Purple Hearts & Wounded Spirits by Moore Brian

Author:Moore, Brian [Moore, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liberty Mountain Publishing
Published: 2015-10-26T22:00:00+00:00

CPT Fenton and SFC Moore at FOB Gilligan.

Ft. Apache did manage to give us what few materials they could spare, like Constantina Wire (C-wire), sandbags and shovels. The wire was strung-out around key areas in order to deny the enemy easy access onto the base. Fighting positions (similar to the foxholes of earlier wars) were re-enforced with sandbags along with a working gate. This was also the beginning of really getting to understand the Afghan/Muslim culture.

As an NCO in the American Army I immediately went to work filling sandbags on my own in order to build a re-enforced position for the American team. My interpreter came to me and asked me to stop working.

“You are causing us shame SSG Moore. You are an important guest so you cannot labor; it is not right.”

He explained that in their culture important people never did manual labor, and by my actions I demonstrated that either I am not important or that my host is not looking after me. I responded with the fact that it needed to get done and that I did not see the ANA soldiers doing any labor to improve our defenses. He further explained that is because they are warriors and it is beneath them to do such work. Afghan men who engage in manual labor are lower on their caste system so the ANA refused to basic labor.

My frustration level was climbing for obvious reasons. Improving our defenses was not an option, so if the Taliban was going to hit us it would be at this time. It would take some effort on my part to get past the assumption that they were just rationalizing their laziness and begin to understand that we did come from different military cultures. It was imperative that we find a way around this impasse in such a way that everyone saved face and the job got done.

We met with the village elders and explained that we needed to hire some of the men for paid labor at our camp. They agreed to send a dozen men each morning, individually chosen by the elders, and paid by them after we paid the elders for providing the labor. Day after day they came to fill sandbags, string c-wire and improve buildings. By employing the locals we won their trust, infused their local economy with hard currency and our working relationship flourished.

Realizing that Afghanistan was littered with unexploded ordinance (bombs of different types), we advised the locals to bring what they found to us for disposal. This served several purposes. Every bomb we destroyed was one less used against us, and it possibly saved the life of another Afghan who may stumble onto it. The locals also became our eyes and ears in that area. They provided us with information about the enemy’s movements, ambush plans, IED placements and other useful intelligence. While we were there we brought heavy equipment in to improve the roads, provided school supplies and dug wells for clean water. Granted,

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