When I was stationed in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan, one thing I noticed immediately was that the Marines slept the least, ate the least, and worked the hardest of all conventional teams. This compilation commemorates their thankless sacrifices during the irresponsible withdrawal of civil and military support from Afghanistan in August 2021.
“ After These pics were taken, we pushed the crowd back to create some distance from the gate. You couldn’t even see the pavement on the ground, it was completely covered with people abandoned personal belongings like cloths and bags. The Smell was so foul, those people had been standing there for days, peeing and pooping where they stood. You could feel their body heart radiating off the crowd whenever we’d push outside the gate. It was so hot and they were dehydrated that they were passing out and Getting trampled, we handed out water bottles but they would beat each other for just a sip. We ended up getting a fire truck to hose them down in efforts of keeping them from going from Heat exhaustion but we couldn’t really help them with their dehydration. I’ll never forget the smell, it was so complex and unique if that make sense? It was just different.” — A U.S Marine with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines
