JOHN COSTELLO / Inquirer
Lt. Michael Harrison
Afghanistan: The Forgotten War
Audio Interview | Lt. Michael Harrison
Platoon leader. Rural Retreat, Va.
"The soldiers recognize the fact that most of the people here aren't the enemy, most of the people here love us, they want our help."
Audio: "You give a kid a piece of paper and a pencil and it makes his day."
Lt. Michael Harrison, 24, comes from a long line of soldiers. His father's side of the family has been in the military since the Civil War. Harrison graduated from West Point two years ago.
His platoon spent the first month in the Pech Valley without a translator, so the lieutenant found it easiest to communicate with the curious children who hung around his camp. Outgoing and upbeat, Harrison soon established close contacts with village elders and local school principals.
Now, through a network of friends in the States, Harrison supplies the local schools with supplies during his regular visits for tea. His colleagues call him the Lawrence of Arabia of the Pech Valley.
"You are the first Americans who asked what we want and who care about us," a village elder, Haji Shah Muhammad, told Harrison during a recent session.
