‘Battle for Marjah’ vividly portrays one unit’s experience - Entertainment, Movies - Navy Times

‘Battle for Marjah’ vividly portrays one unit’s experience

One year ago on Feb. 13, thousands of Marines led a massive assault on the violent Taliban stronghold of Marjah, a collection of farming villages in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

It was the largest operation of the war, with three battalions leading a charge that also included thousands of Afghan soldiers, elements of an Army Stryker unit and British forces.

The tension is captured vividly in HBO’s new documentary “Battle for Marjah.” Jarring and gritty at times, it follows the fight through the eyes of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Ben Anderson, a British journalist embedded with them. It’s scheduled to air for the first time Feb. 17, marking the first anniversary of the battle.

The combat footage alone is worth the time. Bravo Company is shown during the initial assault pushing through muddy canals and facing stealthy fighters wielding machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices. Not 15 minutes into the film, the Marines are surrounded in the center of Marjah taking fire, and a corpsman is evacuated by helicopter with a serious leg wound.

Anderson follows Bravo Company as it takes over an old police station, meets with frightened villagers and tangles with more insurgents, including a well-trained sniper who wounds several Marines. Subtitles help viewers understand the Afghan civilians, and interviews with Capt. Ryan Sparks, Bravo’s company commander, provide context on the unit’s objectives.

The film also excels in showing some of the softer, more haunting sides of war. In one scene, Marines in Bravo’s sister company, Charlie Company 1/6, deliver a “condolence payment” to tribal elders after a home with children in it is shelled. The Marines appear deeply conflicted by the civilian deaths, and an Afghan father wells up on camera.

The closing minutes of the documentary include footage of a second trip Anderson made to meet Bravo Company during the last few weeks of the unit’s deployment. Frustrated and tired, the Marines speak candidly.

“They let the Taliban beat them, but when it comes to one of us saying the wrong phrase or anything to these people, they just lose their lids because we’re Americans,” said one Marine, identified as Cpl. Hillis. “It’s ridiculous. … That’s a losing ballgame.”

If the documentary has a failing, it’s that the story ends there. By many accounts, Marjah has shown signs of improvement in the last few months, with Marine commanders even pulling an infantry company from Lejeune’s 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, out of northern Marjah and sending it to Sangin, a violent Taliban stronghold in northern Helmand.

None of that is depicted or acknowledged in the film, making “Battle for Marjah” a striking portrait of the assault — but one lacking context a year later.