A new book and documentary, 'Infidel' and 'Restrepo', offer an unprecedented look at the lives of US soldiers stationed in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, known as the 'Valley of Death'. Photographer Tim Hetherington and reporter Sebastian Junger spent 15 months embedded with Battle Company's Second Platoon, capturing the intense bond and vulnerability of men who face constant danger.
The soldiers, part of the 503rd Infantry Regiment, built Outpost Restrepo to draw enemy fire. Named after their medic Juan Restrepo, who was killed early in their deployment, the outpost became a focal point for combat. Hetherington's photographs show the men in rare moments of repose, sleeping or relaxing, revealing a humanity often hidden by their warrior image.
'The book and film are about the intimacy of war,' Hetherington explains. 'We dehumanise soldiers, but war is a very intimate act. All of those soldiers would die for each other. We're not talking about friendship. We're talking about brotherhood.' The images capture both the trauma and the camaraderie, from poker games to grief over lost colleagues.
Hetherington's lens focuses on the soldiers' personal details: tattoos reading 'Infidel', pin-up girls, and messages on bullets. 'Tim saw things very differently from the way I did; he wasn't looking for dynamism so much as for beauty or strangeness or even ugliness,' writes Junger. The photographer adds that his 'warts and all' realism has drawn criticism from both the hard Left and Right, but he insists on presenting the soldiers as individuals.
