"WE KEPT GOING." :

Anaconda: A war story : US soldiers recount 18 hours in one of the fiercest firefights of the Afghan war (Ann Scott Tyson, 8/01/02, Christian Science Monitor)

A pale blue dawn broke over the snow-covered Shah-e Kot peaks as Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Abbott and his battalion from the 10th Mountain Division rode packed in Chinook helicopters to the battle zone. Many of the US troops, fresh-faced young recruits who'd never before seen combat, were, as some put it, "pumped."

For Sergeant Abbott, a 32-year-old father of four, former Army Ranger, and a veteran of conflicts such as the bloody Mogadishu firefight of 1993, the adrenaline rush felt all too familiar.

It was March 2, and what was about to unfold was the biggest US ground battle in the Afghanistan war, in which American infantrymen took on the foot soldiers of terrorism directly for the first time.

The operation, code-named Anaconda, aimed to seal off and destroy pockets of Al Qaeda and Taliban regrouped inside a 70-square-mile stretch of rugged mountain ridges and valleys. Friendly Afghan forces accompanied by US Green Berets were to attack from the north, driving the estimated 200 to 400 enemy fighters toward several US blocking positions in the south, manned by Army assault troops.

But within minutes after Abbott's chopper touched down in the valley, his unit's mission changed drastically. Dug into the surrounding ridges on the east and west was a heavily armed, fortified enemy force of well over 100 men that US military planners had not known was there. These fighters were later joined by Al Qaeda from the north, who repelled the Afghan forces and then moved south to fight the Americans.

This is the story of how Abbott and 85 other light infantrymen - aided by the US air arsenal - survived and, to a degree, succeeded in an 18-hour firefight that was as brutal as it was unexpected. Under attack at times from 360 degrees, running out of ammunition, with a third of its men wounded, the US force held its ground until most of the enemy were defeated. Through skill, stamina, and a small dip in terrain known as the "bowl," miraculously every US soldier lived.

One thing that tends to get lost in discussions of warfare as practiced by the United States is the extraordinary quality of our fighting men. That we are almost always better equipped and supported than our foes should not in any way diminish our appreciation of what our troops routinely achieve in battle. Victor Davis Hanson, in his fine book Soul of Battle, explores some of the reasons why the armed forces of the great democracies have been so much more formidable than we might expect. But, whatever the reasons, we are truly blessed to have such men defend us. We honor their service. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 10, 2002 7:48 AM