Baker Boys: Inside the Surge (Frontline Club edit) - Jon Steele

so when you lay your rifle down and you go home and you're sitting across from the person you love with a person you trust more than anyone in the world and that person looks at you and says tell me the truth tell me what it was like what are you gonna say [Music] and tell him some days it's you get a win and some days you don't many days you don't see anymore in the day you do [Music] in March of 2003 coalition forces invaded Iraq seven years later more than a hundred thousand American troops are still there in 2008 I picked up my camera and headed back to the big sandbox and met up with Baker company the 115 infantry I made a deal with them I'm willing to die with you you're willing to talk to me this is what I saw [Music] go ahead okay a lot of change going on over the next next day or two as we get ready to move down to another area I was out there this morning the dirt is still there the rubble buildings are still there we're approximately 90 days from going home and I was given the order that a Baker company would be assuming a new position and I having the opportunity to bounce south and start a new Combat Outpost the challenge that we have as a company is that we have to move out of an area that we've worked in for eight to ten months and move to an entirely different area which is is not as secure as this one that we've been that we had been living in it's going to be a great experience to get down there and once think it is now but later we get back to say you know what we fixed an area and now we're moving to a whole other battle space and we're going to have a huge impact and plant the paper company guidon and a whole nother AO and affect the whole other spot the boys were torn as a they know they've heard the stories of the area we're going to is it's not a very safe area and obviously instant concern for their for their well-being and a little bit of you know hey why are we moving now we're we're so close to going home we got to get the game face on and get ready to go down business as usual go down there and get business handled and we'll get on home and tell these war stories over a couple of beers okay something as soon as we get in the area I expect somebody to try us we're the new guys on the block and I expect somebody to try us and as soon as they try us we have to be able to respond with lethal force and kill who is that who that is that's thinking they want to try us and set the tone immediately I'm specialist Arielle Kohana I was born in Philippines I'm 21 years old what do you want to be when you grew up I'd show a lawyer I wanted to go into business I wanted to be an astronaut what every little boy wants to be I never had are going to mine never in a million years I thought army like army who the hell in the joint ahartry you know I want to be told what to do [ __ ] all that [ __ ] so specialist aaron christopher anchor from san tanzir iowa 21 years old my name is sergeant Jose a vertical tears I was born in Brooklyn New York Palmieri and Brawley 27 years old currently my family lives in Corona California what if you wanted me to do a soldier in the army really yeah since I was a little kid my dad was in the Army for 23 years and I've got five older siblings none of them were ever interested but it got to me and I got all jonesed every time my dad would tell me a story or I'd find some kind of clothing in the garage or metal somewhere [Music] [Applause] my name is Sergio Reyes I'm from South Central California Southern Charlie I'm 20 years old and I'm in third Platoon on second squad saw gunner what's the saga there's a [ __ ] thought right here probably first class Bankston from Murfreesboro Tennessee specialist James L Forman come to you live from Iraq a specialist down from Wichita cover jigna Oklahoma South Carolina Rebecca tone California a Yuma Arizona your Silsbee Texas Greenville Texas from Manor Ohio growing up in LA I wanted to be just citing a few my cousin's were you know he's great street thugs gangsters but uh another part of me ever since I was better I wanted to be in the army I wanted to be a soldier so I got to realize that dream [Music] I was by myself when I went to Iraq and I had like five backpacks huge backpacks of [ __ ] and I remember getting into a blackhawk chopper from a Forward Operating Base to head out to Cahill to meet the Baker boys and I remember getting on this chopper in the middle of the night and feeling what the hell am I doing here I'd spend a good portion of my life places people called war zones and had dropped out of it and quit didn't want any part of it and I I saw these American faces on television thousands of American soldiers dead tens of thousands injured thousands more are coming back with emotional and mental disorders and you look at their faces and the newspapers on the TV screens and you can't see them I just wanted to find out what they were thinking I had no idea what I was gonna do but I thought it was worth the risk to go over there and ask these kids what do you think what do you feel alright real quick guys I know we got few things to get done right before we leave I just want to reiterate that uh obviously we're leaving Cahill for the last time today going down to set up a new place expect that within you know a few hours somebody's going to see that we've become the 800-pound gorilla sitting in their backyard and they're going to want to come see who we are and what we're there to do it's day one of an 88 day deployment is what it is all right it's not day two hundred ninety something or whatever it is of a fourteen month deployment is day one all right let's go out there and get it done for about 88 days no problems and get on home all right guys I'm going [Music] [Music] in this area 50 miles south of Baghdad the Baker boys were the spearhead of the counterinsurgency surge their mission was to move deep into the badlands build a combat outpost turn the local Iraqis from enemy to friend with orders like that and only 90 days from going home no one in Baker company was taking a minute of this mission for graduate [Music] [Music] [Applause] Philip great new home it is all right bank it's official now there's a fish of cop-caller hey 6.2 6 Lima Charlie they're coming down this road right here we are here Sarge National Forum that rolled out from the other we're there to some I'm just done they're not stopping it just it was like a lot every time you look there's another six you got about five or six that dart across this field and we lose them right here in his dead space and you're actually getting in trucks coming up backing up my guess is they're just recon and not seeing what what all we got going on our new Combat Outpost Carver right here the problem is we got a road right here and bad guys travel up and down on this road so we're putting in a berm as you can see right here to keep us separated from the bad guys cop Carver a new home bad guys are out there we know they're watching us we just moved into their home it's ours now they try anything we can take care of that but gotta build this place up [Music] you know their caller said how many days you need a practical so you know better try for the video minute you know I'm saying hey you know anything to happen you know the fact was it would be a minute they see us here they're gonna try something so I bet me enough they don't that's good but if it was me I'd justice it here you go as you get the briefing you got okay Jannik combat wound the other day so we lost one here yeah there's a squad in my platoon that has a mascot teddy me and SAR and Brawley found that guy as a little dolls head we found him on the very first dismounted Patrol we call him the war god we did a safe trip instead of sitting there going over in our mind oh my god I can't believe something Coombes broke his back I can't believe Daniel in Perisher hurt I can't believe gars is not coming back I can't believe Shelton got hurt it's going home things of that nature it it gives us a chance to think yeah Teddy should have a girlfriend we should find him a girlfriend what would her name be Venus we're talking ready all right today we're gonna do a soft knock of drea 1 all right should we take contact force will return fire a lot of fire kick in and close the store screw a foot hole and we'll make it assessment there it makes you go your protective gear your helmet yeah I pro your hearing protection throat protector growing protector don't get it twisted alright when you get down there make sure you got your gun bros in each alleyways the only person should be smiling and shaking hands should be the blue one be alert be vigilant be ready to kill at any moment everybody understand any questions if I guy anything else added I'm out of mist a lot of people get me psycho my guys I keep them relaxed what is so funny to see them just you know just as soon as you hit the switch the light comes on as soon as they hear a crack they're just whooping ass I mean it's just it's arousing it's just I don't know I love it I I love that feeling the feeling you get on the road just driving waiting you know you sitting there waiting thinking yourself you know isn't gonna blow up now five minutes from now if at all and I said it doesn't keeps you on your toes it's pretty cool I saw a video on YouTube and this explosive flip to Bradley oh my holy [ __ ] that's [ __ ] 32 tons and it's explosive flipped it like it was nothing you're driving around the town and you've got kids waving and you know missing miss it or trap a lot of Chocolat and then the road explodes and the vehicle in front you doesn't exist anymore that's that's those kind of [ __ ] I don't want it you know I don't want to think about but I have to because that could be me you know them [ __ ] could be videotaping me getting killed [Music] okay I'm gonna have something like if he's got a place or somebody in the village and he wants me to meet with that represents the village I'd like to go there and then have the rest of my guys kind of visit the houses okay so he can't even go into solid bar we're gonna try to help get water to come in here that's what we're here for we're here to help the community the end job is which I had an on the child abuse I didn't that come with fighting on Jimmy Kuenn website his shadow [Music] all right so we're in a new town I've never been here before you got a meeting going on got enemy in the area all over the place and I'm really sure they're at shaking hands and kissing people's asses kind of gets irritating after a while you see able men not in helping out but nothing we can do but don't you think would you come to new places same faces they all look the same to me it's new place just trying to get closer back get home there's a saying in Iraq that it takes seven meetings to get one thing done I never really found it took seven meetings for me maybe it's because I just couldn't wait that long I had a job to do and you know and when there's those uncomfortable pauses why not throw in a a relevant question and then start the topic and it's worked so far the we start the discussions and the and the dialogue begins and the next thing you know you're in a you've got a group of roomful of people a group of people you know that you find out you know two three four months ago we're shooting at each other now they're the leaders of in the mediate area especially for a company area and you realize your first big success was simply getting them to put their guns down and come into one room somebody's going to be voted out and those that are not going to be voted in need to be sitted and seated in the room to see how this process came about so that they know that it wasn't me that picked the leader that it was actually the Iraqi decision and vote that picked which leader was going to run the program will continue to work through the leadership and I'll talk with Sheikh Kareem and some of the other leaders in the area about how I set up the programs to make sure that no one group is in charge of the other groups but they all are equal and work but work together the easy solution is just to go around and killing a lot of people all of us can do that we've got enough firepower we carried enough guns we carry enough ammunition the unique thing this time over here was you kind of get into the interpersonal skills that are required to talk through the leadership and get the Iraqis to to to take control of the Iraqis and let them kind of come up with their own solutions and just kind of get to the point where we're just merely arbitrating the minor details and taking that opportunity to get them to come to the table and talk the 20 point is every one of those people want to kill us all you're over here risking your life in one of the most dangerous places on the planet and back home opinion polls say the American people don't think this war is worth it anymore how does that make you feel when you hear something like that little frustrated I mean a lot of people just don't see the good that's coming out of it right now they don't see what we've done so far how far we've come it's been going on for a while and we've been in this country for years and years how can people keep that at the foremost of their mind we're still in Afghanistan if you walk down the street and ask people about Afghanistan I guarantee that there's people that don't even realize we have soldiers in Afghanistan don't even realize that there's still combat conflict going on me so I'm not surprised that people are losing interest in Iraq that's what makes America great is if you're free to do that you're free to say you don't like something it's okay to say you don't like something but uh Americans I think you're trying to do what's right no matter what whether people know it or not you know and whether people agree with this war or not and whether people agree with the President or not you know gods are the other [ __ ] you know I do believe that you know if we're if we're able to stop an issue that's happening over here from coming over there then we are doing something for everybody you know so to all the other priests too [ __ ] you know who were sitting home you know with their families and watching the news and cursing the soldiers and all that stuff [ __ ] y'all but very very else who is appreciative you know we do this for y'all and we do this for the unappreciative people as well you know we're fighting for all these people just some we can't pick and choose who we're fighting for that's not what we do we just fight that's all there is to it [Music] [Music] the Baker boys had only been in this new area a couple of days when the local sheiks rounded up a couple of guys and dropped them off as a peace offering they were al Qaeda they tried to hide it the captain Thompson knew who they were are you all kinda work with al Qaeda no Arnie many of my stuff a lot money knocking on demille then I [ __ ] then I divide the I share a minimum I have a tribe in the area you know how the tribe an area what are you doing in there when you're done stop getting on it tell him he just lay back we'll take care of them West with questions later on [Music] thank you what I was father Masada through my camera next time you didn't know and then these two are associated with al-qaeda in the southern peninsula both attacks on the Sons of Iraq and coalition forces this gentleman here has been known to attack coalition helicopters with dooshka fire and also small arms fire missile gentlemen I believe that he is a just associated due to proximity they live in the same neighborhood and they're part of the same tribe they're smug because they don't think we know but they don't know how much we know this guy is trying to act cool and calm but he's probably the pinnacle of badness in this area should he one finger in front of my face I can I can promise you that myself than any other soldier would would be more than happy to put a bullet between his eyes they have been brought to the cop from the Sons of Iraq which are which is great progress because the locals are starting to police their their own villages and identify the bad guys and bring them to coalition forces so they can have justice in their own villages in this direction yeah downtown right I'm just getting in there huh Kasim see the people let them get used to seeing you again no problem good come over there the Sons of Iraq were organized by local sheiks to set up checkpoints around villages these checkpoints not only provided security for the villages they also established a perimeter of security around the Baker boys so the bank avoids had to go out now and then to make sure those checkpoints actually existed what we're gonna do to die let's hopefully go out get ourselves some native Iraqis ready when you are sir promise beats Russian no one really Nisan liking me is not a requirement Roger copy move enough no got the wife prepared I'm gonna bought me two cases of mirror yesterday sever months gonna buy me two cases that way I got something for that first three days when I'm home tiller already when we land I had that bottle of Grey Goose ready for the squad because we will all be doing a shot and McDonald's Papa John's that garlic sauce with it oh yeah make sure there's no checkpoints on that road now I'm open now I'm up the same photo saying that I'd [ __ ] up a nice shiner just all the dummies okay so tell milk we'll go walk and check them out [Music] the reason they walk with the shakes is to find out about the town one of the reasons the other reasons they're not really sure I just kind of walk back here pull my security with my squad and make sure nothing happens to the LT hey this won't be advised there may be the same checkpoint that we checked on yesterday Adam Arvin anybody come hey Adam just make sure you're translating what he's telling me then with me and highway 1 and this is the wait a minute shot I will visit and down the canal there's another ok yeah Adam I need to know if there are any checkpoints in that direction that we haven't seen there's nothing on the other side ok so there's a checkpoint up further up this road this area without any choice this direction so it's open here just think of our bases you should think of more things is one big checkpoint for this village nobody could I it's [ __ ] about now hey this won't start heading back the right village it's very safe thank you very much you'll be spending a lot of time just to make the place safe alright you can go ahead and throw the carcass yell I'm gonna come with you [Music] every last one of them pointing at another village telling us all it's safe to say we were in for firefights there the last month and a half have you seen one yeah two good reasons walking with shakes if you get shot at the other first ones to die and you don't actually get any useful information whatsoever out of the village we need to talk and other people go ahead and get loaded up giving it up on your red car one [Applause] hey drop rip tell them we don't want any of these keep together if one of our guys tell them it's very dangerous for the kids if they throw rocks at us they might take this very seriously I take the safety of my guys very seriously tell them that when they wait for us to get in vehicles and then they pick up rocks and then they throw them at us tell them that's not a good thing tell them try oh I understand eyes this rock can hit us in the eye very slowly very slowly very dangerous for them no joke we've been in four firefights in the last two months in that hood al Qaeda shoot now you know looking at these shakes I'm like so you know no problem for that bullet right there no I'll Kate up there in the last two months never been any problems with the Americans in that area no no problem so problems nothing in the last couple months no problems I mean we kill guys with 25 in that freaking town and then we get back to what to our vehicles in the frickin main town we can't even mount up without kids start and throw rocks at us and stuff so you know obviously we got out you know talk to her sheiks about how dangerous it is for the kids to friggin be throwing rocks at us and stuff but frustrating and just [Music] my wife isn't maggie maloye really seeing how important is laughter in Iraq laughter is very important very important that gaya royal comb cheese this guy does all kinds of personation all kind of crazy [ __ ] it's a Mexican out of his natural habitat usually they're you know that Guatemala made Mexico but no this one's special he's not wrong [Laughter] he's a very strong back skater which makes about how important is laughter in Iraq it's [ __ ] everything out here you lose your mind without you know try to maintain your sense of humor use some sense of being yourself as well as a soldier if you don't laugh then you'll start to remember that you're pissed that you're sad that you're hungry that you're tired with your back hurt that your legs aren't your feet hurt that there ain't no child waiting for you can you give back that the air conditioner is growth so so you got a laugh just to keep yourself and going crazy or shooting somebody [Music] and I did not see anything about this when I signed that dotted line I can i rectified teri you believe this [ __ ] [Music] contract needs a hundred so shape the boss is going to make sure that everybody gets provides twenty five twenty to twenty five workers there are other guys in beer at seven would bring them in search them you ready to work eight o'clock to these guys these are the some of the shakes around the area where we just moved into the idea is to bring them in have them work on our table show them that we trust them and in the in the same respectful trust us we've already got some reporting on some of the Jets on particularly the gentleman sitting next to captain Thompson not where we've got reporting saying he's holding al-qaeda meetings at his house how much booze do they get a day they have a choice they can either work with us or against us so hopefully with us trusting them and they trusting us so choose to work for us since we provide the money and resources rather than al-qaeda having to do the same for them Oh yesterday doofus they all sleep in one at a time one at a time this guy here was a throwback Saddam's army and after the removal he lost power so now he's trying to make a living working for us in a paycheck no beer that's it are you sure that something's go on my keychain thank you my extremely important daunting task today is to take out the trash using these lovely gentlemen working for us as local Nationals so I guess they'd rather pick through the trash and take the bag out we call these guys the Smurfs cuz the way they're dress sometimes people call them a Blue Man Group but the real names are Smurfs so it's a term of affection though we often they do a lot of work for us they're good guys few weeks ago these guys were trying to blow us up with IEDs now they're picking up our trash that's progress [Applause] that's another step in Iraqi Freedom cleaning up this place one day at a time [Music] did you have that looks like a [ __ ] chuckle Teddy's watching you piss me off it's like this close man has been slammed so much Oh Teddy Akbar Teddy Akbar yes it works will help money bro I want to go home I want to go home Teddy Boy [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] the opposite of the winner member when they used to eat Saudis for dinner [Music] [Music] keep you guys out your buddy and make sure you guys keep some uh cover between you and the river where we're meeting with Sheikh Remus brother Sheikh Aziz Shaykh Aziz has close associations with multiple al Qaeda leaders in this area he's connected to some some soldiers that were kidnapped and killed by Al Qaeda within the last year you don't let people on the river during the evening hours and we're very limited on where we let them cross them the day due the fact that al Qaeda use the river as a barrier between us and then it'll cross go attack us and then cross back over to the other side give them one crossing closer their commerce and their daily routine can get set again people can cross this river at this point during the day time you've already got on this side as soon as the checkpoint is on that side and this area is secure yeah I think we can start getting some people down here to start build rebuild in this bridge [Music] make sure you guys know I've ended uh at this point we're out where nobody's been before we attacked by a my daddy father and three months did ya grow security element here to protection from al-qaeda no no me at my house obviously things were better so he come back in a happy curious to just see what he has to say if he's a bear will come back if money feels comfortable all people it's not very and return again but many of them coming this many of them was killed another on the afraid of the family revenge must be find solution for Dean and it can make you let him know now that it's we support that we want them to come back to their original homes hello [Music] a lot of these things that we call the counterinsurgency fight really are are different than what the Army's used to fight it's difficult as you see a lot of the soldiers they don't understand it you know whether it's handing out money or why are we going to give these people you know food all the time and it's not the violent video game army video game that they see or that a lot of people see we're not here to take over a rack we're here to get them back on their feet and as soon as they're on their feet you know I want to leave just as much as they want me to leave always look site in the fog right yeah and for some of these other guys for some of the things they've done yeah I hope that I can yes okay for now it's all we got [ __ ] who's on our team wait hold on who'd you pick so far thanks Alma Quinn and and these three huh we want chandi speech get your ass over here hug [Music] back home you have your friends you have friends that say oh I had it back no matter what this and that maybe they mean it you know haven't had the opportunity yet to show you but the guys over here I mean they literally have you back like brothers you got a look at it like and that's my brother yeah we didn't grow up together [ __ ] I've been living with him for a while now it's been a year and I would live with these guys not the but this whole town buddy back home I should be something hanging out with some guy oh my god drink eat with blood out hairs like family here I'm so a large family trying to [ __ ] like a big happy family go back home alive [Applause] most of my career running around war zones in different parts of the world was hugely with very strange rebel armies drugged-up rebels I'm a network of the British forces at work with Australian forces the French forces I had never really worked with an American soldier in my entire career and I was pleased surprised just fine kids normal case [Music] [Music] [Music] pardon these are the guys that found stuff I thought a Chaba Vanina go yet yes deliver me [Music] [Music] [Music] complex get the people to trust you I'll make them see the we're not as bad as the extremists are I'm gonna help fix the problems they just create more problems you know a lot of times that requires a necessarily going out killed all but going out and paying most of them [Music] [Music] talk to me about waking up day after day in Iraq I just wake up me today is counting down the days all right get it steal you know get over this day that's one day closer going home take some getting used to like the first like probably like three four months I was like [ __ ] them I'm in Iraq and then that's all I can really explain it sucks and it's the worst feeling in the world week and I'm being like I'm [ __ ] in this [ __ ] this [ __ ] completely sucks totally I mean well it it smile it's the first time of me being away from my family this long and I don't mean my mother and stuff like that I'm past that part but I guess mainly on and I'll sweep your floor when I'm done I promise but I just mean mainly uh you know my son and my wife it wears on you uh it's hot or it's cold you do stuff you don't want to do everyday [ __ ] it sucks wearing all that [ __ ] out here when it's 104 your degrees and you're running around [ __ ] dealing with that [ __ ] knowing that someone's out there trying to kill you and sometimes you feel like your hands are tight because you're doing all these hearts and mind things and sometimes it's necessary but just when you see your friends go in and out the gate you wonder if they're gonna come back and I've had to deal with two friends that I'm they're never coming back so it just it's hard on you it's hard on you mentally and physically sometimes I wake up get a you know feel of accomplishment we did something good some days it's just like this is nightmare ever gonna end it's a tribe which is pretty funny when you think about you're in this land of tribes and tribal mentality but over there and the customs that the Baker boys develop are the things that make them like brothers it's the world they create in a violent place to assure their own survival we're here if we just protect this if we just protect what we've got we're all going to get out of this alive [Music] you're over here risking your life in one of the worst places on the planet and back home opinion polls say that the majority of Americans don't think this war is worth it III don't know why I'm over here honestly they said weapons of mass destruction [ __ ] nobody found any WMDs and then they said Warfel oil [ __ ] well to me if it was a war for oil the way gas the prices aren't right now back in the States that's I'm all for it I mean I don't [ __ ] it at least we're betting better in the United States but by being over here but gas prices are still going up so obviously named for oil so what the [ __ ] is it for then I don't know I can't blame [Music] in March of 2003 coalition forces invaded Iraq seven years later more than a hundred thousand American troops are still there [Music] in 2008 I picked up my camera and headed back to the big sandbox and met up with Baker company of the 115 infantry I made a deal with them I'm willing to die with you you're willing to talk to me this is what I saw [Music] by anybody not on the bird and I'm going to Disney when I get like I do every year I go different land every day you know why your line of coke got for mom's ass I'm not saying like put the military aside but you know you gotta take a second calm down relax you know and just just hang out no I was showing today it's gonna be quite all find a boy for after bud maybe eight showering up maybe woody bug goes off maybe we don't go back down my oh no you can't be hard-charging and balls of the wall through you know thirteen fourteen months over here because nobody could take that Garcia royal Chester guys already done this before I got a couple key things we started getting engaged we don't have wheels down so you're out my door so we'll take care of it okay aircraft one we're stalled and next to the [ __ ] dog I know a bit man you don't get been on the birth okay no problem see that Zellman Park and the southern bowl region was known as a tough neighborhood to American GIs known as the dust one soldiers have been taken hostage by insurgents army intelligence picked up rumors there was a chance they might be hidden in the area no one talked about it because it was classified but part of this mission was to go down and find any evidence of had they been there and indeed were they still being held in that area [Music] when we go out the gate I always say a little prayer everyone fears the 24/7 think you're not right tell me about fear when I'm doing there was a Jew lots of roads and I'll admit it you're [ __ ] how you can fit like put a needle up that just waiting for it and you know it's coming a lot of times I'd be like scared as hell but I can't show my soldiers act with myself my soldiers live to me to be from the front you can't show any emotion here you know you can't show any concern for anybody you can't show any weakness you don't think about it they just block it out like [ __ ] yeah I'd be lying if I said I was never scared I've been scared shitless over here sir be afraid dog team to enter a hostile one over [Music] [Applause] uniforms a little bit of Awesome [ __ ] it's not that call Barry and I uniform and then the other house is full of nothing but like medical supplies syringes and little bottles of [ __ ] okay [Music] but it's Pachi Pachi husband husband just take your team and start searching this local area talk me through a firefight what's happening to you it gets fun I say it gets pretty fun after after the first few times you enjoy you'll find yourself hoping you know Havey today we'll go out and get into something cuz it's getting boring not doing anything just doing a normal patrol nothing happens and you kind of like and hopefully somebody shoots at us today that way we can you know have some fun go out and play a little bit it's our body armor this is crush wire it's stripped in the middle and when you drive over it it breaks and it ignites diid it's got this battery right here that's [ __ ] up to it days alone without the ride sorta raucous the relationship between soldiers and journalists is always tense and with American soldiers it was particularly delicate I was walking with one of the soldiers on a patrol and asked him if he'd be interested in doing an interview and I said you know why and I said well I'd like to know what you're thinking and feeling and he said guys like you don't care what I think guys like you don't care what I feel and I said well what guys like me is like journalists you know we have journalists come in they see us all the time they say the exact same thing we want to know what you're thinking we want to know what you're feeling and all they really want is just me to take a bullet while they're rolling their camera I really don't know and to be honest I've been that road that you know you go out and that that's part of the gate you go out and you get violence and you capture it but anyways sorry all right so I realized I had my work cut out to gain the trust of these guys that know I wasn't there to see any of them die I'm a 57 year old guy and I'm running around with 19 year old kids we're all wearing flak jackets and helmets it was not easy but after a couple of months of that they started to warm up to me and they got the idea that we made a deal we made a deal and the deal was I had to prove to them that I that I'd do anything with them so it came down it came down so that it came down to this I'm willing I'm willing to die with you if you're willing to talk to me and it worked [Music] Gor want to go home the helicopters coming up there lion toast it's gonna be low thing about it is I know my purpose of wide all right you don't drive with your right hands your shoes you put on the opposite side reason why and you pull up it comes in 9 bar and you just feel fire let's do the fender goddamn close the tiger shut the [ __ ] up yeah stupid 2 things no I'm saying take your knife now let's go at it poke his bladder game out in Alabama [Music] [Applause] [Music] make sure you get some good pictures of that because it looks like it's got some non-standard modifications yeah everything's pretty stuck yep functional these guys in bringing up his gluttonous caches some of them probably were the ones that buried them whether a year ago or two months he loved but a part of the reconciliation is these guys quitting al-qaeda turning in those weapons where's the graveyard that they found the mission is not beside the graveyard owns a cache a minimal Buddha even a common monster of a boon also the Austin okay that's what I wanted to know a lot of these guys putting IEDs in the street are poor teenage kids al-qaeda was paying the going rate for al-qaeda was about 300 bucks for them for to get these guys to work for them yeah so here you got a kid who's completely poor and this guy says puts a gun to his head it says all right there's 300 bucks you can either take 300 bucks and go put this you know 35 pound thing next to the side of the road and then take keep the money or I can kill you and I mean is that really a bad guy that kid you guys are welcome here any time I know that you don't do it solely for money that you do it for to provide the safety and security for your home but if you'll allow me I would like to give you some money to reward you for the your efforts and also to so that you could use the money to help your families a lot of them just like the pride of being told that that was a good job it may find a big cachet and break it down into three or four parts so that they'll get three or four rewards we're going to do that at this point as long as we get these things off the out of the area so that we can be a little bit safer in the area as we go into [Music] [Music] listen say it as a jewel of al-qaeda before two months ago al carro al Qaeda Jill oh you owe me open it yo mr. released hurts kid I'll fly this kid duffer I'm gonna take it what's up yeah when Saddam fell Iraq broke apart along religious and tribal fault lines Sunni and Shia the Shias who had been repressed under Saddam Hussein and the Sunni power structure took that opportunity to go for the jugular ethnic cleansing killing school children killing cousins killing brothers she does have more people they had basically taken over the Iraqi police force so the Sunnis suddenly realized we're not going to get through this one we're losing groups started to sprout up called the concerned citizens in western Iraq and they would do things like try and get the insurgents out of their village get some kind of security the Americans caught they said hey this is a great idea and from out of that came the Sons of Iraq Magette and that took a bit of registration which was called the hiding process guys were brought in they would have their picture taken they would have their addresses given contact information and this served two processes it created a local security force the Baker boys could count on as long as they were getting paid by the Baker boys and you know the Americans now have your thumbprint I'd say about 90 percent of all these guys have ambushed the [ __ ] out of us and they have definitely pinned this down and we had to return firing we've probably killed some of their family and now they're here getting paid by us to work for us so I guess if we pay better than AQI or jams whoever it is they're working for the side with us but I still don't trust them father I can throw them does 6 go ahead that's a long wait what's wrong with you why you look old man you a concerned citizen si si no not yet are you enrolling dude you a gangster man that's the challenge of fighting a counterinsurgency warfare it's not you look through the scope your weapon and you know hey that's a bad guy I'm pulling the trigger they all wear the same clothes they float back and forth in the same places you got somebody who care and so on don't some of them who want to see you there and then some who really just you know you can see in their eyes they hate you hate you with everything they have it yeah you have the small amount of people that we call SOS Sons of Iraq or concerned citizens that help us to help them you can't tell the difference because they all look the [ __ ] sand and we're in no uniforms so you don't know agrees one day you're talking to a [ __ ] good guard [ __ ] like guys gonna try to kill you later that's plenty of them that don't like us here they don't want us here they don't want our help and that's not gonna stop us from accomplishing the mission [Music] y'all doing good jobs when y'all stick to this we don't have to worry about y'all too much stay with that that's good the word is like a man beside your heart now you look somewhat wholesome you look presentable well this is what you do you get them hooked on this and they don't have to give money don't want they'll work for tobacco they don't get this [ __ ] in Iraq no that isn't that it's a good judge hey hey yeah yeah he saved this is a good guys they now tried to make some fella Canadian and they tried to come here and make hi sister I'm the go with you on the show of the chip hey hold up take his number where did that come from yeah hey CA do you get audio on those shots [Music] I mean you guys crowd in my field of view bring it back to the gauge Leggett back over there right hey one golf there's six you get audio on those shots hey I scan to the vehicles nine all right if you got our vinyls get them out it's just maybe a single pair but just keep vigil in anyways the great cliche about war is you don't know what it's like until you've been there the stress the tension that it takes to stay focused in that kind of situation is very very it's a tough trick good eye you teddy and to be able to flip from that kind of tension yeah to shaking hands and taking pictures of the shakes I mean what do you think you think you for more ass in a rice burner or a [ __ ] just regular straight American muscle car know what I'm saying it's on new ranges on it if you ride there and say Hulka pull in a tricked-out super you pull in there a GPO goddamn hair doesn't blow up who you think I'll get more female california-san muscle lord I know how cross that line throw off that the problem v8 will get any kind of push with reason why they called me black nasty is because I am the funniest [ __ ] you ever meet in this world I will do [ __ ] that will knock your [ __ ] socks off that's me you realize how [ __ ] long I've waited to be a little camera to rant about this [ __ ] I'm getting out and we're living in a goddamn hole oh oh god damn it [ __ ] you got people over here that are getting [ __ ] up for no apparent reason and all I can say is oh it's for the betterment of Iraq well look around you still in a hole people still wiping their ass with their hands and guess what still sucks around here yeah yeah so that's my [ __ ] 15 minutes of reading and it took me four and a half [ __ ] years to get that out of my system and I feel better about it now um I need a master baker it's our crib right here yeah this overstay so substandard housing I can show you them TVs how we live in that's $20,000 entertainment system right there for a short time or so we're leaving soon I'm leaving next month hi America hey honey I'll be home soon [Music] it's a war on both ends just put it like that it's a war on both ends it's a war here and it's a war in your love life because the deployment is so long and you have to wait so long just to be able to feel that person to be able to hug that person again and knowing that it could end like that and you cannot see that person again and there's been a lot of relationships broken because of it let's talk about long-distance love and war don't do it but I got a real good woman a real good woman and you know God has blessed me with a real good son as well that you loved one back in the states you know talking about you know if you had a argument with somebody over the phone about paying a bill or something like that you just don't have patience for that and you're like whatever everything that happens back home I kind of zoned up and everything that's happening here I just focused on what I don't call because I'm having a bad day because they won't tell me about their problems I just I don't want to I get fed up I don't want to hear it they don't understand that a bad day means a really bad day he's a horrible day a lot of these people are friends I was to school with and I get to keep in touch with them while here and see pictures everything sometimes you see pictures of friends though you wish you were there I used to say love knows no boundaries but I guess it did have a boundary and it was Iraq all over to death all over everything part of my heart but it's just you don't get to use that love out of here so it was really hard to show her that you love her or tell her how much you love her on the phone I called her on the phone she told me that the relationship was over that she was leaving me she wouldn't really give me that great of an explanation she told me she can do it anymore she guided me through the dark she was my strength she was my rock but unfortunately you know we are a relationship hardened not our love our relationship wasn't strong enough to survive 20:35 thirty eight thousand three hundred you can help me recheck should be 10 20 35 37 38 38 3 here's how I pay these guys is a group leader 600 bucks he's the guy who's in charge all the guys at the checkpoints then he's allowed to have four managers each of those guys get $450 and then each worker gets 300 bucks so you got to do the math and all that and then he gets a little something out of that it's more money than probably 60% of Americans make in a year this saves one kid getting shot cause whether he's killed or just hurt you know it's worth it but then on another another hand you think yourself what the humpy was never over here money and candy [Music] all you mean this world right here money you can be all I know is where I'm at right now and this makes sense it seems to be working now what she was going to my bank account but unfortunately it's going to shake Latif yeah I don't know the money the money thing is is crazy that's something I completed was not prepared for I learned how to conduct raids conduct ambushes conduct reconnaissance missions you know no one ever told me about you know building a foreign internal defense I was never a class I got today you guys have earned it and you deserve it and that this this money goes back into the community and will help a lot of people and I remember ones you know the ideas first came out that hey we're going to start recruiting locals to pull security on their own neighborhoods we're gonna put him at checkpoints organize them and start paying them there was a lot of discussion about that the proof is in the pudding so to speak the money has an effect and it is influencing behavior far more than than any other weapons system we have okay okay do you want a bag for this [Music] by kids no no no no yes yes yes do you hold on dude no I've got iced tea iced tea there you go it's a huge stake in the al-qaeda's heart as they sit here and watch us download this and the people realize they don't need al-qaeda or militia to to support the world as he has had to sit here and there mixed in with this crowd and watch they lose their power base that we gained some ground today since we've been out here we've repaired water wells these people now I mean we spent like 10 to 20 million dollars in civilian aid just alone a whole village doesn't have water we'll bring them water schools hospitals we're paying them to clean up their own town because our town has trash all over the side of it we spent your guys's tax money to help them [ __ ] clean up their own streets so buckle in America I live there big like my housemate Buffalo and then it says Buffalo what do you think yeah they always show they always show the bad stuff I mean they don't they don't so a lot of good stuff but it make it makes better news they're doing their job it's [ __ ] ain't they don't show half the [ __ ] that goes on over here they're only highlighting the worst parts of this war twelve soldiers were bombed and killed four Marines were killed today etc they don't they don't tell the the truth they tell why they need to tell to get their story and it's not the truth Wolf Blitzer doesn't give a [ __ ] about me Anderson Cooper and his [ __ ] very smart haircut doesn't give a [ __ ] about me Bill O'Reilly doesn't give a [ __ ] about me they don't get the the little stuff that happens a little interactions the small things that happened with just you know making a difference all ours numbers we're a [ __ ] digital camo set-piece my glass [Music] you give me this I'm not gonna live it this [ __ ] is stupid I mean say it's not our job we're supposed to be going out killing people it's having to go from the role of your job is to go out and kill people don't go out and you're gonna help do a myth humanitarian aid it's kind of kind of got to get used to that but I mean it's not bad the other day as well that's why if I can shoot someone I got my professor oh my head hurts too much why are you talking I don't know what you're saying what Oh God how frustrating is it for these soldiers they were trained to hunt down kill or capture the enemy is there a level of frustration with these kids that they just want to say oh [ __ ] you go [ __ ] it just you know take these guys out I mean huh they're not trying to be diplomats but their diplomats now I hope they feel that way because I feel that way on a lot of occasions and and if I'm the only one feeling that way then I then I I feel like I'm out of place you can't forget that none of us were brought up or trained specifically for the counterinsurgency fight these guys are just as well-trained as I am now so what's your voice you know what you're telling me is 18 19 20 year old kids with guns in uniform or handling the foreign policy of the United States in Iraq it in our own small little you know they say captain Thompson and Baker company this is your area of Iraq I need you to fix it [Music] push buttons up [ __ ] put pressure right here that's a [ __ ] [Music] administer of electricity is three hours late we're supposed to go down to some power lines let them analyze it to see how they will build it and we're still waiting [Music] for the whales the Empire oh yeah their part in the half measure all day baby but he ain't saying you ever have you ever used a little pump like a fool because Lupe's are the [ __ ] they get the soap and they get the dead skin off it makes you feel clean and little [ __ ] invited Peter on this [ __ ] trip about me yeah can we [ __ ] away we're gonna start fixing these power lines so we can start getting power to the area however much habitat it could talk about compensation for something here chicken talking okay with his sons of Iraq we would like to come down and register and start a contract for security for your village they try to make us do a soft knock yourself babe ease will be spared maybe that all depends on the mood there some will just shoot at us are you going on us going with us on the air so you know EFP get decided to Bradley I was in it just burning it all down in the ground mmm I end up going to the hospital my mom was getting married two days later lucky for me I got at the hospital the next day and caught a flight went back something about the personal costs you pay be fighting in support I spend more time here and I do at home that's a cost it takes away from my son you know I always get mad when I think you know I grew up with no pen I grew up with a bunch of staff and now my son's growing up with no father all the time you know my wife is teaching him how to throw a baseball taking on a baseball practice I should be there for that you know my daughter she'll be four and Jean and I think total been around for maybe nineteen about nineteen months of her life you know so I'm not there when my wife comes home and she's pissed and she gonna tell my son yeah she won't tell the dog or Rottweiler yeah she's gonna like the dog it's my dog mm-hmm my wife gave her a couple days ago I'm torn between you know I'm missing all this my family I want to be home I don't want to do this anymore what I do my wife understands me being here more than I do sometimes she's just like you know your job come home and one day this all be over and you know [Music] it's hard but like I said if it's something you truly believe in you just learn to appreciate that someday you will be able to make up for the difference hopefully because my family cost my family more than it did me and they pay more an idea basically the you guys understand that the task is to clear these buildings in order to confirm or deny the activity that the dust one personnel were there when those two guys went missing it was a pretty well coordinated attack and plan so really what we're doing is we're confirming to dine at this course of action for those misses those two missing guys came through this area it's an aerosol into their that but more of a soft knock kind of a you know we're not going in there to wreak [ __ ] don't hesitate to escalate it up should be a situation warrant it but the idea here is to get in and get to get these people to give up some Intel so that we can confirm or deny whether or not our buddy's uh ever came through this area all right guys it's all I got thank you a funny thing is the hardest thing we have doing leaders is to get guys to shoot American soldiers are American kids they are not killers we have to train them to do that job we don't train them to be killers we train them to be soldiers and part of being an infantry soldier is having to when faced with the situation kill an enemy the bottom line you're trained to do it I'm confident in that but just understand watch what you wish for because you just might get it I know everybody wants to test themselves but trust me as you stay in the army long enough you'll have plenty of opportunities to do what it is you think you want to do young man yeah [Music] right now we're entering house 3 over we have a problem between us and that's no problem tell me we're looking for this guy for a reason we're gonna we're gonna detain him he just needs to show us the right house tell him he's not gonna be released for a very long time you don't have to worry about that he's gonna walk there with us and he's gonna point out the right building and after that he doesn't need to come up to the building with us usually we need to come in with us come with us that's too easy father shadi get an ID no we are intelligently aamir tolerantly no luckily we were to add the would do I have a sir I [ __ ] his son it's his son yeah he's got to show me that house come outside right now show me that I did you talk with him Oh horrible mother Oh Judah Hamid will get one on the market the Panhandle ocean sometimes you go out there you go you do an air assault in the middle of the night to village you uh you you arrest a suspected bad guy he and you always at the same time there's the families there's the wife there's the mother there's the the kids sitting there looking at you and you're taking their father when you look in their eyes do you feel anything for them they they know they know what uh their dad was doing you know they know he was trying to kill us I don't think he gives a [ __ ] about our families you know so do I give a [ __ ] about his know mm-hmm seems like yes some intelligence on them so that's what the interrogators get some further information and you don't need [ __ ] room no one told me if the guys they arrested that night had any useful intelligence but a few weeks later the bodies of the just one soldiers were found in another area of operations they've been murdered by their captors makes a bad guy out here [Music] what my buddy's got a they got he got hit with the FP a few months back in Austin well a loaf argent leg I mean sometimes it kind of pisses me off just sitting here watching these guys because it's like he could have planted that you know he could have plan on that idea that [ __ ] up one of my buddies sometimes it's fun you want to take it out on but you can't you got a whole bag I mean we're trying to help these people out there I mean they're trying to disrupt us from helping you you know help their own people out that's a bad guy to me I've seen Humvees cut in half by [ __ ] by explosives you know and RPGs and everything like that and it's it's when you climb that vehicle you know you sometimes you know you don't know if that's gonna be a last night never climbing in that vehicle I got blown up back in July it was like my is my last ie D and the entire Bradley we got trapped in there and I almost almost actually contemplated shooting myself because I couldn't get out to Bradley I didn't want to die burning alive tell me about your worst day it sucked I smoked like two packs of cigarettes in an hour yeah yeah I lost two of my friends and that's all I want to say about it I lost him I can't do [ __ ] he was doing his job being a [ __ ] hero it's something a lot of people to know how to be all the way could be coming here on this [ __ ] were sad I gave everything all [Music] hell you shot right in the diet a1c buddy go all right there we go fine got a gunshot wound straight to his diaphragm exit one left kidney where can I be yep give me a turf burger please how you doing buddy hey this kid was shot at a checkpoint and the people that brought him in said that it was an accident he shot himself you know it was a drive-by but they just wanted us to think that it was an accident because they didn't want to present to the Americans they were losing control because if we lose control them we won't get the money my experience amor is not usually an organized theater as it is places of revolution where society basically falls apart the thing that has always gotten me and my my life in these places is that people caught it I don't know how to describe the guilt I guess of how many times I've had to go into a place take pictures of people suffering take pictures of people being slaughtered dying in my camera loans and them thinking I'm there help by telling your story to the world which in my head I was a journalist that's what I was trying to do I was trying to get the truth out I was trying to be the bearer of terrible truths so maybe the world would understand the worst part is always you can even behind these are just my cat bracelets for my friends that have we've lost over here this time corporal to Dippolito and a corporal Winterbottom and Soren greca IEDs and everything you get a lot more complex we definitely kind of cringe at the fact that you know one could go off at any second they just hit a pressure switch I mean it's hit or miss it's pretty [ __ ] random either you hit it or you don't and uh yeah just pretty much so you remember them so like hey this is this is my friend it's a way like keeping them with you like this is my friend that I used to hang out with and we've been through some [ __ ] together and now they're [ __ ] gone it's just a way I get to remember them and keeping them with you and [ __ ] so last question when you lay your rifle down and you go home and you're you with the person you love the person you trust more than anyone the world and that person looks you in the eyes that says James tell me the truth what was it like what are you gonna say I can't tell you I'll tell you what it's like hi how are you gonna hockey look somebody I and tell them me I've had killed people I get look somebody and I tell them [ __ ] you know I'm I'm hurt no [ __ ] that my body is just so beaten up and destroyed tell me the truth tell me what it was like what are you gonna say I don't know if it can be described in words to someone who doesn't experience it I mean it's it's horrible it's exciting it's fun it's disgusting I it can't be described in just simple words something that has experienced [Music] you

Channel: Jon Steele

Views: 1,310,007

Rating: 4.8212638 out of 5

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Id: VlOM0F8fzb4

Length: 100min 11sec (6011 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 11 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/tildesplat]

Is this the one on 1-15inf 3rd brigade 3ID? If so I know those dirty earth pigs..