Into the Valley of Death Blog Assignment (due 9/25)

Here is a link to Sebastian Junger's Into the Valley of Death, Part I of his Vanity Fair reporting on American troops fighting al-Qaeda for control of the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan.  He and photographer Tim Hetherington shot the documentary film Restrepo during their time embedded with the Second Platoon, Battle Company, of the Second Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.  The Vanity Fair articles preceded the release of the film but are based on the same experience.  Hetherington died in April 2011 while covering the uprising in Libya. If you prefer, you may watch Restrepo (available on Netflix), just be forewarned that it is an both an outstanding and an intense and disturbing film.    Write a blog post that considers Junger's account, either the article or the film, of his own and the American troops' experience of war in relation to the portrayal of war and its effects in the Iliad.

Captain Daniel Kearney, commander of Battle Company.

Photo by Tim Hetherington.