Ghost soldier

 

So, my buddy was in Afghanistan around 09/10. He was on a small patrol of 10 guys up in the mountains. They were dropped off and began making their way deeper in, moving only at night to avoid detection. It was about dawn after their second night of marching they were ambushed. Out numbered they ran like hell back the way they came.

My friend was at the lead of the retreat where through the haze of dawn/night vision becoming ineffective he could see someone a head of him signalling at something on the ground and then ran off down the trail. He approached the point on the trail and noticed wires sticking out the ground, it was an IED. He got everyone to bypass around the device and they pressed on, all the while taking fire.

Again he say the guy out in front pointing at the trail and then moved on. He could see the guy was in tan coloured clothing and had an AK but not really his features. Once again at the indicated spot, an IED. The enemy must have known they were there from the beginning and planned to run them into the laid IEDs. This continued for several hours down the trail until they reached the extraction point. The patrol ran out onto an open plain and took defensive positions, the mystery helper moved up to a ridge and did the same.

The helicopters came in, Attack Helos let rip into the valley as, the Chinook came in to pick the patrol up. They started falling in and my friend waved to the mystery helper to join them. The patrol commander asked what he was doing, they had to leave. When he tried to explain and point out their helper he was gone. The patrol commander insisted there was NEVER anyone there at all.

Now this is were things get weird. A week or so later they went to attend  an elders meeting in a village not far from the Valley. My buddy was outside on guard and was talking with a local translator attached to the unit. They got on to telling the story to one of the men in the village, who started asking a lot of details. Once the meeting was over the man grabbed one of the elders and explained what my buddy told him.

The old man smiled and told them the tail of his Brother who during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan helped Americans to fight the Soviet forces. They went up the same valley and ended up in trouble. The

 old man's brother fought bravely and got everyone else away to safety at the cost of his own life, his body was never found and the locals say his spirit lives in the mountains helping those in need.

Anonymous submission

9/9/23