Information about the plans to go to Kamdesh District and the meeting with the Kamdesh elders was taken from interviews with Swain, Snyder, Howard, Fisher, Byers, Timmons, and Berkoff.

The differences between Donahue's and Nicholson's views were extrapolated from interviews with both men.

Biographical information about Tamim Nuristani came from an interview with him.

Information about Snyder's mission and subsequent ambush was provided in interviews with Snyder, Swain, Howard, Fisher, and Nicholson.

Information on the village-hopping plan was furnished by Howard and Berkoff. Details about the specific mission to Hill 2610 came from interviews with Howard, Flores, Schmidt, Brooks, Cunningham, and Grzecki.

Information on the illegal timber industry came from Yaroslav Trofimov, "Taliban Capitalize On Afghan Logging Ban," Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2010, in addition to interviews with Lieutenant Colonel Chris Kolenda (source for book 2) and Lieutentant Colonel Brad Brown (source for books 2 and 3). April 10, 2010, in addition to interviews with Lieutenant Colonel Chris Kolenda (source for book 2) and Lieutentant Colonel Brad Brown (source for books 2 and 3).

Information about Jared Monti was shared by his father, Paul Monti.

Chapter 8: Hill 2610

Information about the mission to Hill 2610 came from the Army investigation into the incident, as well as from interviews with Howard, Flores, Cunningham, Paul Monti, Hawes, Garner, Grzecki, Chambers, Smith, Linnihan, and Berkoff.

Information about Pat Lybert was provided by his mother, Cheryl Lee Nussberger (now Cheryl Lee Patrick).

Paul Monti expressed his thoughts during an interview.

Information about Brian Bradbury came from an interview with his mother, Rhonda Bradbury, and from a conversation he had with Garner.

Information about Heathe Craig was gleaned from an interview with his widow, Judy.

Details about the aftermath of the operation at Hill 2610 were taken from interviews with Nicholson, Howard, Berkoff, and Schmidt.

Chapter 9: "This Will Happen to You"

Information about the issues with the road came from an interview with Sugrue.

Whittaker recalled his concerns during an interview.

Information about the air a.s.sault onto Landing Zone Warheit was provided in interviews with Schmidt, Johnson, and Howard.

Information about projects in the area was gathered from interviews with Schmidt, Howard, Sugrue, Snyder, and Lang. Other information was taken from The National Risk and Vulnerability a.s.sessment 2005, The National Risk and Vulnerability a.s.sessment 2005, published by the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development and the Central Statistics Office. published by the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development and the Central Statistics Office.

Information about medical aid for locals came from Schmidt, Johnson, and Araujo, as well as from ISAF cables about the incidents.

Information about Yunus and his murder was derived from interviews with Nicholson and Sugrue, Keating's letters, intelligence sources, and ISAF cables.

Some information about the development projects was taken from Scott Peterson, "In Afghanistan, U.S. Troops Tackle Aid Projectsand Skepticism," Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, October 2, 2006; and idem, "Spinning Pop Tunes to Beat the Taliban," October 2, 2006; and idem, "Spinning Pop Tunes to Beat the Taliban," Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, October 4, 2006. October 4, 2006.

Chapter 10: The Abstract Threat of Terror

Brooks's view of the outpost was conveyed in an interview with him.

The patrol up the hill to Kamdesh was described in interviews with Howard, Feagin, Johnson, Larson, Araujo, Howe, and Raynor.

Netzel described the patrol with Keating in an interview, and Keating wrote home about his experiences in letters shared by his father.

Chapter 11: The Enemy Gets a Vote

Information about the September 11, 2006, ambush came from interviews with Cline, Pa.s.sman, Saenz, Boulio, Cerezo, and Netzel.

Information about the meeting between Gooding and Howard was taken from interviews with them.

Information on adrenaline was taken from Dave Grossman and Bruce K. Siddle, "Psychological Effects of Combat," Academic Press, 2000.

Keating's thoughts and remarks were excerpted from letters and emails to his father and to Gooding.

Information about the visit to Mandigal was provided in interviews with Saenz and Boulio.

Information about tensions between Keating and Gooding was taken from letters from Keating to his parents and interviews with Gooding.

Matthew Cole, "Watching Afghanistan Fall," Salon.com, February 27, 2007.

Information about the shura came from interviews with Gooding, Feagin, and Cole.

Collateral-damage information was furnished by many troops interviewed who asked not to be identified.

Stambersky provided information about the ambush on his convoy, as did Berkoff and Gooding.

The account of the shift from PRT to outpost is based on interviews with Nicholson, Howard, Feagin, Berkoff, and Gooding.

Chapter 12: Matthias the Macedonian and the LMTV

Information about Howard's order to drive the LMTV to the Kamdesh outpost came from Stambersky, Brooks, Berkoff, Sutton, and Gooding. When asked about it, Howard himself said he had no recollection of giving the order.

Information about the LMTV convoy to the outpost was provided by Stambersky, Williams, Brooks, Martin, Steele, and Coulter.

Information about the situation at the outpost upon Keating's return came from interviews with Mathis, Gooding, Westbrook, and Ridgeway.

Keating's "you do the math" quote appeared in Cole's Salon story.

Steven Pressfield, The Afghan Campaign The Afghan Campaign (New York: Broadway, 2006). (New York: Broadway, 2006).

Keating's feelings about being a liar were expressed in a letter home.

Information about the LMTV's being parked at the Kamdesh outpost and about Keating's decision to drive it to Forward Operating Base Naray came from interviews with Stambersky, Williams, Netzel, Cerezo, Johnson, and Gooding, and also from a copy of the report of the Army's investigation into the LMTV rollover, obtained by the author.

Information about the LMTV's rollover came from interviews with Cunningham, Gooding, Cerezo, Netzel, Mathis, and Garner, and also from the report of the Army's investigation into the incident.

The instant messages between Keating and McDougal were shared by McDougal.

The description of Ken and Beth Keating's hearing about their son's death came from interviews with them.

Chapter 13: The 7-31

Information about winter at the outpost came from interviews with Gooding, Hendy, Cerezo, Sears, and Anderson.

Information about the ANA and its trainers was drawn from interviews with Best and Gooding.

Information about Buddy Hughie came from Best and from Hughie's sister, Claiborn.

Information about the meeting with Governor Nuristani was provided by Nuristani and Nicholson, as well as by a memo about it obtained by the author.

The saga of Fazal Ahad was related in interviews with Nicholson, Gooding, and Berkoff, and also in ISAF memos obtained by the author.

Information about adrenaline came partly from David Swink, "Adrenaline Rushes: Can They Help Us Deal with a Real Crisis?," Psychology Today Psychology Today's "Threat Management" blog, January 31, 2010.

Information about the tour's being extended was taken from interviews with Howard, Brooks, Berkoff, Jorgensen, and Eikenberry.

Eikenberry's comments on the "violent spring" appeared in Robert Burns, "U.S. Commander Wants to Extend Some Combat Tours in Afghanistan as Violence Intensifies," a.s.sociated Press, January 17, 2007.

Information about the memorial service was gleaned from a video of the service provided to the author.

Ken and Beth Keating expressed their reservations in interviews.

Chapter 14: Buddy

Information about the mission to save this young Afghan man came from interviews with Gooding, Boulio, Johnson, Best, Claiborn, and Hall.

The text of the night letter was taken from an ISAF memo obtained by the author.

Information about the murder of Fazal Ahad came from Nuristani, Nicholson, Howard, and Gooding.

Remarks from the dedication of FOB Fenty were included in a staff report published in Army Times, Army Times, May 7, 2007. May 7, 2007.

Chapter 15: "Don't Go Down That Way"

Information about the commando mission at Kamdesh Village came from interviews with Nuristani, Nicholson, Paparo, Howard, Gooding, Hall, and Schmidt.

Information about the ambush on the ANA troops came from Best, Pearsall, Steele, Sears, Anderson, McHugh, Kittle, and Guthrie.

The comments made by Abdul Raouf were reported by Kim Barker of the Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune on May 13, 2007. Barker also provided some information about Fazal Ahad. on May 13, 2007. Barker also provided some information about Fazal Ahad.

Information about Gooding's and Berkoff's departures was drawn from interviews with them.

Sources for Book Two

For the section of book 2 dealing with 1-91 Cav, the following individuals were interviewed: Wayne Baird Bert Baker Nic Barnes Bobby Bostick, brother of Tom Bostick Carrie Bostick, aunt of Tom Bostick Robert Cusick Chris Doneski Nicholas Dubaz John Faulkenberry Sarah Faulkenberry, wife of John Faulkenberry Rob Fortner Frank Helmick Hank Hughes Joey Hutto Scott Ingbretsen Kenneth Johnson Brandon Kennedy Chris Kolenda Jennifer Lowell-Hetfleisch, sister of Jacob Lowell Kyle Marc.u.m Nick McGarry John McHugh Bryan Morrow Alex Newsom Matthew O'Neill, then with HBO, who was embedded with 6-4 Cav and was generous enough to show me some of his footage William Ostlund Sam Paparo Chip Preysler Jesse Queck Shamsur Rahman Brenda Keeler Bostick Richardson, mother of Tom Bostick Jim Richardson, Tom Bostick's stepfather since 1983 Dave Roller Nate Springer Jonathan Sultan Stan Trapyline Unnamed Special Forces soldier John Wilson

For the section of book 2 concerned with 6-4 Cav, the following individuals were interviewed: Keith Bodmer Steven Brewer Chris Briley Brad Brown Andrew Bundermann Ronald Burton Chris Cordova Amanda Cuda Randy George Adam Laman Tom Nelson Jim Markert Joe Mazzocchi Kaine Meshkin Donald Parsons Dan Pecha Karen Pfeifer, widow of Chris Pfeifer Chris Safulko Shane Scherer John Spiszer Kyle Tucker Rick Victorino (not his real name) Red Walker (not his real name) Jim Witherington Dena Yllescas, widow of Rob Yllescas

Chapter 16: "There's Not Going to Be Any Ice Cream"

Information about the battle of Saret Koleh came from Roller, Newsom, Faulkenberry, Fortner, Wilson, Barnes, Baker, Morrow, Hutto, Kolenda, Sultan, Johnson, and Springer.

Information about Bostick's genealogy was provided by his family. Sion Record Bostick's recollections of the capture of Santa Ana were recorded in the Quarterly of the Texas Historical a.s.sociation, Quarterly of the Texas Historical a.s.sociation, October 1901. Accessed on the Texas A&M University Web site. October 1901. Accessed on the Texas A&M University Web site.

Information about Lowell came from his sister, Lowell-Hetfleisch, and Kolenda.

Information about the water-pipe project came from Kolenda and Springer. The phrase "Zar, zan, zamin" is said to have been popularized in the West by Louis Dupree's is said to have been popularized in the West by Louis Dupree's Afghanistan Afghanistan (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1980). The 2011 study referred to in the footnote is, again, Paul Fishstein and Andrew Wilder's (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1980). The 2011 study referred to in the footnote is, again, Paul Fishstein and Andrew Wilder's Winning Hearts and Minds? Examining the Relationship between Aid and Security in Afghanistan Winning Hearts and Minds? Examining the Relationship between Aid and Security in Afghanistan (Medford, Ma.s.sachusetts: Feinstein International Center at Tufts University, 2011). (Medford, Ma.s.sachusetts: Feinstein International Center at Tufts University, 2011).