Australians seem to carry our memory of war with a special reverence, a passion, yet few
of us know little about the longest war we have ever fought. This was, of course, the
Afghanistan war. This war is not an event of distant memory. It is the most recent, one in
many ways we are still fighting.
A television documentary from a few years ago opened my eyes to how our soldiers
coped. These were intelligent and observant soldiers and their comments were well
considered and measured.
“There are a lot of answers in fighting. There’s a lot of information, a lot of emotion; it’s all
very honest and true.”
Another said, “I want to remember; instead of trying to forget, instead of having a never
ending nightmare, I was going to have a memory.”
Another combatant said “like a biblical experience with guns, that’s what Afghanistan was
like.”
“All the hills have eyes.”
The most common refrain was “Where the hell are they all?” This was one of the strangest
and most surreal conflicts in the history of war.
There is a sense that some of the men still hanker again for the experience of hard times
and the ever present danger. It is not the adrenaline or the losses but the closeness and
emotional support they miss most of all. They know that personal existence is not possible
without group survival.
The pity and the humanity distilled in war are timeless. The crew, the soldiers, the people,
the Afghans came to tell their stories: to make a document of what happened, for the
sheer sake of bearing witness and remembering.
And more than movies, books and other publications this program educated me and
taught me and moved me. I understand
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