Gary Thompson: In 'Restrepo,' Sebastian Junger documents an Army company that built, fought and died for an Afghan outpost

THE DOCUMENTARY "Restrepo" shows U.S. soldiers fighting and dying for an Afghan valley the army abandoned shortly after the film was finished.

It's an old story in war - geography that's strategic one minute is valueless the next. Not so easy to devalue are the feelings of the men who fight for that land and are left to ponder the sacrifice.

"They were upset, no question about it. It was a very emotional thing for them," said Sebastian Junger, the writer ("Perfect Storm," "War") and now filmmaker who was embedded with the men assigned to kill Taliban and win hearts and minds in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, a deployment depicted in "Restrepo."

Junger has stayed in close contact with many of the soldiers (relationships that account for some of the material in "War"), and says they're deeply disappointed in the Army's decision to withdraw. "They're soldiers, so they understand that strategic decisions are made that aren't based on their personal feelings. But yeah, they naturally say, 'We fought so hard for a year, and guys got killed out there. What the [heck]?' "

"Restrepo" has taken a few shots for probing the motivations of the men who volunteered for this dangerous duty. "We were really trying to focus on the experience of being there, and that [subject] just didn't come up a lot," Junger said.

But if you read between the lines, he said, you can see it. "The guys complain a lot about the conditions, but they don't complain about the fact they are there. They're volunteers. They chose to be there. It's not like socioeconomic forces consigned them to this duty. These aren't the guys who joined just to change the oil in the motor pool. They're in combat, and it's quite hard to get into a combat unit. It's sort of like making the football team."

Restrepo (the name of a medic killed in action) is the name of the outpost where the men live and fight - a small fort on a razorback ridge in the heart of Taliban country, constructed there as a "middle finger" to the insurgents who roam the valley.

"Restrepo" shows how the place was built (under fire, with pickaxes) and follows the deadly patrols that emanate from it. Another popular leader is killed on a foray into a Taliban stronghold - his fallen figure and bloody boots are filmed, and we see his comrades urge fellow soldiers not to look at his wounded face.

The documentary also shows the monumental challenge involved in the mission - not just the fighting, but the larger objective, of pacifying Korengal. Of creating roads, schools and a government in a place so impossibly remote and almost medieval.

"The concept is, if you bring enough security into a valley, and you build roads, you create a larger economy and taxes that support social stability and all the good things that come from that, schools, government that is not corrupt," Junger said. "They are not trying to democratize Afghanistan. They're trying to make it a country that functions. And in the Korengal, that was just not possible with the 150 men in that company. With a battalion, maybe that's realistic. But with a company, no."

Junger came away from "Restrepo" with a skeptical view of the possibilities of limited engagements, but with raised hopes for his own country, based on the quality of the young men who fight for it.

"It's funny, I'm 48, and I think people my age really generalize about people in their 20s as being slackers. Certainly the guys I went out with on 'Restrepo' weren't slackers. You couldn't find tougher, harder-working young men. It was pretty amazing. And very encouraging."