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SANGIN DISTRICT, Helmand province, Afghanistan (10/9/2011) -
In fairy tales, it's the wicked witch who desperately wants
a pair of shiny shoes or the brutish baron of some dark and
spooky tower who really just needs a hug. In romantic
comedies, it's the stuck up frat boy who belittles the
scrawny underdog and his goofy cadre of friends in front of
the dream girl.
This individual carries a number of names, from villain to
foe - it's the nemesis with a million faces or the shadowy
figure hiding in the alleys of the mind and riding on the
back of one's thoughts. It is the enemy.
Sgt. Daniel Pluth, from San Marcos, Texas, returns fire during
Operation Moshtarak, when coalition and Afghan National Security
Forces conducted a large scale operation to route insurgents from
the city, Feb. 13, 2010. Pluth, a 2003 El Capitan High school,
Lakeside, Calif., graduate is now on his fourth deployment where he
serves with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. Photo by USMC Cpl.
James W. Clark
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Out here in the knee-deep “moon” dust of the Sangin District, the
enemy is often formless, and faceless. For a squad of Marine
infantrymen patrolling small patches of land teaming with life and
color, known as the green zone, an area both beautiful and
exceedingly dangerous, it's a violent phantom whose face is rarely
seen.
In today's war, Marine and coalition forces are
required to exhibit a level of restraint rarely seen on the
battlefield, but in order to succeed in their mission, they must do
more than restrain. Marines and sailors build rapport with the local
populace on an individual level. They learn names and histories,
forge bonds and after enough time and shared hardship – friendships.
They empathize and connect, but in some ways this is nothing
new. For men at war, there are always questions they ask themselves,
and at times, one another.
Who are these men we're fighting?
What drives them? What makes them want to do us harm? Do they have a
family? Will they be missed? |
“My very first challenge with being a Marine in the infantry
was when we did a [Battle Damage Assessment] on a target
that was killed,” said Sgt. Daniel Pluth, from San Marcos,
Texas, now on his fourth deployment where he serves with 1st
Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. “I got to talking with
someone and it popped into my mind; that guy, what was he
doing a few days before that? What was he doing ten minutes
before? Was he drinking tea? Twiddling his thumbs waiting
for us to show up?”
For Marines like Pluth who have
carried the brunt of the war effort, from Operation Phantom
Fury in 2004, when he took part in the push to take
Fallujah, Iraq, to the helicopter-borne insertion into the
insurgent held city of Marjah, Afghanistan, during Operation
Moshtarak on his last deployment with 1/6. The nagging of
his conscience has caused his thoughts to wander to the men
he and his peers are called to fight.
“I've talked to
others about not knowing who these men we're fighting are,
and wanting to know what they did,” explained Pluth, a 2003
graduate El Capitan High School of Lakeside, Calif. “Maybe
it's just one of my things, but I'd really like to try to
understand where the thought comes from. Why are you going
to put that [bomb] in the road, to kill me? Is that it; is
that your only answer? But, what if his answer is, I'm doing
it so they don't die; my family, my children. That's
something I would do for my family, if I was stuck in that
situation.”
The thought of a warrior with a
conscience may seem like an overused clich�. In a war with
no clear line in the sand dividing combatants from
civilians, and where success depends heavily on the support
of the local populace, it may prove instrumental, not only
to the mission, but to the clarity of conscience for Marines
and sailors returning home after a decade of war.
“The significance of empathy [in combat] is you then begin
to put a face to the war and you're not just going out and
hunting after somebody,” explained Navy Lt. Nathan Rice, a
chaplain with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, from Katy,
Texas. “You're actually thinking; that is someone's son,
someone's child. The other side of it is, you also have to
protect yourself. I think the importance of empathy is you
begin to understand your actions in regard to the mission at
hand. Not to question it, but to help retain your humanity
while at war.”
“A lot of that is getting to
understand the brutality of war,” said Rice whose role
within the battalion is to offer guidance, both spiritual
and moral to Marines and sailors in need.
“It's
almost like a necessary evil, but you have to remind
[Marines] that this is what we're called to do,” explained
Rice, who worked as a history teacher at Katy High School,
before pursuing his commission as an officer in the Navy
“You have to take into account that you're doing what
you're commanded to do...and you're protecting your brother,
that guy next to you,” said Rice. “If you have someone
shooting at you the natural response and what we want you to
do is shoot back, but you also have to understand the
humanity of it. That's why the empathy is there; you have to
understand your actions.”
Though the moral strain can
at times seem too much to bear, and one's inner monologue so
littered with doubt that peace of mind seems as hard to
attain as regaining one's lost innocence, that voice can be
what is most needed to stay both moral and sane.
Conscience, explained Rice, and a Marine or sailor's ability
to empathize, not only with his brothers in arms, but those
they meet on the battlefield can be their saving grace.
“Conscience plays heavy in war. [Service members] get
back home after the war and they kind of close up,” said
Rice, explaining how Marines within the battalion have dealt
with the death of friends in combat. “I spend a lot of time
dealing with operational stress. The first [casualties] we
had, my job was limited because the Marines were already
doing it - talking among one another. They were opening up
and talking, they truly were feeling like brothers, sharing
how they felt. To come to peace with yourself you have to
deal with it – you can't just bottle it up.”
Like
those heroes and villains in fairy tales, the impact Marines
and their enemies have on one another goes far beyond the
physical. The marks left on flesh are no less deep than
those left on the mind, but by carrying the heavy moral
weight of one's conscience, service members can grow from
their experiences at war, rather than being haunted by its
memory.
More associated images in frame below
By USMC Cpl. James W. Clark
Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd
Marine Division
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2011
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