Gut-wrenching Story of Bravo Company in the 82nd Airborne

In this encore presentation of one of the most popular “Hot Wash,” episodes of 2022, host John Sorensen, and RCD contributor John Waters speak with journalist and combat veteran Ben Kesling about his new book, “Bravo Company: An Afghanistan Deployment and Its Aftermath”. It is the story of one unit of the famed 82nd Airborne, their tour in Kandahar’s notorious Arghandab Valley and the impact on their lives in the years after. By the end of their deployment, three soldiers had been killed in action, a dozen more grievously injured, and nearly half the company awarded Purple Hearts. In the decade since, two more have died by suicide, with a dozen others attempting, and still more admitting they had considered it. It is a story about the lasting price of war and how to help those who have paid it.