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Afghanistan Duty Changes Some GIs' Outlook
Thursday, April 4, 2002
(12:00 AM)
By Michell Boorstein
Associated Press Writer

PFC Marco Torres said the war opened his eyes to "the evils" that Americans face, and made him think more deeply about those who wage war on the United States.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- AP
The first major unit of American soldiers heading home from this country packed their bags Wednesday with everything from Korans swiped from the bodies of dead al-Qaida fighters to Afghan hats traded for cigarettes.

But the infantry soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division also take home some more complicated baggage -- new ideas about war and politics and, for some, the memory of what it feels like to kill.

"I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel hate, sad, happy -- I just killed him," said Spc. Andrew Spurlock, of Apopka, Fla., remembering the enemy fighter he found hiding near a cave during the Operation Anaconda offensive in early March.

"I didn't feel anything," the 23-year-old repeated.
(More: The San Antonio Express-News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan