Following is taken from BBC.
The picture by Tim Hetherington (who won the 2007 World Press PhotoAward) shows an American soldier in a bunker in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley during fierce fighting with the Taleban.
‘Everyone was exhausted’
The day this picture was a pretty intense day. We’d already had two engagements with Taleban or foreign fighter insurgents in the area, and they had established a line of fire inside the base.
As the picture shows, everyone was exhausted. One guy had to jump into the base and broke his leg, requiring a medical evacuation by helicopter later in the night.
We later received a radio communication that a supply of grenades and suicide vests had entered the valley. We were perched on the hillside in this valley fearing the enemy had come to the perimeter of the bunker, maybe 30 meters or so and might attempt to overrun us. Let’s just say we were concerned.
In the spring, another American base in Nuristan was on the end of a concentrated attack. US troops ended up calling in air support on their own compound to survive. With that fresh in our minds it wasn’t impossible to contemplate the idea of being overrun.
