I was a reporter and columnist for 40 years for a chain of newspapers in the suburbs of Chicago. I'm a military veteran having served in the United States Army Combat Engineers (Cpl. E-4) and a Korean War veteran with an Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States of America
Guardian Films - Sean Smith's brutal, uncompromising film from the Helmand frontline shows the horrific chaos of a stalemate that is taking its toll in blood.
The images make your hair stand on end. It's intense, and the soldiers' fear is palpable. A Helicopter-borne team descend through a fire fight. A bullet has torn through a soldier's face and punctured his lung. "He was able to turn and have the meat, kind of away from his airway, so he was able to breathe." Back at base the Helicopter is cleaned of blood, ready for it's next hair raising mission. "We don't know if it's your position or not but there is a possible imminent attack", a soldier shouts in panic back into his radio, but before he has an answer bullets start coming from all directions. "Ah Fuck, Oh shit fuck. Which way are we going?" Amid the confusion a Marine is shot in the back. But it's not the bullets that kill these men. It's the IEDs. In the space of two weeks, 3 men from this company have died from the deadly devices. In recent weeks they've multiplied by 80%. So much so, that the entire region of Helmand is now considered a low-density minefield.