Tim Hetherington

"Korengal" shows a different experience of war

By Jenny Alvarez

Photos Agency

“Korengal” means bravery, pain and fear for a group of Young men who are who fight it.  While one soldier cheers when he kills the enemy, another asks if God will ever forgive him for the killing he has done.  As one soldier grieves the loss of a friend, another explains why he misses the war now that his deployment has ended, and admits he would go back to the front line in a heartbeat in the middle of the world of combat.

This film was shot by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington on location in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley and in Vicenza, Italy at the unit base of the 2-503, Battle Company of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. In 84 minutes you will know more about the American troops with soldiers that have no choice but to respond to each threat with killer instincts and  provides an illuminating counterpoint of an unpacking “survival” as a process but some memories are unexamined by many of the same men, looking back on their time in Afghanistan. Definitely the war of the human beings are the worst lethal weapon in a  hostile citizenry, largely futile patrols, and heavy war terrain. Korengal’s formlessness forces viewers to admit humility when confronting the age-old question of why the American government fights.