He sits quietly, dragging deeply on his cigarette between sentences. His matter-of-fact delivery and mild, almost gentle manner as he gives his account of war contradicts the atrocities he’s witnessed firsthand, the grueling existence he’s endured for the past eight months.

Lance Corporal Thomas Lawler of the United States Marine Corps is back in Raymond, sharing his experiences after his eight-month tour of duty in the stark country of Afghanistan.

For the first five months, he was stationed in Gardeyz in the Paktia Province, which is just southeast of Kabul, Afghanistan’s largest city. For the last three months, his platoon relocated to Mihtarlam in the Laghman Province, just northeast of Kabul. Both provinces are bordered to the east by Pakistan.

Although part of his military preparation included mountain warfare training, when Lawler got there he was amazed by the number and size of the mountains in Afghanistan. The country, roughly the size of Texas, is divided by the Hindu Kush Mountains, which run from the northeast to the southwest. Some of the peaks in this rugged terrain reach 24,000 feet.

When Lawler arrived, winter was just beginning. Two feet of snow and temperatures below zero were standard. When he was ready to leave, temperatures topping 100 degrees were baking the desert sand that stretched for miles away from the base.

Lawler’s platoon was divided into three squads with duty rotations. One rotation was spent on standby, as part of the Quick Reaction Force. Another was spent guarding posts. The third was patrol duty.

During patrol, Lawler’s squad would visit villages and make contact with their leaders, called village elders. Most were cooperative and would willingly give the Marines information.

“Some places you’d go they would say, ‘I haven’t seen anybody,'” said Lawler, “but 90 percent would give you as much as they knew about the anti-coalition forces. If they told you something you’d reward them. There’s not an abundance of food over there. If you hold out a bag they’re going to take it.”

Another purpose of these missions was to confiscate illegal weapons. Lawler said that every man was allowed one AK 60 but no ROKs, ROGs, mortars, or anti air guns.

“If you were good to them they would give you information or weapons they had,” said Lawler.

Some of their patrols lasted for a week or more. They would start out in trucks, set up a patrol base, and then head up into the mountains on foot.

Lawler felt morale among the Marines was pretty high. “Every time you’d go out, you felt it was not going to be for nothing,” he said. “Pretty much everybody who was over there wanted to be there – that’s what we signed up to do.”

And he found encouragement in the Afghan people. When the Marines drove down the streets, people would wave and cheer for them. When on foot, a number of the people would come up and give them “high fives.”

Though not many Afghans could speak English, quite a few were trying to learn the language and the children often translated for their parents. The Marines also had two interpreters with their platoon.

But Lawler experienced a mixture of emotions regarding the people. “These people – the good ones – you’d sympathize with,” he said. “The bad guys – you’d develop a new hatred for them.”

On Mother’s Day, he saw two of his good friends die in the fighting.

“They gave everything,” said Lawler. “It was hard to get back to everyday life after that – you’re used to seeing their smiling faces.”

But Lawler persevered: “What kept me going was knowing we were making a difference – hopefully preventing another Sept. 11.”

When the platoon moved to Mihtarlam, their mission was to build a base for the next group. They worked “from sun-up to sundown,” readying the site and surrounding it with razor wire.

Looking back over his tour of duty, Lawler is proud of the contributions he and his fellow Marines have made to Afghanistan.

“We made a lot of progress, changed a lot of areas. In eight months I could see a huge, huge difference,” he said.

But his face still clouds with pain and his voice gets softer when he remembers the sacrifice of his friends.

“Don’t forget the guys that gave it all over there. Those are the ones that need to be recognized,” he said.

Lance Corporal Thomas Lawler stands ready for duty. He served with the United States Marine Corps in Afghanistan for nearly eight months.

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