RESTREPO and Earl - A Great Couple Of Days

Monday and Tuesday have been awesome for me and Judy. We drove down to Columbus, GA, to Ft. Benning to watch the screening of RESTREPO, a documentary by Sebastian Junger and Tim Herington.

These two guys made 10 trips to be with the men of Battle Company, 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in the Kornegal Valley of Afghanistan - one of the deadliest places on Earth.


The outpost was named for Juan ‘Doc’ Restrepo, a medic killed a few weeks after arriving. His death affected all the men and when they pushed into the Taliban’s territory, they named the out-post after him.

The documentary speaks for itself. Very few questions are asked and you can hear a few comments from Sebastian and Tim, but it is mostly the voices of the men in the platoon.

I thoroughly enjoyed the viewing and have many feelings and thoughts about what I saw. But mostly just know that war is dirty, nasty, stinking, frightful, funny, boring and cruel, and it doubles my feelings of love and respect for all those dudes and dudetts over there.

Also in attendance and stood for a Q&A was the then Captain now Major who was prominent in the movie and his Colonel. I got their autographs on a movie poster and got to talk to them for a bit. Great men. There were also some of the platoon in the audience, but they did not get up for the Q&A, choosing to just stay humble in their glory. Many won medals for bravery and wounds for their service that year. I did get to talk to a couple of them, too. I was humbled and awed to the openness and friendliness of the guys.


(Leta Caruth, Judy, Kanani Fung, Studly Hungwell)

These two ladies made it possible for Judy and I to be there. Devoted women to milsupport and to the Airborne. I would loved to have spent more time with them, but they were very busy getting ready for after hours…uh…stuff.


(Studley, Judy, Marie and Earl)

Tuesday Judy and I got to meet my old shipmate, Earl and his wife Marie. Great people who I am very proud to call true friends. Love those two as if they were my own family.

They took us on a tour of Columbus that included the Civil War Naval Museum and the Ft. Benning Army Infantry Museum. Both are great, but the Infantry Museum is freaking awesome. If you are in the Columbus area, you have to go there.

We finished off the day at a Japanese restaurant, and then headed home. I’m very tired but it is a good tired. Anytime I get to send with Earl and Marie is good. And getting to meet Kanini and Leda was a great treat, too. They are some very driven yet personable ladies.