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Another Kind Of Sacred Duty
By SGT Dave Glover , U . S . Army ( Ret )
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
In carrying this extraordinary and often painful-to-read story on our pages , we at AHERO Magazine understood that for some readers , it might be seen as disrespectful to the victims it describes . For others , the sheer horror of the scenes Army SGT Dave Glover found himself having to move around and operate in might seem over the top and unnecessary to be depicted in this magazine .
In fact , this story is offered with absolute respect and reverence for those who died on September 11 , 2001 . And for the AHERO organization , in which I have been actively involved since its inception and to which Dave Glover has given years of service as a volunteer , it is one of those rare , vivid stories that can make us see the depth of pain and horror we quite often ask our military members to endure on our behalf . In the final analysis , they endure those experiences for us . And too often , they suffer in silence for that . We believe they need their stories told . ~ LTCOL Dave Glassman , USMC ( Ret )
AFGHANISTAN , AUGUST 2004
I was three months into a year-long deployment to Afghanistan and so far it had been relatively quiet with only a handful of engagements and IEDs . After moving our area of operations from Tarin Kowt , we arrived in Oruzgan and established FOB Anaconda . The Taliban observed us , evaluating our strengths and taking measure of any vulnerability we had . We knew they were present and held the Oruzgan province as a stronghold .
Our presence instilled a sense of confidence and hope in the residents of the surrounding villages as we delivered aid and conducted village assessments . Village elders reported to us every day , describing the hardships and atrocities the Afghan civilians faced from the Taliban . Reports came constantly of harassment , forced compliance , death threats , and – in many cases – death itself .
One such report came from about twenty surviving family members led by their village elder . They were seeking help . They had traveled several days through what we knew was some of the roughest mountain terrain in central Afghanistan . Moving in small groups and mostly at night , they had managed to avoid detection from hostile villages or Taliban patrols . We learned that twelve of their family members had been ruthlessly slain , their bodies thrown down a cliff into a deep ravine . Seven schoolteachers and five others including a doctor were executed and butchered simply for showing pro-Afghan Nationalism and American sentiments .
Taliban leaders wanted to make an example of them and send a clear message throughout the region : You help the Americans , you will die . They understood and accepted the risk in coming to us , the surviving members said . But we were the only ones that could help .
A few days after the survivors arrived , a body-recovery mission on their behalf was approved . We would catch a ride on a ring flight of Chinooks that passed close by the recovery area , and get picked up on their return . The closest insertion point to the approximate location of where they had been was an eight-kilometer trek through the treacherous , winding ravine they were so callously tossed into .
We navigated this terrain with the midmorning sun relentlessly beating down on us . The temperature had already soared to above 100 degrees . The only shade came from the tall canyon walls around us – and only sporadically , when there was a bend in the east / west-running ravine . By noon , there was no escaping the sun at all .
Memorial bearing the names of those killed at the Pentagon in the September 11 , 2001 attack . Photograph by Duane Lempke is from his Pentagon Memorial book " REMEMBRANCE ." The editors are grateful to him for his permission to print it here .
AHERO MAGAZINE SUMMER 2021 9