in other words, everything the marine corps has they kind of give me my little slice of it. that is what we call a m.e.u. oliver: the marines were given the mission of bringing security to places in afghanistan s province. the taliban realized it was a great place for them to live, eat, function, do whatever they wanted to do and no one really bothered them down there and that was the first place we looked to say that has got to end. here in afghanistan, it is very rural. a farming community. wide open spaces. there is desert out to the east. completely open. not a whole lot other than fields, canals and a few trees here and there. we go to the beach and build sand castles and they go out to the desert and build their house out of pretty much the same material. a totally different lifestyle. little kids at 5:00 in the morning are out in the field helping parents bring in the food for the winter.
oliver: in april 2008, the 24th marine expeditionary unit or meu deployed to southwest afghanistan under the command of colonel pete petronzio. probably one of the most powerful forms of war fighting organizations that has ever been created in america. oliver: lieutenant henderson led the marines of 24 m.e.u. it takes a ground combat and adds to it an aviation combat element. in other words, everything the marine corps has they kind of give me my little slice of it. that is what we call a m.e.u. oliver: the marines were given the mission of bringing security to places in afghanistan s province. the taliban realized it was