Damn the Valley

1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 2-508 PIR, 82nd Airborne in the Arghandab River Valley Afghanistan

By: William Yeske, LTG Ben Hodges - Foreword USA (Ret.)

Narrated by: Basil Sands, William Yeske

"DAMN THE VALLEY" was a phrase regularly uttered by the men that spent any amount of time in the Arghandab River Valley during the deployment of 2 Fury to Afghanistan in 2009-2010. The valley has claimed bodies from the troops of Alexander the Great, the British Empire, and more recently, the Russian Army. Operating in the valley was like nothing the men could have envisaged, they called it the "meat grinder."

It was a deployment that the media didn't talk about, and the government doesn't acknowledge. Three of the company were KIA, more than a dozen suffered life-changing injuries, and half the company had Purple Hearts-not many modern-day deployments have a 52% casualty rate. At one point, the entire prosthetics ward at Walter Reed was full of the men who patrolled that deadly area of the world.

Since their return, many of the survivors have struggled to move on with their lives, and the unit has been declared at "extraordinary risk" by the Department of Veteran Affairs. No one who entered that region was left unscathed. This book shares the perspective of the men that were on the ground for that deployment during the fighting season of 2010.

©2023 William Yeske (P)2024 Tantor

A gripping look into a war we tend to forget

This book made tangible some things that I forget from time to time. Both in good and bad sense. The story is told well and flows together as I was awash in memories as each guys face flashed in my vision as I heard them speak their own parts. This....is the kind of book the boys needed. Thanks Yeske ...you rule Brother

Task Force Wolfpack

Alpha Troop 1/17 CALVARY showing love Tarin Kowt Afghanistan RC South. Great book. Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did!

Damn the valley

Hell of a book
Obviously written by someone who has been there.
Thanks my war was Vietnam
All wars are bad
Dr James Roy Appleton jr Ltcdr USN retired

Gritty and realistic

Will does a really great job of capturing the realism of being a paratrooper in the 82nd airborne division. I served a couple years ahead of him and I can tell you that this book is very gritty and realistic. There are some portions when he’s in Afghanistan that he describes that I can literally smell things from 20 years ago. It’s a great book so hang on tight.

the dirty truth

thank all of you for sharing your powerful
story! your stories help me understand my father's struggles with his service in ww2.
reading this book i wish I could help some how
bless you all and the best in your futures