1 00:00:15,450 --> 00:00:15,890 Speaker 1: Pushkin. 2 00:00:18,750 --> 00:00:22,710 Speaker 2: While Cautionary Tales is having a Halloween makeover, I'm here 3 00:00:22,730 --> 00:00:26,290 Speaker 2: to tell you about another podcast that investigates true stories 4 00:00:26,610 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 2: with a paranormal twist. In Unexplained, host Richard McLean-Smith investigates 5 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:38,220 Speaker 2: haunting and mysterious real-life events from throughout history. The episode 6 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:44,020 Speaker 2: I'm about to play takes us to Afghanistan in July 2009. 7 00:00:44,260 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 2: US and British forces are fighting a war against an 8 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,530 Speaker 2: enemy that's often hard to see. But what happens to 9 00:00:51,570 --> 00:00:54,790 Speaker 2: a small group of Marines stationed at a remote outpost 10 00:00:55,350 --> 00:01:00,290 Speaker 2: is about to take them into altogether stranger territory. As 11 00:01:00,350 --> 00:01:04,270 Speaker 2: part of Operation Kanjar, a major US offensive aimed at 12 00:01:04,370 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 2: pushing back the Taliban in Helmand province, around 4,000 Marines 13 00:01:09,260 --> 00:01:12,680 Speaker 2: have been deployed to the region. Among them are eight 14 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:17,380 Speaker 2: soldiers tasked with occupying a strange and isolated observation post 15 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,530 Speaker 2: known simply as The Rock. Their war is about to 16 00:01:21,570 --> 00:01:25,950 Speaker 2: get stranger than they could ever have imagined. Enjoy the episode, 17 00:01:26,410 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 2: and remember you can get Unexplained wherever you get your podcasts. 18 00:01:42,340 --> 00:01:45,540 Speaker 1: Daoud watched nervously as the choppers descended from out of 19 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,650 Speaker 1: the dawn sky, their giant blades thrumming ominously as they 20 00:01:49,670 --> 00:01:53,370 Speaker 1: dropped closer to the ground, kicking up dust and beating 21 00:01:53,410 --> 00:01:57,190 Speaker 1: back the green shoots of wheat now oscillating wildly before him. 22 00:01:58,530 --> 00:02:01,490 Speaker 1: He turned sharply and made a quick retreat back into 23 00:02:01,530 --> 00:02:06,150 Speaker 1: his house, vaulting the door behind him. Then, peering out 24 00:02:06,190 --> 00:02:08,510 Speaker 1: from the corner of a window, he watched as the 25 00:02:08,550 --> 00:02:12,450 Speaker 1: first pair of camel-coloured combat boots hit the floor, followed 26 00:02:12,530 --> 00:02:15,610 Speaker 1: by numerous others, and prayed to Allah that he would 27 00:02:15,630 --> 00:02:20,670 Speaker 1: be left alone. Moments later, there came a loud, insistent 28 00:02:20,750 --> 00:02:26,350 Speaker 1: knock at his door. The men, he assumed, were Americans, strangers, 29 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,300 Speaker 1: the people he'd been warned not to cooperate with. They 30 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: were joined at the door by a more familiar face, 31 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,140 Speaker 1: who put the stranger's short, insistent words into Pashto, so 32 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,780 Speaker 1: that he could understand their demands. But Dawood was finding 33 00:02:40,820 --> 00:02:44,460 Speaker 1: it hard to concentrate, too distracted by the service rifles 34 00:02:44,500 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: in their hands. Just a few weeks ago, men not 35 00:02:48,700 --> 00:02:53,540 Speaker 1: unlike these killed a 10-year-old boy in Dawood's village. Just 36 00:02:53,620 --> 00:02:56,580 Speaker 1: another of the tens of thousands of Afghan civilians that 37 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:58,940 Speaker 1: would fall victim to a war of which they had 38 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:03,650 Speaker 1: no control, caught in the crossfire between Taliban insurgents and 39 00:03:03,660 --> 00:03:08,530 Speaker 1: the invading US and British forces. While Dawood, in his 40 00:03:08,690 --> 00:03:11,970 Speaker 1: own home, did his best not to seem guilty of anything, 41 00:03:12,660 --> 00:03:16,140 Speaker 1: The interpreter explained that the soldiers wanted to use his 42 00:03:16,180 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: home for the next few weeks, adding that they would 43 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,740 Speaker 1: pay good money for it. But Daoud couldn't possibly agree. 44 00:03:23,780 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: If word got out to the Taliban that he'd taken 45 00:03:26,260 --> 00:03:29,620 Speaker 1: money from the Americans, the consequences would not be worth 46 00:03:29,660 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: thinking about. Captain Junwei's son sighed and looked about at 47 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,260 Speaker 1: his men, who were growing ever more skittish, stood out 48 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: in the open. Each passing second, bringing them closer to 49 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: the possibility of death. The strange men in uniform were 50 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:52,350 Speaker 1: US Marines, members of the 2nd Battalion 8th Regiment, newly 51 00:03:52,390 --> 00:03:56,190 Speaker 1: arrived in the region after spending two months acclimatising at 52 00:03:56,290 --> 00:04:00,790 Speaker 1: Camp Leatherhead, the Marines' primary base in Helmand Province in 53 00:04:00,890 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: South Afghanistan. The unit formed a handful of the 4,000 54 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: new troops sent into Helmand as part of Operation Kanjar. 55 00:04:10,170 --> 00:04:12,630 Speaker 1: the latest roll in the dice of the US government's 56 00:04:12,710 --> 00:04:16,770 Speaker 1: efforts to neutralise the Taliban's grip on the region. It 57 00:04:16,810 --> 00:04:20,470 Speaker 1: was July 2009, and with all things going to plan, 58 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 1: the war would be all but over soon. Dawood's village, 59 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:35,740 Speaker 1: Soh Hodez, was one of many similar-sized rural communities clustered 60 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: around the Helmand River in the Gamsir district of Helmand. 61 00:04:40,460 --> 00:04:43,570 Speaker 1: Although surrounded on all sides by endless miles of desert, 62 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,470 Speaker 1: there the land was rich and green, quite different to 63 00:04:47,510 --> 00:04:50,670 Speaker 1: how many of the Marines had imagined Afghanistan to look like. 64 00:04:52,010 --> 00:04:55,090 Speaker 1: To some, it reminded them of the verdant countryside that 65 00:04:55,130 --> 00:04:58,970 Speaker 1: surrounded their training base in North Carolina, though they were 66 00:04:59,030 --> 00:05:02,040 Speaker 1: under no illusions of just how far from home they 67 00:05:02,100 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: really were. Out of 20 of the districts of Afghanistan 68 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,510 Speaker 1: considered the most dangerous by the US military, nine were 69 00:05:10,530 --> 00:05:14,270 Speaker 1: located in Helmand Province, being as it was a vital 70 00:05:14,370 --> 00:05:17,670 Speaker 1: asset for the Taliban, on account of the vast sprawling 71 00:05:17,730 --> 00:05:21,060 Speaker 1: poppy fields that also lined the banks of the Helmand River. 72 00:05:22,420 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 1: The fields which they cultivated for opium to help fund 73 00:05:25,900 --> 00:05:29,900 Speaker 1: their operations had flourished thanks to an extensive canal and 74 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,980 Speaker 1: irrigation system that had been constructed back in the 1950s 75 00:05:34,060 --> 00:05:38,660 Speaker 1: and 60s, largely with the help of significant US government investment. 76 00:05:39,910 --> 00:05:43,070 Speaker 1: The system had even been partially designed by the company 77 00:05:43,170 --> 00:05:47,390 Speaker 1: Morrison Knudsen, perhaps better known for building the Hoover Dam 78 00:05:47,850 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: and the San Francisco Bay Bridge. It was just one 79 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: of the many ironies that characterised this most messy of wars. 80 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,260 Speaker 1: The attempt to commandeer Dawood's home was part of a 81 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,740 Speaker 1: new tactic to go from village to village, setting up 82 00:06:03,860 --> 00:06:08,220 Speaker 1: outposts and establishing a visible presence throughout the region. to 83 00:06:08,260 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: try and root out any Taliban strongholds, while simultaneously engaging 84 00:06:13,220 --> 00:06:16,490 Speaker 1: with the local population in the hope of winning their support. 85 00:06:18,050 --> 00:06:21,970 Speaker 1: For those like Dawood, it is a fraught existence, stuck 86 00:06:22,010 --> 00:06:25,510 Speaker 1: between the harsh authority of the Taliban and the ambiguous 87 00:06:25,590 --> 00:06:30,030 Speaker 1: motives of the invading forces. For those like Captain Sun 88 00:06:30,070 --> 00:06:32,730 Speaker 1: and his men, it is just the beginning of what 89 00:06:32,810 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: must seem an impossible task. the first of many they'll 90 00:06:36,460 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: face in the next seven months of their deployment. On 91 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,340 Speaker 1: this occasion, it ends with Daoud being forced to give 92 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: up his home for at least the next few weeks 93 00:06:46,380 --> 00:06:49,180 Speaker 1: after local elders convince him to hand over the property. 94 00:06:50,540 --> 00:06:54,140 Speaker 1: Daoud has barely finished loading the last of his possessions 95 00:06:54,220 --> 00:06:58,460 Speaker 1: onto a cart as the marines move in. He doesn't 96 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,860 Speaker 1: take the money, telling them instead to make it known 97 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,870 Speaker 1: that he had no choice in the matter. And in 98 00:07:04,930 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: many ways, he didn't. Not far from Sohadez, another unit 99 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,140 Speaker 1: from the 2nd and 8th are undertaking their first patrol 100 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:24,470 Speaker 1: outside the wire. Among them is 20-year-old Lance Corporal Charles 101 00:07:24,530 --> 00:07:29,690 Speaker 1: Seth Sharp. Hailing from the town of Adairsville in northwestern Georgia, 102 00:07:30,250 --> 00:07:33,290 Speaker 1: Sharp had been motivated to join the Marines... partly in 103 00:07:33,330 --> 00:07:35,850 Speaker 1: an effort to bring structure and focus to his life 104 00:07:36,210 --> 00:07:39,090 Speaker 1: and to make his family proud, but mostly by the 105 00:07:39,130 --> 00:07:42,310 Speaker 1: desire to fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves. 106 00:07:43,450 --> 00:07:46,690 Speaker 1: While stationed in Iraq the year before, Sharp made a 107 00:07:46,750 --> 00:07:50,030 Speaker 1: strange request to his family, asking them to send him 108 00:07:50,090 --> 00:07:53,830 Speaker 1: colouring books and crayons for Christmas. He wanted to give 109 00:07:53,870 --> 00:07:56,350 Speaker 1: them to all the children he'd met throughout his time there. 110 00:07:57,970 --> 00:08:01,090 Speaker 1: Only a few days before heading out on patrol, Sharp 111 00:08:01,130 --> 00:08:03,730 Speaker 1: had written a letter to his grandmother, telling her that 112 00:08:03,750 --> 00:08:05,990 Speaker 1: he was about to take part in a mission that 113 00:08:06,030 --> 00:08:10,310 Speaker 1: his grandchildren would learn about in history class. But Sharp 114 00:08:10,750 --> 00:08:14,940 Speaker 1: would never live to have grandchildren. That morning on his 115 00:08:14,980 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: first patrol, his unit came under attack. He was shot 116 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,740 Speaker 1: in the neck by an unseen shooter and died soon after, 117 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: becoming the first US casualty of Operation Kanjar. For many 118 00:08:28,630 --> 00:08:31,710 Speaker 1: in the 2nd Battalion and 8th Regiment, The time spent 119 00:08:31,750 --> 00:08:35,310 Speaker 1: in Camp Leatherneck had been a frustrating one, all cooped 120 00:08:35,390 --> 00:08:39,260 Speaker 1: up together under one giant tent, nicknamed the Circus Tent. 121 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: Having trained for months, building themselves up for action, the 122 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,260 Speaker 1: last thing they wanted was to be sitting around kicking 123 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,790 Speaker 1: their heels in the desert. Sharp's death was a harsh 124 00:08:49,850 --> 00:08:53,130 Speaker 1: wake-up call to the reality of combat, and a brutal 125 00:08:53,170 --> 00:08:55,810 Speaker 1: reminder of the true nature of the battle they were 126 00:08:55,850 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: engaged in. The Taliban were not a simple enemy to 127 00:08:59,970 --> 00:09:03,660 Speaker 1: be routed and crushed through sheer might and will. There 128 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:07,500 Speaker 1: were no military compounds to storm or governments to overthrow. 129 00:09:08,420 --> 00:09:12,930 Speaker 1: Theirs was a much longer game, characterised by stealth and surprise. 130 00:09:13,890 --> 00:09:17,550 Speaker 1: Their presence felt not by what you did see, but 131 00:09:17,590 --> 00:09:20,910 Speaker 1: what you didn't. A movement in the tree line up 132 00:09:20,970 --> 00:09:25,900 Speaker 1: ahead or the improvised explosive device buried six inches underground 133 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,930 Speaker 1: and primed to kill and even when they did finally 134 00:09:29,970 --> 00:09:33,350 Speaker 1: make their presence known, they could just as quickly disappear, 135 00:09:33,710 --> 00:09:39,090 Speaker 1: like phantoms, back into the landscape, each member often indistinguishable 136 00:09:39,170 --> 00:09:42,270 Speaker 1: to the Marines from the many other people whose land 137 00:09:42,460 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 1: they now stalked. As one Taliban commander was often fond 138 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: of saying, the Americans might have the watches, but they 139 00:09:50,980 --> 00:09:55,140 Speaker 1: had the time. Of all the conflicts in recent years, 140 00:09:55,740 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: it is little wonder that out of this one, Tales 141 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:04,330 Speaker 1: of ghosts would emerge. You're listening to Unexplained, and I'm 142 00:10:05,010 --> 00:10:15,060 Speaker 1: Richard McLean Smith. The small group of marines stamped their 143 00:10:15,100 --> 00:10:18,710 Speaker 1: feet to keep warm as a hazy pale sun crept 144 00:10:18,860 --> 00:10:22,090 Speaker 1: up over the makeshift walls of patrol base Hassan Abad, 145 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,410 Speaker 1: a rudimentary settlement on the outskirts of Hassan Abad village 146 00:10:26,970 --> 00:10:30,290 Speaker 1: that was composed of little more than giant reinforced sacks 147 00:10:30,350 --> 00:10:34,450 Speaker 1: of gravel and a few khaki tents. On the orders 148 00:10:34,490 --> 00:10:38,180 Speaker 1: of their sergeant, the eight men, comprising a small unit 149 00:10:38,220 --> 00:10:42,540 Speaker 1: from Gulf Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment, jumped into the 150 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: waiting armoured trucks and sat anxiously as the gate was opened. 151 00:10:47,830 --> 00:10:51,690 Speaker 1: Moments later, they were out beyond the perimeter wall, huddled 152 00:10:51,730 --> 00:10:55,380 Speaker 1: together with the nervous energy of the recently deployed the 153 00:10:55,420 --> 00:10:59,470 Speaker 1: prospect of hitting an IED, an ever-constant in their minds. 154 00:11:00,810 --> 00:11:04,030 Speaker 1: For some, this was little more than routine. For others, 155 00:11:04,150 --> 00:11:08,670 Speaker 1: like 22-year-old Lance Corporal Adam Wilson, this was their first 156 00:11:08,710 --> 00:11:13,450 Speaker 1: time on assignment beyond the wire. Wilson looked out through 157 00:11:13,470 --> 00:11:17,470 Speaker 1: the truck's dusty window at the alien landscape beyond, a 158 00:11:17,510 --> 00:11:20,430 Speaker 1: mix of scrub and wheat fields, a far cry from 159 00:11:20,470 --> 00:11:24,290 Speaker 1: his home city of Xenia in Ohio. While up above, 160 00:11:24,870 --> 00:11:28,830 Speaker 1: His compatriot, tending the truck's single machine gun, surveyed the 161 00:11:28,870 --> 00:11:33,210 Speaker 1: horizon for any signs of a threat. Thankfully, with only 162 00:11:33,270 --> 00:11:36,130 Speaker 1: a few hundred metres to travel, it wasn't long before 163 00:11:36,150 --> 00:11:39,870 Speaker 1: they'd arrived at their destination. The truck skidded to a 164 00:11:39,910 --> 00:11:43,370 Speaker 1: stop beside what looked like little more than a huge 165 00:11:43,430 --> 00:11:46,990 Speaker 1: pile of mud. After being ushered out at the vehicles, 166 00:11:47,610 --> 00:11:49,950 Speaker 1: the men took a moment to survey the place that 167 00:11:49,970 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: they would be calling home for the next 60 days. 168 00:11:53,190 --> 00:11:56,870 Speaker 1: a small outpost set up about 20 metres high on 169 00:11:56,910 --> 00:12:00,770 Speaker 1: the top of a strange dirt hill known as Observation 170 00:12:00,850 --> 00:12:11,740 Speaker 1: Point Rock, or simply The Rock. Being the highest point 171 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,380 Speaker 1: for some considerable distance, The Rock was an obvious place 172 00:12:15,420 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: to put an observation post from which any incoming enemies 173 00:12:19,020 --> 00:12:21,740 Speaker 1: could be spotted long before they had time to reach 174 00:12:21,780 --> 00:12:26,370 Speaker 1: the patrol base. Despite its relative closeness to the main base, however, 175 00:12:26,940 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 1: the facilities were basic at best, with no electricity, running water, 176 00:12:32,340 --> 00:12:36,020 Speaker 1: or even beds to sleep in. As such, it was 177 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:40,090 Speaker 1: necessary to maintain a steady rotation of personnel to occupy 178 00:12:40,130 --> 00:12:45,090 Speaker 1: the post. Feeling thoroughly exposed, and the heat already beginning 179 00:12:45,130 --> 00:12:47,970 Speaker 1: to rise, the Marines quickly made their way to the 180 00:12:48,030 --> 00:12:51,070 Speaker 1: shelter of the compound above, where they were greeted by 181 00:12:51,130 --> 00:12:54,690 Speaker 1: its outgoing occupiers, a group of Welsh guards from the 182 00:12:54,730 --> 00:13:00,150 Speaker 1: British Army. Lance Corporal Wilson couldn't help contrasting the fresh 183 00:13:00,210 --> 00:13:04,230 Speaker 1: faces of his fellow marines with this tired, despondent group 184 00:13:04,270 --> 00:13:08,180 Speaker 1: of men, now hastily packing their bags, evidently in a 185 00:13:08,230 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: hurry to vacate the place. Meanwhile, Corporal Jacob Lena, the 186 00:13:13,460 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: unit second in command, made his way along one of 187 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: the few shallow trenches that had been carved into the 188 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:23,630 Speaker 1: mound and surveyed the scene. The post was centred around 189 00:13:23,670 --> 00:13:26,370 Speaker 1: a single machine gun that poked out of a small 190 00:13:26,430 --> 00:13:29,570 Speaker 1: hutch on the west side of the hill. Some old 191 00:13:29,650 --> 00:13:33,030 Speaker 1: magazines were littered about the place, while the remnants of 192 00:13:33,070 --> 00:13:36,510 Speaker 1: a small homemade gym could just about be glimpsed from 193 00:13:36,610 --> 00:13:41,940 Speaker 1: underneath some camouflage netting. Just then, Lena was startled by 194 00:13:41,980 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: the bark of a dog, which revealed itself moments later, 195 00:13:45,860 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: eager to meet the new arrivals. As one of the 196 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,330 Speaker 1: British soldiers explained, It was a local stray they'd adopted 197 00:13:52,790 --> 00:13:56,940 Speaker 1: and called Ugly Betty. Lena promised to look after it 198 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:01,660 Speaker 1: for them. Ordinarily, this would be the point at which 199 00:14:01,740 --> 00:14:04,440 Speaker 1: the previous group took a moment to go over a 200 00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:08,340 Speaker 1: few details about the local landscape, sniper spots to look 201 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:10,960 Speaker 1: out for, or any individuals they might want to be 202 00:14:11,020 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: suspicious of, but the Welsh guards offered no such courtesy, 203 00:14:15,940 --> 00:14:19,620 Speaker 1: preferring instead to simply clear out as quickly as possible. 204 00:14:21,020 --> 00:14:23,740 Speaker 1: There was one piece of advice, however, that they were 205 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:27,260 Speaker 1: willing to impart. If the men should dig anything up, 206 00:14:27,870 --> 00:14:30,530 Speaker 1: it might be best to put it back where they 207 00:14:30,590 --> 00:14:40,010 Speaker 1: found it. A little confused by those final words, the 208 00:14:40,030 --> 00:14:43,300 Speaker 1: Marines soon made themselves busy settling into their new home, 209 00:14:43,900 --> 00:14:46,420 Speaker 1: as they quickly got down to the business of determining 210 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: sentry shifts and figuring out the most comfortable places to sleep. 211 00:14:51,380 --> 00:14:55,780 Speaker 1: With temperatures routinely hitting around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it was 212 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,460 Speaker 1: clear that finding ways to stay in the shade would 213 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,250 Speaker 1: also be vital. As the last of the sun's light 214 00:15:02,390 --> 00:15:05,690 Speaker 1: ebbed away and the hazy pink and inky hues of 215 00:15:05,770 --> 00:15:08,850 Speaker 1: dusk descended, the men could be thankful to have made 216 00:15:08,890 --> 00:15:13,430 Speaker 1: it through their first day without incident. That evening, Corporal 217 00:15:13,470 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: Lena took first watch at the machine gun and gazed 218 00:15:16,710 --> 00:15:20,260 Speaker 1: out at the complicated mix of compounds and fields and 219 00:15:20,340 --> 00:15:24,380 Speaker 1: fir trees dotted before him, the shadows growing longer and 220 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: longer before disappearing, only to later re-emerge, the same but different, 221 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: under the gentle moonlight. Not far to the south, Lina 222 00:15:35,380 --> 00:15:38,260 Speaker 1: could just make out the old rusted shells of two 223 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,980 Speaker 1: Soviet-era tanks, half buried in the earth. Remnants of a 224 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:47,710 Speaker 1: past both distant, yet inextricably linked to Lina's own presence, 225 00:15:48,260 --> 00:15:51,710 Speaker 1: thirty years later, and only a few hundred metres away. 226 00:15:53,220 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: The tanks were as alien to this landscape as Lina was, 227 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: each of them brought there by the same winds that 228 00:15:59,540 --> 00:16:03,100 Speaker 1: had left so many unwitting innocents sprawling in its wake. 229 00:16:04,570 --> 00:16:08,430 Speaker 1: Lina scanned back across the fields, almost willing for something 230 00:16:08,470 --> 00:16:11,770 Speaker 1: to happen, doing his best to stop his mind from wandering. 231 00:16:13,010 --> 00:16:15,750 Speaker 1: It was always difficult being on watch in places of 232 00:16:15,810 --> 00:16:19,770 Speaker 1: such isolation. trying to toe the line between staying alert 233 00:16:19,910 --> 00:16:24,690 Speaker 1: to any possible threat, while simultaneously trying your hardest not 234 00:16:24,750 --> 00:16:28,150 Speaker 1: to allow the possibility of such a threat to overwhelm you. 235 00:16:29,530 --> 00:16:32,150 Speaker 1: Lina was just eyeing the lip of a nearby ditch 236 00:16:32,550 --> 00:16:35,650 Speaker 1: when a burst of static blared out of the outpost radio, 237 00:16:36,150 --> 00:16:40,610 Speaker 1: causing him to jump. Catching himself, Lina turned to face it, 238 00:16:41,030 --> 00:16:45,390 Speaker 1: anticipating an imminent communication from the patrol base. Then it 239 00:16:45,450 --> 00:16:48,700 Speaker 1: crackled again, and a muffled voice could just about be 240 00:16:48,740 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: heard swimming in the thick of it. Lina grabbed the 241 00:16:53,170 --> 00:16:56,870 Speaker 1: device and fiddled with the controls. Switching it back to 242 00:16:56,890 --> 00:17:00,330 Speaker 1: the correct frequency, he called up the base and asked 243 00:17:00,350 --> 00:17:04,210 Speaker 1: them to repeat the message. But the receiver at base 244 00:17:04,250 --> 00:17:10,120 Speaker 1: control was confused. They hadn't sent a message. Lina looked 245 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: again at the radio and then apologised for wasting the 246 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:18,100 Speaker 1: operator's time and returned to the gun. Then the radio 247 00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:22,920 Speaker 1: crackled into life again. Lina could hear that strange muffled 248 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: voice buried somewhere deep within it. As he listened closer, 249 00:17:28,710 --> 00:17:32,410 Speaker 1: he soon realised it wasn't speaking in English, but Russian. 250 00:17:34,110 --> 00:17:37,330 Speaker 1: Perhaps it was just picking up someone else's transmissions, he thought, 251 00:17:37,670 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: giving the radio a good thump. Or perhaps he'd simply 252 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:51,090 Speaker 1: imagined it completely. Over the next few days, with little 253 00:17:51,170 --> 00:17:54,670 Speaker 1: else to do with their time, the Marines' attention soon 254 00:17:54,730 --> 00:17:59,210 Speaker 1: turned to fortifying their position. Most pressing of all was 255 00:17:59,250 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 1: the fact that, with the exception of a few well-placed sandbags, 256 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,660 Speaker 1: nowhere offered significant safety from any major line of enemy fire. 257 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:11,860 Speaker 1: Though some trenches had been dug in and around the compound, 258 00:18:12,340 --> 00:18:14,380 Speaker 1: none were deep enough to bring you lower than the 259 00:18:14,420 --> 00:18:20,050 Speaker 1: parapet without crouching. And so, one morning, Corporal Lena, Lance 260 00:18:20,090 --> 00:18:24,550 Speaker 1: Corporal Wilson and one other compatriot began the arduous task 261 00:18:24,590 --> 00:18:29,360 Speaker 1: of rectifying the situation. The clatter of shovels scraping at 262 00:18:29,420 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: dirt rang out through the camp as the men battled 263 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: against the rock-hard ground and the ever-rising temperatures. As Wilson 264 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: paused for some water, Lena dug his shovel in once 265 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,350 Speaker 1: more and it clanged against something buried a few inches 266 00:18:44,450 --> 00:18:48,360 Speaker 1: under the surface. Lena threw down the shovel and and 267 00:18:48,380 --> 00:18:51,360 Speaker 1: pulled a thin, tangled strip of metal from the ground. 268 00:18:52,460 --> 00:18:54,620 Speaker 1: It blew off the dirt, and held it up to 269 00:18:54,660 --> 00:18:58,060 Speaker 1: the light. It was hard to tell what it was exactly. 270 00:18:58,870 --> 00:19:03,270 Speaker 1: An old piece of shrapnel, thought Wilson, most likely. Lena 271 00:19:03,330 --> 00:19:06,230 Speaker 1: nodded in agreement, as he tried to read some strange 272 00:19:06,290 --> 00:19:08,650 Speaker 1: markings that had been etched onto the side of it. 273 00:19:09,610 --> 00:19:13,650 Speaker 1: It looked like Russian Cyrillic. He thought back to that 274 00:19:13,750 --> 00:19:17,550 Speaker 1: strange radio transmission, but thought better of telling Wilson about it, 275 00:19:18,030 --> 00:19:22,170 Speaker 1: lest he sound like he was going crazy. Half an 276 00:19:22,190 --> 00:19:25,190 Speaker 1: hour later, with the men having hardly made a dent 277 00:19:25,230 --> 00:19:28,270 Speaker 1: in the trench, Wilson slammed his shovel into the ground, 278 00:19:29,010 --> 00:19:32,540 Speaker 1: only for it to give way completely, unearthing a small 279 00:19:32,620 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: sunken space about two feet wide beneath it. Seeing something 280 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: inside it, Wilson reached in and pulled it out, and 281 00:19:41,460 --> 00:19:46,070 Speaker 1: then recoiled in horror. He was holding a human leg bone, 282 00:19:48,030 --> 00:19:51,290 Speaker 1: Wilson's colleague grabbed it from him quickly and goofed around 283 00:19:51,310 --> 00:19:54,680 Speaker 1: with it, but neither Wilson or Lena saw the funny side. 284 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,820 Speaker 1: Both suddenly remembered those final words the British had said 285 00:19:58,860 --> 00:20:02,110 Speaker 1: to them. If you dig anything up, it might be 286 00:20:02,150 --> 00:20:05,730 Speaker 1: best to put it back where you found it. Lena 287 00:20:05,810 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: took the bone and buried it back in the hole 288 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:12,420 Speaker 1: where Wilson had found it. Their attention soon turned back 289 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: to the task at hand, but only moments later, Wilson 290 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:21,860 Speaker 1: found another fragment of bone Then Lena did too. It 291 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:25,400 Speaker 1: soon became clear why the previous occupants had preferred not 292 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 1: to dig any deeper. They were camped out on a graveyard. 293 00:20:35,650 --> 00:20:38,630 Speaker 1: As news of the gruesome discovery made its way through 294 00:20:38,650 --> 00:20:41,110 Speaker 1: the group on the rock, it was hard not to 295 00:20:41,130 --> 00:20:44,400 Speaker 1: be a little unsettled by it. Even in the height 296 00:20:44,460 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 1: of war, such things rarely fail to make the skin crawl. 297 00:20:50,110 --> 00:20:52,710 Speaker 1: Perhaps it was all the talk of the bones, or 298 00:20:52,750 --> 00:20:55,730 Speaker 1: maybe it was just the strangeness of the location and 299 00:20:55,770 --> 00:20:59,160 Speaker 1: the unending cycle of boredom that goes with occupying a 300 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:04,620 Speaker 1: remote outpost. Either way, something of that place was beginning 301 00:21:04,700 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: to seep into the men. Two weeks later, one of 302 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:13,660 Speaker 1: the men stationed at the rock, Corporal Austin Hoyt, celebrated 303 00:21:13,740 --> 00:21:18,140 Speaker 1: his 20th birthday. That night, it was his turn to 304 00:21:18,180 --> 00:21:22,210 Speaker 1: take machine gun duty. Growing up on a farm back 305 00:21:22,250 --> 00:21:25,210 Speaker 1: in the States, he was used to the quiet and 306 00:21:25,250 --> 00:21:27,870 Speaker 1: had thought nothing of being stationed out at the rock 307 00:21:27,950 --> 00:21:32,570 Speaker 1: for sixty days. But back home, the quiet was something 308 00:21:32,630 --> 00:21:36,210 Speaker 1: to be cherished and revered. Here, it was only ever 309 00:21:36,270 --> 00:21:39,880 Speaker 1: a vacuum for the worst thoughts to infiltrate. It was 310 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,180 Speaker 1: a quiet that spoke not of hopes and dreams and 311 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:49,740 Speaker 1: languid reminiscences, but only of things lying in wait. Then suddenly, 312 00:21:50,350 --> 00:21:55,360 Speaker 1: the quiet was broken by a horrific scream. Hoyt scrambled 313 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: for his night vision binoculars and scoured the perimeter fencing below, 314 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,460 Speaker 1: assuming someone had been caught in the razor wire that 315 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:07,850 Speaker 1: surrounded the compound. But the fencing was completely empty and untouched. 316 00:22:08,810 --> 00:22:12,650 Speaker 1: Blurring his binoculars to the ground, Hoyt gasped at the 317 00:22:12,710 --> 00:22:16,390 Speaker 1: sight of a large humanoid shadow darting out across a 318 00:22:16,450 --> 00:22:22,740 Speaker 1: nearby field. Moments later, it was gone, Just then, Lance 319 00:22:22,780 --> 00:22:26,390 Speaker 1: Corporal Wilson and Corporal Lena burst into the machine gun 320 00:22:26,430 --> 00:22:31,710 Speaker 1: post clutching their rifles. They'd heard the scream too. With 321 00:22:31,770 --> 00:22:34,530 Speaker 1: no choice but to head out to investigate, the three 322 00:22:34,570 --> 00:22:36,210 Speaker 1: of them picked their way to the bottom of the 323 00:22:36,250 --> 00:22:40,410 Speaker 1: hill and stepped out beyond the wire. After a thorough 324 00:22:40,450 --> 00:22:44,530 Speaker 1: scout of the surrounding area, the men found nothing untoward. 325 00:22:51,820 --> 00:22:55,930 Speaker 1: After only four weeks, Lance Corporal Zolnick couldn't quite put 326 00:22:55,970 --> 00:22:58,810 Speaker 1: his finger on it, but it was clear that something 327 00:22:58,850 --> 00:23:02,170 Speaker 1: in the mood of the men had shifted. On machine 328 00:23:02,190 --> 00:23:04,670 Speaker 1: gun watch that night, as all the stars of the 329 00:23:04,710 --> 00:23:07,410 Speaker 1: desert emerged one by one from out of the sky, 330 00:23:07,910 --> 00:23:10,660 Speaker 1: he soon found his mind wandering to thoughts of family 331 00:23:10,940 --> 00:23:14,820 Speaker 1: and loved ones back home. Phoning home was a rare 332 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: event at the best of times, but out there it 333 00:23:17,820 --> 00:23:19,940 Speaker 1: would be months before he was able to speak to 334 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,470 Speaker 1: any of them again. but many service personnel posted all 335 00:23:24,530 --> 00:23:27,750 Speaker 1: over the world, far from home, especially with so many 336 00:23:27,910 --> 00:23:31,570 Speaker 1: being barely out of their teens in young relationships and marriages, 337 00:23:32,170 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: it could be all too easy to let the separation 338 00:23:34,620 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: eat you up. Many preferred not to call home at all, 339 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: to avoid the pain of hearing their loved one's voices. 340 00:23:42,660 --> 00:23:45,440 Speaker 1: Others were reluctant to make any promises of future calls, 341 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: just in case they were unable to fulfil them. Zolnik 342 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 1: took a swig of water to perk him up and 343 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,860 Speaker 1: slapped away at another giant moth that was buzzing about 344 00:23:55,900 --> 00:24:01,020 Speaker 1: his head. When suddenly, he felt the unmistakable sensation of 345 00:24:01,060 --> 00:24:04,470 Speaker 1: a cold breeze across his face, followed by what sounded 346 00:24:04,510 --> 00:24:07,550 Speaker 1: like a voice whispering to him from out of the darkness. 347 00:24:08,810 --> 00:24:13,610 Speaker 1: Zolnik spun round, looking about, but no one was there.' 348 00:24:12,670 --> 00:24:18,230 Speaker 1: Who' s there?' he said urgently, but there was no reply. 349 00:24:20,350 --> 00:24:23,170 Speaker 1: It was only then that he noticed just how cold 350 00:24:23,250 --> 00:24:27,490 Speaker 1: the air had suddenly become. Then the whispering voice came again. 351 00:24:29,130 --> 00:24:33,490 Speaker 1: Zolnik jumped. God damn it, that isn't funny, he said angrily. 352 00:24:34,990 --> 00:24:38,550 Speaker 1: Then came the sound of footsteps approaching, crunching in the dirt. 353 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: Zolnik froze as they drew nearer, then stepped up to 354 00:24:43,500 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: the top of the mound above the machine gun post. 355 00:24:47,180 --> 00:24:51,010 Speaker 1: Zolnik grabbed his rifle and ran out of the hutch. Hoyt, 356 00:24:51,070 --> 00:24:54,550 Speaker 1: is that you? he said as he looked up, squinting 357 00:24:54,610 --> 00:24:57,860 Speaker 1: into the dark. Hoyt had been due to take over 358 00:24:57,900 --> 00:25:01,020 Speaker 1: from him at any minute, but no one was there. 359 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: Doing his best to suppress a rising fear, Zolnick ran 360 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:09,400 Speaker 1: back inside the hutch and pointed his gun down toward 361 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: the stretch of land at the base of the mound 362 00:25:11,980 --> 00:25:14,990 Speaker 1: and hurriedly scanned it back and forth through his thermoscope. 363 00:25:16,270 --> 00:25:19,390 Speaker 1: With a jolt of adrenaline, he spotted the white thermal 364 00:25:19,510 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 1: outline of a figure, about a hundred yards from the outpost. 365 00:25:24,260 --> 00:25:28,420 Speaker 1: Just then, Boyd finally arrived to relieve Zolnick of his duty, 366 00:25:29,260 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: seeing clearly that something had rattled him. 367 00:25:33,260 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 2: What is it? 368 00:25:33,970 --> 00:25:39,030 Speaker 1: Boyd asked, assuming a defensive position. There's someone out there, 369 00:25:39,450 --> 00:25:43,510 Speaker 1: hissed Zolnick. Boyd scanned the land below them with his 370 00:25:43,590 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: own thermoscope, but saw nothing. I guess they're gone now, 371 00:25:48,060 --> 00:25:51,480 Speaker 1: he said. Then he patted Zolnik on the shoulder and 372 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:55,500 Speaker 1: told him to get some sleep. Zolnik hastily took another 373 00:25:55,540 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 1: look through his scope, but the figure, if it had 374 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:03,490 Speaker 1: ever been there at all, was gone. Satisfied all was safe, 375 00:26:03,990 --> 00:26:13,490 Speaker 1: he dutifully retired to bed. Over the next few days, however, 376 00:26:13,970 --> 00:26:16,880 Speaker 1: it was clear that something had gotten into Zolnik, who 377 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:21,090 Speaker 1: seemed unable to shift something from his mind As Zolnick's 378 00:26:21,150 --> 00:26:25,930 Speaker 1: concentration continued to deteriorate, the sergeant eventually made the decision 379 00:26:26,130 --> 00:26:30,380 Speaker 1: to have him transferred out. As one day bled into 380 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 1: the next, the men on the rock seemed to become 381 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,500 Speaker 1: more and more untethered from the strictures of life they'd 382 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 1: so assiduously observed on patrol base Hassan Abad. Beards were 383 00:26:42,060 --> 00:26:45,210 Speaker 1: left unshaven, and some of the men even took to 384 00:26:45,250 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 1: sitting about shirtless under the oppressive desert heat. Sometime around 385 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,950 Speaker 1: 30 days into their posting, Corporal Lena was back on 386 00:26:54,010 --> 00:26:57,310 Speaker 1: night watch at the machine gun, with the ever-loyal Ugly 387 00:26:57,370 --> 00:27:01,330 Speaker 1: Betty by his side to keep him company. After another 388 00:27:01,410 --> 00:27:05,900 Speaker 1: painfully slow night, it had just passed 1.30am when Betty 389 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,980 Speaker 1: sat up suddenly and began barking incessantly into the dark. 390 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: Lena snatched up the night vision binoculars and scanned the 391 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:19,070 Speaker 1: fields below. As Betty's barks grew louder and more insistent, 392 00:27:19,570 --> 00:27:23,150 Speaker 1: Lina caught sight of a figure dressed in purahor no tumbun, 393 00:27:23,730 --> 00:27:28,330 Speaker 1: about 200 metres away, standing completely still, that appeared to 394 00:27:28,380 --> 00:27:33,180 Speaker 1: be staring directly at him. Lina grabbed hurriedly for his 395 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:37,260 Speaker 1: thermoscope to pinpoint the figure's position, but when he looked again, 396 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:41,990 Speaker 1: the figure had gone. Grabbing the night vision binoculars again, 397 00:27:42,430 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: he gasped when he saw the same person now standing 398 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: a hundred metres closer. On the verge of firing a 399 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: warning shot, Lina grabbed his rifle and looked down the 400 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:56,710 Speaker 1: thermal scope to find the figure again, but once again 401 00:27:56,730 --> 00:28:01,730 Speaker 1: they'd completely vanished. In a panic, Lina was just about 402 00:28:01,770 --> 00:28:04,290 Speaker 1: to alert the others when he felt the heavy tap 403 00:28:04,350 --> 00:28:07,890 Speaker 1: of fingers on his shoulders, the sergeant's signal to let 404 00:28:07,930 --> 00:28:11,160 Speaker 1: him know he was there. With a sigh of relief, 405 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,190 Speaker 1: Lina span around, only to find to his horror. There 406 00:28:15,210 --> 00:28:19,110 Speaker 1: was no one there. Then Betty began to bark again. 407 00:28:19,990 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 1: Lena grabbed the binoculars and scanned the surrounding area once more. 408 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:33,880 Speaker 1: There was no one there. Despite his fear that he'd 409 00:28:33,900 --> 00:28:37,850 Speaker 1: be judged at best unfit for duty and at worst insane, 410 00:28:38,510 --> 00:28:43,310 Speaker 1: after 40 days of strange, inexplicable experiences, Corporal Lena decided 411 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,180 Speaker 1: finally decided to tell Wilson and Hoyt about everything that 412 00:28:47,220 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 1: had been going on. Having expected them to poke fun 413 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 1: at him, it was with some surprise when both of 414 00:28:53,620 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: them revealed that they too had been experiencing ghostly, inexplicable events. 415 00:28:59,650 --> 00:29:02,810 Speaker 1: Then Hoyt thought back to the night Zolnick had seemed 416 00:29:02,910 --> 00:29:06,750 Speaker 1: so spooked, right before the sergeant had had him transferred out. 417 00:29:07,790 --> 00:29:11,830 Speaker 1: Clearly it had been happening to him too. The men 418 00:29:12,090 --> 00:29:14,610 Speaker 1: agreed to keep it between themselves for the time being, 419 00:29:15,330 --> 00:29:17,810 Speaker 1: eager to just see out the remainder of their posting 420 00:29:18,070 --> 00:29:21,780 Speaker 1: and get back to the main base. In all that time, 421 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: the men had experienced little by way of active duty, 422 00:29:25,620 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: having not fired a single shot, so in many ways 423 00:29:29,420 --> 00:29:33,380 Speaker 1: theirs had been a good posting. If anything, they should 424 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,900 Speaker 1: be grateful for making it through unscathed, with or without 425 00:29:37,020 --> 00:29:41,490 Speaker 1: the mysterious goings-on. On their last night at the post, 426 00:29:41,970 --> 00:29:45,100 Speaker 1: it fell to Lance Corporal Wilson to tend the machine gun. 427 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,430 Speaker 1: Up there, in the cool night alone, Wilson repeated over 428 00:29:50,470 --> 00:29:53,430 Speaker 1: and over to himself that it was just one more night, 429 00:29:54,290 --> 00:29:58,250 Speaker 1: and by tomorrow it would all be over. No more 430 00:29:58,310 --> 00:30:02,370 Speaker 1: whispering voices, no more ghostly figures glimpsed out of the 431 00:30:02,410 --> 00:30:06,750 Speaker 1: corner of his eye, when suddenly all hell broke loose. 432 00:30:07,790 --> 00:30:11,140 Speaker 1: Wilson barely had time to react as the cacophonous sound 433 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: of machine gun fire rang out all around him. Running 434 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,620 Speaker 1: back into the hutch, he was joined almost immediately by 435 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,540 Speaker 1: Corporal Lena, yelling for him to tell him where the 436 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:24,360 Speaker 1: fire was coming from. But Wilson didn't know. It all 437 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:29,110 Speaker 1: happened so fast. Then an almighty whoosh ripped through the air, 438 00:30:29,730 --> 00:30:32,990 Speaker 1: the sound of a rocket-propelled grenade being launched close by. 439 00:30:34,010 --> 00:30:37,030 Speaker 1: Lena shouted for Wilson to get down, and together they 440 00:30:37,070 --> 00:30:42,910 Speaker 1: braced for impact. But then, nothing. Just the silence of 441 00:30:42,930 --> 00:30:47,310 Speaker 1: the desert and the occasional melancholic ring of a distant cowbell. 442 00:30:48,900 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 1: Wilson and Lena staggered to their feet in utter confusion 443 00:30:52,680 --> 00:31:03,020 Speaker 1: and stared out into the night. After 60 days, Corporal 444 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:07,650 Speaker 1: Jacob Lena, Lance Corporal Adam Wilson, and Lance Corporal Austin 445 00:31:07,690 --> 00:31:12,930 Speaker 1: Hoyt returned to patrol base Hassanabad. All three would return 446 00:31:12,970 --> 00:31:17,790 Speaker 1: home alive after spending seven months in Helmand Province. Others 447 00:31:17,830 --> 00:31:20,090 Speaker 1: who'd spent time with them on the rock were not 448 00:31:20,170 --> 00:31:24,250 Speaker 1: so lucky, leaving Corporal Lina to wonder if perhaps their 449 00:31:24,310 --> 00:31:27,180 Speaker 1: uncovering of things in the earth there had placed a 450 00:31:27,230 --> 00:31:31,280 Speaker 1: curse on them. In many ways, however, the men had 451 00:31:31,300 --> 00:31:33,700 Speaker 1: been cursed a long time before they ever made it 452 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,700 Speaker 1: to observation point rock, caught up in an unwinnable war, 453 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,920 Speaker 1: with their valiant efforts, forever fated to be beaten back 454 00:31:42,180 --> 00:31:46,740 Speaker 1: against a complex tide of history and circumstance. By the 455 00:31:46,780 --> 00:31:49,600 Speaker 1: time the reports of the strange goings-on at the Rock 456 00:31:49,900 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: were first published in a 2009 Times article written by 457 00:31:53,950 --> 00:31:57,670 Speaker 1: Tom Coughlan, the rumours were an old secret among many 458 00:31:57,690 --> 00:32:00,190 Speaker 1: of the troops that had had the misfortune to come 459 00:32:00,250 --> 00:32:04,450 Speaker 1: by it, and over time, a picture began to emerge 460 00:32:04,550 --> 00:32:09,070 Speaker 1: of a bleak and haunting history. One local scholar suggested 461 00:32:09,170 --> 00:32:12,190 Speaker 1: that the hill had once been an ancient fort built 462 00:32:12,270 --> 00:32:16,250 Speaker 1: sometime in the 18th century. He speculated that a series 463 00:32:16,290 --> 00:32:19,700 Speaker 1: of tunnels had been constructed underneath it, before it later 464 00:32:19,740 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 1: became a sacred shrine to many of the local communities. 465 00:32:24,220 --> 00:32:26,790 Speaker 1: At some point in the 1980s, It is thought to 466 00:32:26,810 --> 00:32:30,030 Speaker 1: have been occupied by soldiers from the Soviet Union who 467 00:32:30,090 --> 00:32:34,010 Speaker 1: fought a long and bitter battle alongside the People's Democratic 468 00:32:34,070 --> 00:32:38,260 Speaker 1: Party of Afghanistan, the ruling power at the time, against 469 00:32:38,340 --> 00:32:42,660 Speaker 1: a number of militia groups intent on overthrowing them. Some 470 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: claim that early in the conflict, Nassim al-Khundzada, the fearsome 471 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:51,180 Speaker 1: commander of one such militia group, captured the rock along 472 00:32:51,220 --> 00:32:54,380 Speaker 1: with the soldiers occupying it and had them all beheaded 473 00:32:54,460 --> 00:32:58,650 Speaker 1: on the spot. and buried where they fell. Others have 474 00:32:58,670 --> 00:33:01,970 Speaker 1: suggested that the murdered men were in fact members of 475 00:33:02,030 --> 00:33:07,290 Speaker 1: the Afghan police force. In time, helped with funding from 476 00:33:07,310 --> 00:33:11,430 Speaker 1: the United States government, those same militia groups would eventually 477 00:33:11,470 --> 00:33:16,270 Speaker 1: defeat the Soviet Union and the PDPA. By then, those 478 00:33:16,330 --> 00:33:20,650 Speaker 1: same groups had coalesced into a fragile coalition, often lumped 479 00:33:20,690 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 1: together under the term Mujahideen. And it was from this 480 00:33:24,580 --> 00:33:27,940 Speaker 1: group of people, in one way or another, that Osama 481 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 1: bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and ultimately the Taliban, would emerge in 482 00:33:33,380 --> 00:33:37,570 Speaker 1: the years to follow, and, well, you know the rest. 483 00:33:39,490 --> 00:33:44,210 Speaker 1: In the Soviet-Afghan war of 1979 to 1989, it is 484 00:33:44,290 --> 00:33:49,180 Speaker 1: estimated that around 15,000 Soviet soldiers and anywhere between half 485 00:33:49,210 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: a million to two million Afghans are thought to have 486 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:57,090 Speaker 1: been killed. Between 2001 and the formal withdrawal of all 487 00:33:57,170 --> 00:34:01,550 Speaker 1: foreign troops in 2021, the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan 488 00:34:02,030 --> 00:34:04,090 Speaker 1: is estimated to have caused around 240,000 direct deaths. These 489 00:34:04,110 --> 00:34:06,330 Speaker 1: include 457 UK Armed Forces personnel and 2,456 US military personnel. 490 00:34:16,240 --> 00:34:19,620 Speaker 1: alongside an estimated 71,344 civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan combined. 491 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,360 Speaker 1: The dead also included an estimated 68,000 Afghan military and 492 00:34:22,420 --> 00:34:26,600 Speaker 1: police personnel, 84,191 opposition fighters and 1,144 other troops allied 493 00:34:26,620 --> 00:34:49,250 Speaker 1: to the US military. Please remember to like and subscribe 494 00:34:49,290 --> 00:34:51,970 Speaker 1: if you've enjoyed the show. Unexplained is an AV Club 495 00:34:52,010 --> 00:34:56,970 Speaker 1: Productions podcast created by me, Richard McLean-Smith. All other elements 496 00:34:57,010 --> 00:35:01,170 Speaker 1: of the podcast, including the music, are also produced by me. Unexplained, 497 00:35:01,190 --> 00:35:04,550 Speaker 1: the book and audiobook, is now available to buy worldwide. 498 00:35:04,970 --> 00:35:08,170 Speaker 1: You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones and 499 00:35:08,250 --> 00:35:11,590 Speaker 1: other bookstores. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, TikTok 500 00:35:11,630 --> 00:35:15,470 Speaker 1: and Facebook at Unexplained Podcast and on X and Blue 501 00:35:15,510 --> 00:35:21,950 Speaker 1: Sky at Unexplained Pod. Until next time, stay strange and dissonant.