Afghanistan: The Forgotten War
Audio Interview | Lt. Sean McQuaid
Platoon leader. York, Maine.
"They've been taking a pretty bad beating this summer just due to the fact that we're going to new areas and establishing bases where there haven't been bases before. So we're creating more engagements with the enemy because we're sitting in their backyard now, as opposed to being a couple of towns over."
Audio: "These guys, there's like a third generation of warfare here. You figure everybody has fought."
Lt. Sean McQuaid, 26, is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston. He is the head of "C" Company's 2nd Platoon and is known as one of the company's fiercest warriors.
Most of the Taliban soldiers the Americans are fighting in the mountains of Kunar province are highly skilled, he said. For instance, the insurgents pick up their empty bullet casings, making it more difficult for the Americans to determine how many people they fought.
Lately, the soldiers have noticed that the Taliban are using more inexperienced, fresh troops who they believe have recently undergone training in Pakistan.
