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2-17
17. I went on patrol. I drove with a convoy of Scimitar tanks from FOB Edinburgh through MusaQala, and beyond. The road took us down through a wadi, in which we soon came upon an IED. The first one Id encountered. It was my job to call in the bomb ex
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2-18
18. We made a square of our vehicles, which we called a harbor. The next day, and the day after, andso on, we ventured out to do patrols around the town. Show of presence, we were told. Keep moving, we were told. Keep the Taliban wondering, we were t
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2-19
19. The next day, or perhaps the day after, our convoy was joined by three journalists. I was orderedto take them into the battlefield, give them a tourwith an explicit understanding that the newsembargo was still in effect. I was in a Spartan, up fr
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2-20
20. We could see the lights of Musa Qala in the distance. February 2008. Our tanks were in a harbor and we were eating dinner out of bags, talking in low voices. After the meal, around midnight, I went on radio stag. Sitting in the back of a Spartan,
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2-21
21. I landed on March 1, 2008. The obligatory press conference stood between me and a proper meal. I held my breath, went before the chosen reporter, answered his questions. He used the word hero,which I wouldnt stand for. The heroes are the guys on
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2-22
22. I was given a month off. I spent the first part of it with mates. They heard I was home, rang me up,asked me out for a drink. OK, but just one. A place called the Cat and Custard Pot. Me: sitting in a dark corner, nursing a gin and tonic. Them: l
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2-23
23. The press reported breathlessly on our return to Britain, how we dashed to Chelsys off-campusflat in Leeds, where she lived with two girls, whom I trusted, and who, more important, trustedme, and how I snuck into their flat disguised in a hoodie
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2-24
24. Flack, they called her. She was funny. And sweet. And cool. I met her at a restaurant with some mates, months afterChels and I had gone our separate ways. Spike, this is Flack. Hi. What do you do, Flack? She was on TV, she explained. She was a pr
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2-25
25. I went with JLP to Kensington Palace for a cocktail with General Dannatt. As we knocked at the door to the generals apartment I felt jumpier than I had when leavingfor war. The general and his wife, Pippa, greeted us warmly, congratulated me on m
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2-26
26. But I spent that summer of 2008 not thinking about it. I didnt think much about anything, besides the three wounded soldiers whod been with meon the plane home. I wanted other people to think about them too, and talk about them. Notenough people
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2-27
27. Towards the end of that summer I went to Botswana, met up with Teej and Mike. Theyd recentlydone masterwork on the David Attenborough series Planet Earth, and a few other BBC films, andnow they were shooting an important film about elephants. Sev
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2-28
28. Right at the turn of the new year, 2009, a video went viral. Me, as a cadet, three years earlier, sitting with other cadets. At an airport. Cyprus, perhaps? Or else maybe waiting to fly to Cyprus? The video was shot by me. Killing time before our
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2-29
29. As that controversy continued to spread, I shipped off to RAF Barkston Heath. Strange time tobegin flight training, to begin any kind of training. My congenitally weak powers of concentrationwere never weaker. But maybe, I told myself, its also t
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2-30
30. I shipped off to RAF Shawbury and discovered that helicopters were much more complex thanFireflys. Even the preflight checks were more extensive. I stared at the galaxy of toggles and switches and thought: How am I going to memorize allthis? Some
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2-31
31. During this time I was living in Shropshire, with Willy, who was also training to become a pilot. Hed found a cottage ten minutes from the base, on someones estate, and invited me to stay withhim. Or maybe I invited myself? The cottage was cozy,
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