Dandruff the Goat

My #3 son just finished two weeks
leave from his assignment in Afghanistan.
He is an Army Combat Medic serving
about 5 miles from the Korengal Valley.
If you have seen the movie Restrepo,
you will know what kind of area he is
in.

The week before he came home his
company completed a week long
mission called Hammer Down II
high in the Watapur Valley mountains
(10K feet). Below is one story he told
me from that operation:


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Operation Hammer Down II was winding down
and it was time for Delta Company to get
extracted back to COP Honaker-Miracle.
Chinooks had been detailed to fly into the
LZ and bring the soldiers out. At night, our
guys worked their ways down the side of the
steep mountain to a level, treeless area
designated as the LZ to meet the helicopters.

Unfortunately, clouds rolled in and the extraction
had to be postponed. Orders came to climb back
up the mountain to await clearer weather. As they
waited to get started, the guys saw a small, orphaned
goat. It was so tame (and stupid) that they thought
it might be blind. The clouds were so thick that the
path up was un-locatable. However, the little goat
began to climb and the company obediently followed
behind it. At last, they all safely reached their
mountaintop defensible position.

The guys named the little goat Dandruff and
wanted to bring it back to the COP as a mascot.
In the night, the Afghan National Army soldiers
ate it.

----------------------end here--------------------

ofs