The Devil's Playground

The Story of Two Charlie and the Arghandab River Valley

By: Andrew Bragg

Narrated by: Kevin P. Mullan

This book shares the story of the men of Two Charlie and their fight for survival in the Arghandab River Valley, the Devil’s Playground.

“The Devil’s Playground” was anything south of the second canal to the men of Charlie Company’s 2nd Platoon—Two Charlie—during their 2009–2010 deployment to the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan. The valley had been a notorious hot spot throughout history, with the Russians unable to maintain a foothold in the 80s and Coalition forces now facing the same problem during Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Two Charlie paratroopers deployed as part of the 2-508th PIR, Two Fury, of the 82nd Airborne Division, but always seemed to be on their own. They started their deployment attached to Canadian forces in Panjwai but were shortly moved into the Arghandab with one of the battalion’s biggest Areas of Operation. They inherited a bare-bones outpost that they worked hard to turn into the defendable position known as COP Tynes while patrolling the grape fields and orchards of the valley. Little did they know that when the leaves returned to the valley in the spring, so too would the fighting.

As the fighting picked up in the valley, the men of Two Charlie continued to sustain casualties as they fought day in and day out. There was never a dull moment in the Arghandab, and the fact that Two Charlie had to patrol, act as a quick reaction force, and secure their outpost on their own ensured that they never stopped. The men were constantly brought to their breaking point as their numbers dwindled and the fighting intensified. The men all started to believe that they weren’t going to make it out of the valley alive. The one rule of the valley would be proved time and time again: in the end, the valley always wins.

©2024 Andrew Bragg (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Heartfelt, Raw, and Real.

It’s a heartbreaking and heartfelt story about the all the boys of 2 Charlie. This book book was done with tremendous Care. And I think it shows.

amazing read

great read, one of the best war books I have read ever. a lesser known book but should be bigger

Incredibly powerful and well written

Great book. Highly recommend. Not for the faint of heart, but well worth the listen.

The tenacity of the American Soldier

It continues to amaze me how the upper "so-called" leaders are willing to sacrifice the lives of the American soldiers.
I truly believe our wars and fighting strategy would change significantly if those "so-called" leaders were required to lead our troops into battle.

The devils playground by Andrew Bragg

Excellent book to help understand what my college friend went through. Excellently written and powerful story.