"We were notified shortly after the incident that a Fallen Comrades event was pending, but it took some time to get some basic details. One of our remote positions came under a concerted, coordinated attack from insurgents in the middle of the night, turning into an extended firefight that lasted well into the next day. It involved US units, Latvian advisors, Afghan Army troops, artillery and air support - a significant fight, with a major commitment by the Taliban to overrun this outpost. I still don't know many details, but I know we lost three U.S. and two Latvian soldiers, plus about four ANA [Afghan National Army] troops. They gave as good as they got, though.
"The next morning, the Fallen Comrades execute order came down, and we headed out to line Disney Boulevard."
That's at Bagram Air Base, and the boulevard is named after a U.S. serviceman killed in Afghanistan.
"More soldiers than I can count - a thousand, three thousand? - lined up at parade rest on both sides of the road, from Mortuary Affairs at the south end of the airfield to the terminal midway down the runway," Dean went on. "Our coalition comrades - Polish and French troops - joined us, as did government civilians and contractors.
"There was the usual light conversation, but everyone fell silent as an MP vehicle approached, moving at a walking pace. Behind, in trail, were three [Humvees], each bearing a flag-draped casket and the eight pallbearers who would carry our comrades onto the plane for the flight to [the military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware].
"We came to attention, and raised our salutes, holding them until the last vehicle had passed. Faces were grim; eyes were locked forward. The pallbearers held their faces straight forward, heads uncovered. This was as formal an occasion as we could put on. The escorting 1st Division soldiers wore their "Big Red One" patches in color.
"At the trail was a camera vehicle, recording the entire journey to be presented to the family of the fallen. Once the convoy passed, the soldiers lining the road gradually broke up and began drifting back to their duties. Conversation in the chow hall afterward was subdued. The majority of us don't know the soldiers we lost, but they were part of our family. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers."
