Now that you have actually seen what our soldiers go through to protect and defend our way of life- including that part that most of your counterparts abuse- the freedom of speech- (the constition grants you the freedom- soliers deliver and protect it),maybe you can begin to to explain to them why they are on the wrong end of the agument, and that socialism WILL NOT work here.

Thank you for your service, and reporting.

Michael walker
Woodstock, GA

How do you send them care packages?

Amazing display of heroism and bravery by the Green Berets. Please post additional information regarding how we can help these troops from home.
i.e.
**care packages**
Thanks,
Melissa

I am a former US Marine. I am wondering if there is cultural significance of scarfs/ neckerchiefs common in most footage around asian cultures (e.g., Cambodia, Thailand, Afghanistan etc.). I truly am envious of your mission (reaching out to affect change in a place deeply in need of our help). Not that I glory in the killing, but the true importance from a historical standpoint is not lost. I went to college with many Afghanis at San Jose State Univ. (Silicon Valley).

Thanks for showing us the realities of defending freedom. The dedication of these men are nothing short of heroic and exhibit an awareness of the reality of those that wish to see us (and all of Western Civilization) dead. Let's kill the bad guys and heal the good guys!

i just got done watching inside the green berets and i just want to thank those guys for everything. i served in the army as 11b in afganistan and iraq. We always looked up to those guys when we were around them. so once again i want to thank those guys and get home safe

my son was a recon scout for the army and spent a year in afghanistan, mostly at camp cobra.
he returned home in july 06. i still don't know how we can thank our troops enough for what they did and are doing for us today. God bless them all.

This is one of the greatest documentaries! We here in the States don't hear enough about the tremendous sacrifice our soldiers are making to keep these Taliban thugs from infesting the world. Having been married to a Viet Nam veteran, I realize that the most important thing I can give is regognition and utmost appreciation to these great Americans. Thank you for giving us an insight of their struggles.

I would like to purchace the Video, I want My Children to see and remember... Is that possible? I looked in the store and didn't see it there. God Bless And Keep Our Troops.............

Thanks so much for putting this on the air. It's refreshing to see media coverage of the war and not have it spun around for an alternative political motive. I just really liked the deptiction, straight from the mouth of soldiers, people living it and have been there and just the facts. I wish there were more documentarys like this!! I'd love to see you guys make more!

God bless and keep these guys. Their job is usually hidden from the public eye and although they are probably not interested in the lime light, they certainly deserve our praise right now. If there is a way to help these guys (like Tom, I would like to send a care package), please post that information.

I have GREAT graditude and TOTAL respect for the men that put there lives on the line everyday..i wake up,go to work go to a movie,sit in front of my tv and drink a beer..i can do all these wonderful things(which most take for granted)all the while there are these perfect strangers in our U.S.services(our servicesmen) who would die so i can have a way of life,God bless you all..i am in your debt..Thank you
Hadley

I just wanted to thank you for showing something/anything about the war in Afghanistan. My son has been serving with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan for four months now and its very frustrating to watch the news and not hear one word mentioned about this war. It's very refreshing to have program show exactly what is going on without spinning the info for the Democrats or Republicans.

Please keep up the good work!
Marta

Thankyou for a great documentary. I was nervous just watching,can't imagine being there. It would be great to see more about the special forces and all that they do for us and the Afghan people. God Bless!

wow i coulnt sleep after watching that. unreal the adversity our guys deal with on a daily basis. that says alot about our guys that they can give those two face coward afghans the trust that they do.

QUESTION: what happened to the afghans who turned on their headlights right before the IED hit?? were they taliban? Im hoping the reason they didnt mention them further is that they got "taken care of".

This documentary does an excellent job of portraying what our men have to do in the Middle East. The Green Berets are very capable - no doubt about it, but why aren’t they getting more help? It appears there’s only a few men in this region going at it alone 24-7, with some air support. I’d like to see more programs like this and learn more about our efforts to find and cutoff supply lines.

I will echo the point about the Afghan truck that turned on their headlights! Next time, let’s turn on their headlights for them, and send them up the mountain first!

Altough im not an american but im really proud of these guys for what they do.god bless them and i hope that the mission in afghannistan,to bring peace inthat country can become a reality soon.thanks national geographic.

That was a great show. I too am interested to know the facts about the headlights. Was it planned or just an accident? God bless all our troups. TS

As a SF troop with only 2 voluntary combat tours under his beanie-belt, "my guys" continue to have daily gratitude from this quarter. Without the loving support of family and friends, it sometimes seems the only people for whom we have fought would be the ungrateful.
s/PaulCA

This was an amazing show and depicted so well. I know it is very rare to hear anything regarding the green berets, so I am so thankful that the American people now have the ability to learn some about these amazing men. My husband will soon deploy as a 18 bravo in SF so I am very thankful for the information on what he may face day to day. Thank you NG for revealing some of what these men do, but of course, this is just the tip of the iceburg. God Bless all of our troops.
W/ love, from NC
ps Please show this as much as possible!! Encore!

I'd really love to send a "care" package...NGC please post info on how to do this.

Thank you for this documentary. My husband was a Marine during Vietnam. He spent some time in Force Recon so we have some idea of the commitment, training and sacrifice these men and their families and friends go through. We have nothing but respect and admiration for the men and women in our Armed Forces. This post is our way of say thank you and we support you and your mission.

How do we send the men at Firebase Cobra care packages?

May God bless and keep them. They will be in our prayers.

This was an incredible documentary showcasing the courage and brotherhood of a very Special group of guys. I echo the previous posts - how can we send care packages? I can't afford portable DVD players or MP3 players, but we've certainly got some DVDs we can send - as well as putting together some nonperishable food packages.

Is there any way to get in contact with these guys directly? If you managed to get an email address of someone at Cobra, perhaps you could ask them to post to this blog and give us an idea as to some of their more specific needs...?

We want to help!

Thanks.

I was associate producer on this film. Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments! Working on this film was an amazing experience.

As for the truck headlights, the ANA truck who's headlights shone on the truck in front of theirs was not Taliban. They did not turn on their headlights intentionally to show the location of the convoy - it was an unfortunate mistake of them just trying to see where they were going. Unfortunately the final cut of the film did not provide this information, and I can see why someone would think they were Taliban. They were just doing their job.

I am an active duty Air Force member and recently returned from a lengthy deployement to southern Afghanistan. During my time there I had to make a trip out to Cobra. I stayed there for several days, and I have to say, that the men that are stationed there are very brave. I felt very garatified doing my part to support these men that are risking their lives for everybody else's freedoms. Dispite all the bad things you hear in the news, we are doing a lot of really good things for the people of Afghanistan. I want to say thank you to the SF for the things that they are doing out there, and to NGC for bringing this story to the people.

Thank you to all of those who were involved in producing this film. It was absolutely riviting and awe inspiring.
I feel that at this time of political unrest in our country, due to the war and things here at home, we as Americans tend to forget that thier are still soilders overseas fighting the fight-whether we think it is the good and right one or not.
They are still fufilling thier duties and obligations everyday, they don't just give up or call it a day. They understand their purpose.
Maybe we all need to experience the trials of battle and the hardships of war first hand; to understand that every action has a meaning and a purpose.
Our soldiers haven't forgotten that, they're still over there making it easier for us to have the ability to exercise our rights, to live a free and prosperous life.
This film reminded me of that, and I hope that all those who watch can find a little more patience, and a little more understanding towards everything here at home and overseas.
God Bless.

I not surprise at the of level of professionalism set by an operational detachment. SF-team's serving in/outside your country do not get the credit they deserve, but SF teams prefer it that way---you guys truly are quiet professionals. My respects go out to the teams in Afghanistan.

I just want to know if Ryan Hill is still able to do his famous "rope pull" dance. All of us here at home are super proud of your accomplishments!

My son-in-law was there when this was filmed with the 10th Mountain 2-4 Division. He returned home in November 2006 with injuries from IED blowing up their humvee and the battle in the pass where they lost SSGT Chiomento II. I watched this via phone with him and it was so surreal for him it was like he was back there. It gave me a better understanding what they are going through and it seems no one back home is paying attention. These men and women all deserve Medals of Honor for putting their lives on the line every day. My special thanks goes out to each and every one of them and my son-in-law, Medic Benjamin Dorland who recently received a Purple Heart for his wounds.

I was rivited when watching this. I was so frightened for them all. One inadvertently becomes so numb to violence and shocking stories because they are aired all the time on the news. But to be taken through these guys' days from their point of view and seeing it first hand was simply terrifying. And I wasn't even there. I felt it. I now pray every day for these special men and those that serve our country. I have the priviledge of feeling as safe as I do because of what they do. Not only are they fighting with guns and bombs, but they are using their intelligence and patience to try to change a way of thinking that is ingrained in these people their whole lives. God Bless and God Speed. Heather in Lee's Summit, MO

GREAT documentary! Thanks National Geographic Channel!

For those interested in helping send care packages to our military, see www.opgratitude.com.

This organization has a great system set up to get care packages to our military. They know what kinds of things they need and will most appreciate. There are lots of opportunmities to get involved and you will find many inspiring letters from grateful military members.

KC

True American heroes. God bless them all, and the NG crew that made the ultimate sacrifice in capturing what these brave men do.

As for care packages, the US military usually will not give out personal information on specific units due to operational security. However, there are organizations such as Operaional Military (http://www.operationmilitarypride.org/packages.html) that are providing care packages for the troops. Please support them, as they support the troops!

Watching what these brave men do sure does give me assurance that the USA will always be in good hands as long as we have these brave soldiers fighting for us. Every single American needs to appreciate what these brave men and women are doing over there. This was a fantastic film and I would love to see more like it.

My husband was one of the men featured in the documentary,and one of the men that was hurt in the IED that they showed.Knowing all that I knew as his wife,that he went threw,I have to say that watching the explosion that injured him brought back all the fears I had with him being there.That was his second tour over there,and I thank god everyday that he brought him home safe to me.I look at how courageous he was in that documentary and I realize that I am lucky to say I have a HERO for a husband.My thoughts and prayers go out to all the "wifes" of the men still over there,and of the ones whose husbands are yet to be deployed there.We see so much about Iraq that we forget about the other war.One piece of advice I have for all the women here at home who have a loved one there,stay strong and keep the faith!!

Pam:

I was part of the Artillery platoon helping to support the teams at Cobra for nine months. Without a doubt, they are the most professional group of warriors that I have ever been lucky enough to serve next to. Tell Captain Jim Alaska says hello!

Brandon,
He read your comment,says thanks and you have his email.
Thank you for the feedback...makes me more proud of him then you can imagine.

Hello there. I am very sorry if this is an inappropriate question, but I am wondering why the IED hit the truck. They were following the glow-stick trail, right? Is it that the IED perhaps was buried so deep the detection equipment couldn't find it or the dog smell it? In one pic earlier in the show they had what looked like metal detectors type instruments, right? Are there non-metal IEDs? Do they need more technology help maybe? It just didn't make sense to me that the HUMVEE got hit. If it were an RPG or something, that would make more sense to me.

I would think they could make something as big as a warn winch that all Humvees could have on their front bumpers that would do a 10 foot sweep or something for mines maybe... Wouldn't help at 60 mph, but people could go slow when wanted and it would do something perhaps. There is no metal in a lot of the roads we saw in the show so even if were just a metal detector, so they could go slow (were doing that most of the time anyway) and it would help maybe.

I know it can be pointless to look for reasons, but maybe there is an opp to improve things... Just so bad that people have to die because of IEDs/mines... Even 30 years after the wars are over it keeps happening...

anon,

I am sure that is a question that the guys there will keep asking themselves for a long time to come. Even if they now know the answer, I doubt the internet or the film would be the place to reveal it. War is a constant learning process. Unfortunately it has a steep learning curve. Putting the answer to why something was successful or unsuccessful where the bad guys could read it doesn’t make much sense.Suffice it to say prayer and good thoughts might be the biggest help to the men and women in the field.

Any Idea when this program will air again? I have a friend who was deployed in Afganistan for the past year and would like to set his DVR to record this when it airs again.

Chris - We hope that he comes home safe. The next scheduled airing is August 27 at 8p et/pt, but please stay tuned because times/dates are scheduled to change. All the best.

I simply would like to thank all of these men, future, past, and present, for allowing me the opportunity to share the same air with them. Thank you for your selfless acts of courage. God bless each and every one of you.

I love this documentary on FOB Cobra and the Green Beret. I was in the unit that originally built that Firebase and it was really exilerating seeing my base again and seeing how much improvement it went through. I remember when the SF first moved into that base and it was also crazy seeing the HQ building and tower #1 that I pulled guard on. Man, thanks NG for this documentary and some of the memories it brought back of the base.

I was also wondering if anyone from the NGC crew happened to see the plaque that was made in memory of the soldiers that lost their lives over there at that base? It should have had the names of Cprl Kyle Fernandez, SSG Hobbes, Cprl Fracker, and Cprl Fleischer. They were all members of 2 Battalion 5th Infantry Charlie Company Cobras(base was named after us). I would appreciate the info on its existence. Thank You.

Thank you for making this documentary to show the true courage of our brave men fighting for freedom no matter what the cost. Where would we be without our warriors? If only our state-side citizens could appreciate their sacrifice more. Thank you Green Berets! We love you!

Seeing firebase cobra again brought so many memories. I was part of the rapid reaction team during the construction of the baily bridge that was built across the Helmond River. I was there when Chico was killed. It was a very somber day. The teams there regrouped and proceeded to take it to the enemy. I have nothing but praise for the men who I served with while at FB Cobra. I was with the 20th Grp and attached to 7th Grp CJSOTF-A. God bless the USA!!!!

I was also one of the originals from Cobra. I was wounded there 29Mar05 along with Chris Short. I was in the hospital when my Lt called and told me about Chico. the battle in Afghanistan has been overshadowed and it is Good to see it is getting some recognition.

Just thought I would pass on that it was a year ago today that this incident occurred. US operations continue out of FOB Cobra and many other remote sites throughout Afghanistan

Outstanding documentary. Thanks to all of our troops in Afghanistan and throughout the world making us at home safe. Too many people forget, or take for granted, the sacrifice of our military men and women. They are the best. Bless them all and may they all make it home safe. Until then, give'em hell.

Loved the show, have to admit the heart and soul of these journalists going in there and being embedded with Soldiers while out conducting missions like these is the only way people back home can really know what it is to be over there and do the things we do. nat geo has such a professional reputation im so happy they are on our (soldiers) side, God Bless you all and stay safe.

I served honorably in two branches in the US military and it breaks my heart to see these men killing and maiming in Afghanistan for Uncle Scum. If they had any sense and honor then they would refuse their orders and go to prison rather than kill or be killed for American empire.

"WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." —Major General Smedley Butler, USMC (ret.)

Also sad is seeing National Geographic turn itself into an arm of the imperial propaganda machine as it did with this video.

To the Green Berets Stationed at Firebase Cobra in Afghanistan:

I just saw the National Geographic Channel documentary last night on all the good things you men are doing for us as well as the Afghan civilians there and want you to know how thankful and proud I am of your courage, honor and sacrifice. I have not forgotten the war in Afghanistan and support what you are doing 100%! America is blessed to have men of your caliber, bravery and dedication. I deeply appreciate what you are doing.

I also send my most heartfelt condolences on the loss of Sgt. Qu H Chay and Interpreter Todd(?)Karimi. May the Lord provide His strength, comfort and hope to you and their families in the States. I am praying for you all. Fight the good fight brothers. You make me proud to be an American! Keep up the good work! Strength & Honor!

Most Sincerely,

Marshal R
Bowling Green, KY

See that this message gets to the Green Berets at Firebase Cobra in Afghanistan.

I have not watched the videos but I have seen the previews, and I would just like to extend my appreciation to the NGC crew for a great job in featuring these fine soldiers. I should say rest in peace to those who perished -- my thoughts and prayers go out to their families. And here's to a speedy recovery to those who were injured.

Whatever some of the posters on here say, and whatever reason they bring up, it doesn't matter. These green berets are out there risking their lives every single day for what they believe is the right thing to do. Few of us will ever have that opportunity. The least we can do is support them.

-----------
P.S. - Any way I could know Mr. Phillip Chester's email ad?

The "Inside the Green Berets" documentary was incredible. I am so thankful to the men and women who serve in the US Armed Forces. I'm proud to live in such an amazing country. Thank you also to the National Geographic teams who report to "us back home." Whether you support the reason for a war or not, the men and women out there fighting it are risking their lives to make/keep America as it is and I am grateful to them and their families. You all are in my prayers.

My husband took a lot of the pictures in the documentary! i am so very proud of him. He is currently in Iraq on his second tour. Please keep him in your prayers.

My husband took a lot of the pictures in the documentary! i am so very proud of him. He is currently in Iraq on his second tour. Please keep him in your prayers.

p.s. carl anthony. if you contact me i can give you his email address. my email is ali.lyon@gmail.com

I WAS THERE IN 2004 2005 AFTER A LONG MISSION WITH SF OUR ORDERS WHERE TO STAY IN THE AREA WHERE WE HAD THIS BIG MISSION WITH SF THEY ASKED US WHAT WE DOING AFTER THIS AND ME AND SOME FRIENDS SAID WHERE MAKING A FOB OUT HERE AND THEY STARTED TO LAUGH AND ONE SF GUY SAID SERIOUSLY WHATS YOU GUYS DOING AND WE TOLD HIM AGAIN WHERE MAKING A FOB AND THE SF GUY GOT VERY UPSET BUT NOT AT US BUT UPSET AT OUR COMMAND CAUSE THE SF GUYS TOLD THEM HOW THE AREA WAS AND REGULAR INFANTRY GUYS SHOULDNT BE THERE BUT SOME HOW OUR COMMANDER GOT THE GO AHEAD TO DO IT AND THE LAST THING THE SF GUY TOLD US WAS WELL MEN I HOPE U BROUGHT ALOT OF BODY BAGS CUASE YOUR GONNA NEED THEM HAHAHA AND HE WASNT PLAYING EITHER OUR SECOND NIGHT THERE THE TALIBAN CAME AND TRIED TO LAY DOWN SOME WOOP ASS BUT THEY FAILED LOL EVERY OTHER NIGHT WE WHERE THERE THEY WOULD TRIE TO OVER RUN US OR THEY WOULD SET US UP AND AMBUSH US ITS WAS FUN BUT CRAZY AT THE SAMETIME I LOST ALOT OF GOOD FRIENDS THERE THAT PLACE IS NO JOKE AND IM GLAD SOMEONE MADE A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT FIRE BASE COBRA AND GOD BLESS THE MEN AND WOMEN STILL THEIR HOLDING IT DOWN IF ANYONE HAS MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT IT OR WANNA SEE SOME PICS MY EMAIL IS RENAGADE2P3S@YAHOO.COM
AND FOR MY COBRA BROTHERS WE LOVE YA TAKE CARE GOD BLESS AND STAY ALERT STAY ALIVE HOOAH COBRA2P3S OUT

Bellissimo reportarge.
Grandi Greens Berrets

R.I.P. agli uomini deceduti.