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Colin Colquhoun

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There were good reasons to go to war in Afghanistan but then the mission creep set in. Colin Colquhoun laments how we lost our way there. He did his part and he loves getting together with his buddies to keep the brotherhood alive. (3:15)

Andrew Samuelson

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Why not join the Army? Andrew Samuelson was looking at a buddy who was in ROTC and the thought popped into his head. He acted on it and was soon on his way to basic training. (3:48)

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Andrew Samuelson was on the advance team that went to Afghanistan to prep for the arrival of the full battalion. They immediately discovered that the Army didn't really have a mission for them. After a couple of quick support missions for other units, it was decided that they would be the Quick Reaction Force for a large area. (2:39)

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It was a simple task that would last a few hours but Andrew Samuelson's platoon stayed for 45 days beside that river. They were there to provide security while divers searched for the bodies of two drowned Americans. The Taliban sensed an opportunity. (10:32)

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Many of the Taliban would go to Pakistan for the winter but they returned in the spring and the fighting would begin again. This year they had their eyes on Kandahar city and Andrew Samuelson's unit was blocking the way. (5:59)

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The Rules of Engagement were onerous in Afghanistan. Andrew Samuelson wonders why he wasn't allowed to shoot obvious enemy combatants. That's not how you win a war. (2:05)

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They tried to advise the unit that was replacing them but the new guys weren't listening. On his way out of the base as he was heading home, Andrew Samuelson recalls the look of sheer terror in a young private's face. (5:18)

Jack Tragis

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He wanted to join the Army from as far back as he could remember. As a small child, Jack Tragis experienced some of the drama of the home front in World War II. Both his parents served and, when he was eighteen, it was his turn. First up, a year in the infantry on the Korean DMZ. (4:59)

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After a year on the Korean DMZ, Jack Tragis became a Drill Instructor. He was now a sergeant and he got it in his head that he would like to be an officer. He put in for OCS but his company commander said he wasn't going to approve that. He had a better idea. (5:25)

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Jack Tragis had tangled with anti-war protestors while he was finishing his degree. It only hardened his resolve to get his commission as an Army officer. When he found out that it was as a Medical Service officer, he was stunned. Determined to get it changed, a chance encounter made him decide to take it. (4:49)