Marines Face Roadside Bombs and Small-Town Diplomacy

Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) blew bits of brown earth through the sky as 120 degree heat bore down on the backs of Lt. Col. Thomas Savage and his troops from the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines.

They marched with 70-pound packs, ammunition not included, on narrow dirt trails, river banks and intersections in and around the small town of Sangin, Afghanistan.

Thousands of Marines are still fighting for the Taliban stronghold's freedom; the town was recently dubbed the most dangerous city on the planet.

Savage shared his experiences at the San Clemente Community Center Sunday evening, a briefing of the public held as a thank you for the support of the 1-5's latest mission.

“The success of this thing was based on 20, 22 year-old men,” Savage said. “They are some of the bravest and best people I’ve known, they’re the ones winning this war."

From sleeping in mud huts with no running water for seven months to marching trails crawling with Taliban forces, Savage said one of the biggest problems was communicating with the locals.

“I talked to the elders every day, and toward the end, they were working with us,” Savage said. “There’s a spark that continues to burn with the kids. A lot of those people didn’t like the Taliban, they’re just afraid to stand up to them.”

Taliban forces often sent 10 “spotters” in the small town to spy on Marine forces, recalls Lt. Col. Savage. Often, said Savage, the spies would blend in with the rest of the town and would only carry small radios to communicate the whereabouts of the military activity.

It was difficult to call in air support because oftentimes, bombing the Taliban meant bombing civilians. This is one of the reasons orders from the top have drastically reduced the number of bombings.

“Unless my guys were pinned down and couldn’t extricate themselves, I couldn’t drop a bomb,” Savage said.

The outcome of fewer bombings proved positive to Savage. Many people thanked him for not bombing their homes and became more open to work with.

“I fear that we are pulling out too quickly,” said Savage. “We worked hard about talking about opportunities with the people.”

When Savage left Afghanistan, the Sangin was building three schools and the citrizens had elected elders to act as a council, meeting once a week to discuss issues concerning the town.

“Their justice system is absolutely broken over there, and it was a big challenge to work with the government,” said Savage. “But we’ve seen so much progress, I can’t see them going back to the way things were.”