In 2010 Kevin Mott's unit arrived in Afghanistan's Kunar province for a deployment that would see months of hard fighting. At one point, he was even wounded so badly—shot in the head, four fractured vertebrae, a broken leg, a torn labrum—that he was sent back to the United States for medical care. Several months later, he managed to be cleared to return to his unit in Afghanistan. After he did, the battalion conducted a mission aimed at clearing an area known to have a strong Taliban presence. Kevin shares the story of his platoon's heavy fighting as they worked their way toward their objective of Barawala Kalay.
In 2012, Rich Kent was a platoon leader deployed to Panjwai in Afghanistan's Kandahar province. Tasked with locating an IED cell in a small...
Col. Bill Ostlund is the director of the Department of Military Instruction at West Point. In 1990, as a lieutenant, he arrived at his...
This episode doesn't feature a combat story. But the conversation with FDNY's Chief Joseph Pfeifer is strikingly similar to the story we've heard in...