bleeding.

And then, I was like...

I knew I wasn't hurt that bad.

I knew it was just a cut.

But I was still scared.

I just kept filming, and uh...

if you looked through
the camera...

When you look through
the camera, and...

the viewfinder, it's almost
like, "It's not happening."

You know.
It's almost like it's a movie.

You're just watching a movie.

I want you to meet the men
of First Battalion

Sixth Marine Regiment.

Reloading!

Gets you
out of nowhere...

I'm in a sleeping bag, still.

So, all of a sudden,
you hear the flaresoing off,

RPG, then,
fires just start going off.

Just to the northwest of us,
across the Helmand River,

they have a ridgeline up there.

And there's caves
in the ridgeline,

that they'll crawl into.

And they engage us from there.

There's guns and ammo.

By the time,

like, after a couple hours,
we were like...

Probably had a hundred,

still left for a .50 cal,
and that was it.

It's that really bad out,
real quick.

Slow it down!

- Slow it down!
- What?

IDF 30mm grenades,
hitting inside the compound.

Getting close, real close.

I mean, we took a casualty.

Uh, took a couple casualties.

You know, you hear about
people being battle-tested.

This one tested the boys.

That video, most of it shot

by young, Lance Corporal
Jacob Lagoze.

All of the wounded, we are told,

have recovered
or are returning to duty.

Hey,
ex-cal's on the way!

-But listen to...

Just stand back over here.

Fucking 91.

That first compound
looked all fucked up,

you see it?

Yeah.

You can get
out here, dude.

-You can get a better shot.
- Shit.

- Fuck, yeah.

Yeah!

Fuck, yes!

That had to be one
of the coolest fucking things,

-I have ever seen.
-Yeah.

They have all
this shit on video, goddamn it.

- It's all...

-It's all there, brother.
-Oh, it's all there, brother.

- Yeah, so...
- Look here.

Motherfuckers.

Whoo! Shot my pack.

That's probably the one
that ricocheted right by me.

Am I happy
to see you.

- Man, we found...

-...this big ass fucking hole.
-Whoo! That was a close one.

I was standing
at west OP.

I was just chilling there.

And then, out of nowhere,

I get shot by this sniper.

The bullet goes through
my Marine Corp tattoo.

And, uh, it comes out
of my chest.

Right here.

And the bullet
gets lodged into my jaw.

I don't think
there's any more that,

anything more remote
than that shit, man.

It shot, it was my only tattoo
at the time.

It was my first tattoo,
and it was a mote tattoo.

And I always hated it
before that.

Just because, fucking...

I feel like I'm branded
with the Marine Corps.

I don't know. It just sucks.
But, now I have a gunshot wound

through my fucking tattoo.

I think the Taliban
are a bunch of pussies.

'Cause all they like to do
is blow us up.

They don't shoot at us.

At least here.

It's really annoying.

Describe the mind-set,
when they do shoot at you.

What, my mind-set?

Uh...

Fun. When I get shot at,
it's fun.

And then it doesn't happen.

It's just a giant
disappointment.

Coming here sucked dick.

But firefights are by far...

the greatest
adrenaline rush ever.

It's better than skydiving.

Now, if I could...

contribute skydiving and sex,

might reach firefight status.

But doubtful.

My son was moving

like he was going back
toward the compound.

Well, let's go up there.

So...

Ah, shit, they got snipers.

We'll get the snipers, man.

Cease-fire!

Cody and fucking,
uh, Harper got hit.

What?

- Are you kidding me?
- No.

Hey,
they need a corpsman!

We need a corpsman!

Corpsman,
to your left.

Holy fuck!

- Fuck!
-Shit.

Roger. Be advised...

Fuck.

We're staying
in radio connection.

Hey, Peter,
can you grab me those?

- Gotta chill, bro.
- Dude.

Huh?

No, no, no.

Afghanistan
is a beautiful country.

There's flowers
and running water.

And just, beautiful people.

This whole country

pretty much smells like shit.
And I hate it.

That's all there is.

Fucking giant holes
in the ground, everywhere.

And fucking people
shooting at you.

There is nothing to love
about this country.

We got our man.
Nothing to worry about.

There we go.

Right index.

I'm a funny guy.
People like me.

-Ah, you got me.

You get
cleaned up before you bed down.

- Yeah.

It'll
probably be cleaned up.

Yeah.

-Roger. Up outside.
-Yeah.

Goddamn, you can still
see the point of fucking art.

...be advised, there are two...

...just chilling, right outside.

You want one?
Oh, you got one already.

What are you
fucking doing there?

You're not
recording that, are you?

You, you are?

He's like,
"I'm gonna share this

to the Taliban."

You don't, you suck,
not... You don't blow.

What we're gonna do,
is we're gonna play Afghans...

versus the Marines.

Okay.
All the kids get on this side.

Hey, Dan, that side.

Just talk to me.

Talk to who? You, or him?

- Uh, you.
-Okay.

Um, just tell me
when you're ready.

All right. Uh, so, I think we,

we kinda went over
that yesterday,

what we wanted to, uh, to cover.

Right.

Um,
did you just wanna start

by telling us,
uh, what led to this?

What you guys had
to start doing this?

-And what's good, you know?
-Okay, sounds good.

Uh, well, what you're looking at
right now

is what we like
to call "Felber Field."

Uh, our...

One of our Marines
in First Platoon,

Lance Corporal Brian Felber,

was critically wounded
in an IED strike

when we first got
to Kajaki Sofla.

And, uh, ever since then,

we've been tracking
his recovery.

Bethesda,
now, he's come a long way

from, from pretty,
uh, devastating wounds.

And we just found out,

uh, that he's been transferred
to outpatient care.

Uh, in order to celebrate that,

we had an annual soccer game
yesterday,

with all the local
national children.

And, uh, the purpose
is kinda twofold.

Um...

When we came to Kajaki Sofla

and secured the area
from the Taliban

for the first time
in several years,

the people started to get
pretty high expectations.

Well, we, we hope...

We hope to, uh, talk with you...

End the war.

Hey.

-End the war.

- Hey.
-Good.

End the war.

Color.

Coloring book.

-Come here.
-Coloring book.

Come on.

Draw a dog.

-Yeah.

Draw a dog.

Stop the fucking donkey!

Stop the fucking donkey, bitch.

Get the fuck off. Get off!
Get off the donkey.

Get off!
Get off the fucking donkey.

What the fuck
you got in here, huh?

Huh? What the fuck is this shit?

What's in here?

What's in here?

Get the fuck outta here, donkey.

What the fuck is this shit?
Huh? Huh?

What's going on here, huh?

Where's the fucking Taliban?

Where's the fucking Taliban?

Where's the Tal--
Motherfucker, where you going?

Where's
the fucking Taliban, huh?

-Where's the fucking Taliban?

Where's the Taliban?

Good.

I'm just kidding. Here.

Come here. Chocolate.

He's about to cry.

Chocolate.

Yeah, permanent.

- It's okay.

It's okay.

No, no.
They say that the hospital...

Gotta pick up
the body bag.

- That's right.

Oh.

He needs to grab this thing...

Warrick.

- What do you need?
- A pack.

It suits the first part.

Grab the other side.

Come on, make sure
we run in feet first, though.

Yeah. No one shot him.

They were playing
with a grenade or something.

And it went off.

They said
they were playing with--

They said they were playing
with a cartridge.

-And then it blew up.

So...

Let us pray.

Almighty God,
we stand before You,

this morning, Lord,
to mourn a comrade, a son,

a friend,
and an American patriot.

I thank you, Lord,
for the willingness

that Lance Corporal
Frankie Watson had to do.

Lord, he did something
that more than 90 percent

of the population would not do,

and that is to volunteer
to serve his country

in a time of war.

I thank You for his service.

And he was one of the ones
that You called

and that You empowered
for the sacred task

of defending the liberty
that You have granted us.

The vast majority of people
in our nation

will live their lives wondering

if they have ever made
a difference in the world.

I thank You, Lord,
that Lance Corporal Watson

never had to wonder about that.

He made a difference
in the lives of his family,

his comrades, and for hundreds
of millions of Americans,

who will never even know
his name,

but benefit
from his unselfish sacrifice.

I pray, Father God,
that You would grant

rest and peace
to Lance Corporal Watson's soul,

as he makes his final trip home.

I pray that You would love
and comfort his grieving family,

and remind them that though pain
endures through the night,

Your word states, that Lord,
that "joy comes in the morning."

I pray, Lord, that You would
give them more grace

than they can ever understand,

and more peace
than they can ever imagine.

I pray for his fellow Marines
and sailors

who, at this moment,
mourn his passing.

Who, yet, but still drive on
to accomplish a mission

that You have called
all of us to.

In Your holy
and saving name, I pray.

Amen.

Hey,
I'm gonna fuck you up.

Look what I did
to your cousin.

All right, man.
What time...

Over herecadet.

All right,
work that over here.

Oh, this thing's
gonna get out.

Off right.

- Oh, shit.
- Move out the way.

Move out the way.
Move out the way.

Bitch!

Here we go!
Goddamn it!

Oh!

All right,
we got you on the head.

Yeah!

On the dead cat?

No, around the building.

Make sure
he's good to go.

Good target.

Just like a deer.

Flip him over.

Hey, anyone bring
a breaching kit?

Yeah,
I'm gonna go get it.

- Huh?
- Yeah.

-Do you have it?
- No.

Bring it.
Do we got one?

No.

-Uh, we don't have any.
-He doesn't have a weapon.

Oh, shit!

- What can I do?
-He was gonna take a shot.

He didn't have
a gun on him, did he?

Goddamn it.

No, he didn't.

All right, buddy.

How are you doing today?

-You look like you just got...
- Just hang in there.

...fucked. Oh, hand.

- In the hand, dude.
-Right in the fucking hand.

Ooh, through
and through.

You got an exit wound?

Yep, he lived
for a little while.

Probably did, went in
and fucking hit his fucking...

where the liver would be.

Yeah.

Yeah.

- Mm-hm.
- What are they...

-What are they talking about?
- They might get rid

-of the body and hide it.
- Who is?

ANA. This is no good
for people to see.

- All right, again.
- Yeah.

Those are skin-tight.

How do you get
into those tanks, baby?

You could
start by buying me a drink.

I mean,
can I borrow that for post?

- Nope. No.
- Yeah.

-No, you're not gonna borrow it.
- Come on.

I'm gonna borrow it for post,
'cause I bought it.

When you're done.

Get fucking--

And then, I'm not gonna
fucking have it again,

'cause you're gonna give it
to somebody else.

I'll ve it
back to you.

Bitch.

Turn your fucking light on,
faggot.

I just wanna fuck!

Shoot three out.
Looks long, looks right.

You need to go for your shot.

Hey, I'm looking around
buildings three,

-buildings two--

Shit!

- Was that you?
- Yeah.

You scared
the shit out of me.

- What?
- Oh, shit! Go!

If I know better,
hey, they're even closer, buddy.

Don't be an ass.
Just stand back for...

Hey, where's Hardy at?

He went that way.

Hardy!

Wait one, break, break, Hardy.
Brown.

Yeah. They have RPG waiting
for the fucking shots, man.

Oh, shit!

- Get in.
- I'm shot! Doc!

Call a medic!

Shot to the head.

Left side of head,
toward rear of the head.

How copy?

Hey, somebody... Hey, somebody
carry him out with me.

Hey,
keep those fires coming.

I got two people
posting weapons on the roof.

Hey, grab this, grab this!

Hey, watch
his fucking head.

Buddy, go crawl back over here.

Get the fuck down.

You're okay, man.

Doc's right here, baby.

Doc's right here, man.

We're helping you out.
We got you.

Victim's gunshot
to the ad

goes through and through.

His body's locking up, right?

Eight-eight, two-four.

We got someone
that will help secure it.

No problem.
Hey, everybody calm down.

-Seven, one-one.
- Get back on there.

And we're gonna have
to push back.

About 150 meters.

They're gonna go
give us a grid. In a minute.

As soon as
they give us that grid,

you have to get his ass
out of here, all right?

Good to go.

I need rounds
to keep coming downrange.

I don't want people
fucking fixing on us.

We need rounds downrange.

Hey, pick out targets, stay low.

He got hit, 'cause he was
on the fucking roof,

and he was standing
straight the fuck up.

I told him once, stay low.

Oh, fuck.

There you go!

Let them motherfuckers have it!

Let's go, let's go!

I searched, searched.

- Okay, go!
- Quick. Move, move.

Start it up!

Where are we going?

Hey, I need somebody
help me get him--

Oh, hey, hey.
His bdage fell off.

- Huh?
- It fell off.

All right, hold on. Oh, shit!

-All right.

Hey, bud.
Lemme sit him down right here.

-Come on, Leevy. I got you.

All right,
we got everybody?

- I got you, brother.
- Set him down.

Look out below.

- Get Roy down!
- You take mine.

He's getting down
right now!

He's down.

Come on, Leevy.
Hang on. Hang on, brother.

- He's down!
- Hang on, Leevy.

Hey, we got
to get out of here, bro.

I know.
This shit came off.

Almost home, buddy.

Almost home, brother.

Come on, man. Hang in there.

Okay, buddy.

Go for 2-1.

Put a, put a big one on.

Now we're providing
suppressive fire

so we can get those weapons
off the roof, how copy?

The border's there.
It's around the corner.

Charge.
Copy, out.

Okay.

Up here, too.

We got support.

I don't see the entrance
and the exit wound.

If there's no
exit wound,

-it didn't go through.
- It's still under there.

Hang in there, brother.

Fuckheads.

Hey, Manassis, 2-1.

They scanned it, brother.

Hey,
just for that bird's SA,

so they know
what they're dealing with

on that wound, brk.

In the head,
came through the Kevlar.

It punctured through the head.

I do not have an exit wound
on the other end of the Kevlar.

It appears that it's still
in there. How copy?

Roger. Copy that.

Hold the top
of his head, Bobby.

Hold the top of his head.

Leevy,
keep breathing, buddy.

-Keep breathing.
- Don't push down.

Leevy, come on.

What are they saying?

They're saying
we cannot see any--

Hang in there, Leevy.

Oh, my god, Lee!
Hang in there!

Hey, try and get the
casualty out, get him moving.

Come, help some more.

You want someone
on the shoulders?

Hey,
have we got everybody?

- Yeah, we're good.
- Right, let's go.

-Push around the corner.
- Where's my rifle?

Hurry. Get the SAW.

Whichay are we going?

This way, this way.

Hey, let's go.

Push, push, push.

Push, push, push.

Come on, Vince!

Hey, the X
is on the enemy position.

The enemy's on the back
of the property!

What the fuck?

What's that?

Hey, we got two guys
on the hill!

Right there!

All right, I'm shooting them!

- Shoot that bitch.

Let's not agree
to fucking shoot.

- Do you see 'em?
- Yeah!

Hey, you see him?

Shit, we're good!

We're moving!

Start moving!

- Hey, get down!

Go! Go, go!
They've landed.

Let's go.

- We can go.
- Go.

- Shit.

We're not gonna see him easy!

Those are friendlies!

Target's our guy.

I got one guy
on the road, though.

Fuck!

Turquoise, 4-7. Turquoise 4-7.

This is a new Christmas CD

coming to you soon, baby.

It's "Jingle Bells." Ready?

# Jingleells, jingle bells #

# Jingle all the way #

# Oh, what fun it is to patrol #

# For six
And eight-hour days, hey #

# Jingle bells, jingle bells #

# Jingle all the way #

# Oh, what fun it is to patrol #

# For six-and-eight-hour days #

# Walking in Afghan #

# With my M4 in my hand #

# Oh, why is the Taliban #

# Trying to go and plan #

# We got pressure plate IDs #

# Command, poor dead eye, too #

# We get IDF all day #

# Recall his rifle at night #

# Oh, jingle bells
Jingle bells #

# Jingle all the way #

# Oh, what fun it is to patrol #

# For six-and-eight-hour days
Hey! #

# Jingle bells, jingle bells #

# Jingle all the way #

# Oh, what fun it is to patrol #

# For six-and-eight-hour days #

# We're running low on food #

# These FSR suck ass #

All right, I got...

-That's all I have for now.

- Man that shit...
- Yeah.

...is on top of my head.

Kanye's new prodigy.

Mr. Roland.

- Just go.
-Hi.

This is, uh, Lance Corporal
Jacob Marshall.

I just wanna say,
uh, Merry Christmas

to my wife and family.

I love you guys, you know.

-That's all.
- All right.

- All right, where--
- All right, aim it

at his face.

We good?

- Good.
- Say what?

Hey, Meredith. Hey...

Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad.

Uh, everybody, I'm doing good.

-In Kajaki, Afghanistan.

My boys are taking care of me.

Uh, I just wanted you all
to know I love you.

And, uh, I can't wait
to come home.

Sergeant Gonzales from Kajaki.
Feliz Navidad.

And see you all soon.

Paul Sean Kennon.

Happy Holidays.

Love you, uh, Natasha, Ryan.

Uh, Mom, Dad, Bryan.

Mama and Papa, I just wanna say

I'll see you guys soon.
I love you.

Uh. I love you, Natasha,
and I'll see you soon.

Hey, uh...

You know what, just...
never mind.

- Don't worry about it.
-Yeah.

Is this, uh, I'm sorry--