At Empty Bases, Echoes of War
As the United States withdraws its forces from Afghanistan, a former Marine who became a Times reporter sees only traces of what several camps used to be.
A fine powder sandstorm kicked up across Camp Leatherneck in Helmand Province in August 2009, back when U.S. troops filled the huge base.Credit.Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images for The New York Times
May 28, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
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In 2008, I was a Marine lance corporal. I was 20 years old. I graduated from high school in 2006. George W. Bush was president. I owned an iPod and a flip phone. It was my first deployment to Afghanistan. I wanted to buy the new Weezer album (the “Red Album,” featuring “Pork and Beans”) and watch “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” when I got back.
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It was October 2005 when I first flew into Kabul aboard a Pakistani International Airlines flight. Mud homes pocked the desert landscape. Afghanistan looked quiet and serene almost safe.
That sense of security crumbled away moments after landing. Fluorescent lights dangled from the airport ceiling, evidence of explosions past. In the city’s streets, we stopped every two miles to pass through an armed checkpoint.
Then came the explosions.
Within hours of checking into our hotel, we heard our first IED blast. It was unmistakable: An enormous boom followed by sirens, screams, dust and a distinct smell.
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Over the course of a decade, I would make seven trips to Afghanistan and hear those sounds dozens of times. I lived looking over my shoulder, wondering when the next one would hit.