Hell and Back Again

It's time to change the game in Afghanistan,

to force the Taliban to react to us,

instead of us reacting to them.

I want you to understand, I picked you specifically to be the company

that goes the furthest south in the battalion's AO.

I know that you will be able to overcome any challenge that you'll face.

Some days you'll have good days, and some days you'll have bad days.

But the same question I posed months ago,

is what should really drive your action.

Is what I'm doing gonna move the Afghan people

closer to their government or further away.

We are attacking to seize control of the population from the Taliban.

Because once we've secured the population,

they no longer have a sea to swim in.

And the insurgents are gonna die on the vine.

Every interaction we have with the people is critical to our success.

They have to develop trust in us,

we have to develop trust in them.

But make no mistake,

we are experts in the application of violence.

When you move, move with a sense of purpose and aggression

intent on finishing the enemy.

Your conscience should be clear and your honor should be clean.

Your measure's not found in how much time you have on this earth,

but what you do with the time that you have.

Forty or 50 years from now, when you're sitting around with your grandchildren,

they're gonna ask you what you did in the summer of decision

in Afghanistan.

The world will remember what you do here this summer.

And believe me,

Echo Company is gonna change history,

starting early tomorrow morning.

Keep on pushing.

Keep on pushing.

Keep on pushing.

You said CP.

Second, first and third.

So we need to get over here.

Let's go, keep moving.

Let's go, keep moving.

Come on. Hey, keep moving.

Keep moving. We can't... We can't stop.

Let's go. Keep going, keep going, keep going.

Keep going. Get on the firm. Get on the firm.

And remember the rounds were hitting on the other side of that rock pile.

Incoming.

Got it. Seventy-five meters.

Let's go. They're hitting the top of that building.

Yeah, they're out west.

Try and see 'em, man. If you see 'em, shoot 'em.

We don't know where they're shooting from.

They're shooting at us.

They're good at ghosting.

But we can't see them.

We can't see where they're shooting from.

Mark it.

Hey, give us some rounds. Give us some rounds.

Is it loaded?

Watch the right.

Cross the fucking tree line and get to me.

Let's go. Let's clean the fuck out.

Sharpie! SOLDIER 2: Come on, Sharp.

Come on, Sharp.

Let's go. Come on, Sharp. Come on, baby.

Sharpie? Sharpie?

Hurry up!

Hurry up!

He's not quitting, he's not quitting with us. We're going to need him.

Goddamn it, let's go. Let's go.

Where's the litter? Where's the fucking litter?

They're coming!

This isn't it. Grab him. We gotta go.

Come on. Go.

Sharpie.

Where am I carrying him?

Grab a leg, grab a leg.

Grab one, grab one.

Let's go, we're taking him.

Watch your back.

Help me out. Help me out.

Let's go. Get him in there.

Watch your step.

Pick him up. Pick him up.

Pick him up.

Move over to the side.

Here.

Yes, sir. I've got those two squads coming up right now.

Let's go.

Y'all keep me informed of what's going on over there,

'cause they're coming in from the right, too.

Watch the right.

You look good. You look good.

Welcome back, Son.

Maybe I can get one of these guys to take a picture.

How are you?

Want the medicine?

OxyContin.

Dilaudid.

Elavil, which I don't take anymore because it doesn't put me to sleep.

Trash. Trash.

Neurontin.

Zofran. Yep, I got it all.

Look at this.

There's not a single parking spot in this gigantic parking spot

or any restaurant.

Look at Chuck E. Cheese.

Like, you can't even park at Chuck E. Cheese.

That's ridiculous.

It's unbelievable.

So you come home, and you're constantly stressed out

because of all this crap.

It makes me wanna lose my freaking mind.

It's just like, my God,

I would rather be in Afghanistan where it's simple,

and then when you come home, it's almost

more difficult than doing that stuff,

to be here dealing with all this shit.

Sorry about that. I wanted to catch the light and that car was slow.

But I have a wonderful woman.

Come on, give me that sugar. I came all the way over here

with a broken hip.

Oh!

Yeah, look, I'm leaning all the way over here.

Lean back, honey. My broken hip.

There's something... Kiss me.

A little more.

Move your mouth a little bit and make it entertaining.

Give me a kiss. One more and I'll leave you alone.

One on the cheek?

Um, I love your cheeks.

You want your coat?

You want your coat?

No, because we're going right inside.

Can you get that? Can you do that?

Yeah.

There you go. That's all right.

It don't steer good at all. I about ran into the door.

It better be fast.

I'm gonna go park the car, okay?

Okay, we'll go inside.

It's not very fast. We need to soup it up.

How you doing tonight, ma'am?

I'll just show you a little bit it of it.

It goes all the way down my leg, but I'll show you a little bit.

It goes all the way to my butt crack,

all the way down and I got a metal rod from my knee to my hip.

I got shot in Afghanistan about a month ago.

Yeah.

It came through my hip, broke my hip up real bad,

took a piece of the bone out where my femur meets my hip.

Took that out, then tumbled, flipped through

and my leg's broke right now.

It just ain't in the cast because it's got a metal bar

from my knee to my hip holding it together,

so it's not in a cast.

So it don't look bad, but it's torn up.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Thank you.

It's okay. It's okay.

It's all right. I'm here and I'm home now.

Okay, ma'am. Well, you have a good evening.

Thank you.

Oh, what's this?

Okay, let me just check it out.

Is it a copier, scanner and everything?

My mama's gonna give us one, but it's an old one.

This one looks like it does everything in the world.

Dude, that is really cool.

You can change, Face select. I don't

know what that means, but it sounds, really cool.

Wow! Look at the zoom on it, Ashley.

Dude, check that out.

Dude...

Come on, give me a little something, woman.

Give me a little... Oh, yeah, give me a little.

Come on. Come on. You're fabulous. Get in the moment.

Ah, that's it. You're wonderful.

I want you to pinch your shoulder towards the sky,

just a little bit. That's it. Marvelous.

I love the electronics, man.

I love this.

Ooh, they got that new HALO here, too.

Do you think it's worth it?

I can sit and let my leg do the thing and play it.

Here it is, Call of Duty 4.

We're going to patrol down this road, all right?

If they wanna fight this morning, we'll go fight this morning.

Pick up, let's go.

I'm gonna go.

Look at this side. Have a look at this side.

Hey! You stay right there!

Keep watching that way.

Is anything in there?