🇺🇸 Freedom Is Not Free: Reflections from Barge-Matal
By Nasirullah John Safi-July 2009–Barge-Metal, Nuristan Afghanistan
In the summer of 2009, deep in the unforgiving terrain of Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, more than 100 American and Afghan soldiers were inserted into a high-altitude, high-risk mission to liberate the remote district of Barge-Matal from the Taliban, Al-Qaida (AQ), and other insurgents. Operation Barge-Matal was initially planned as a 72-hour mission. It lasted over a month.
Lieutenant Jake Meraldi, 3rd Platoon Leader, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), and Lieutenant Colonel Mark O’Donnell, Battalion Commander, Headquarters Company together with their Afghan counterparts—over 80 soldiers from the Afghan National Army and Afghan Border Police—they were dropped into some of the most unforgiving terrain on earth. A place where the enemy was deeply entrenched. The landscape was treacherous. The stakes were impossibly high.
But we went — not because we wanted to — but because freedom demands it.
We lost three incredible soldiers: Spc. Miller, Spc. Coleman, and another brother whose name still echoes through our memories. Thirty-nine others were wounded in action. Seven Afghan soldiers were injured as well. For their courage and sacrifice, the wounded of 1-32 received the Purple Heart. The ones we lost received our eternal gratitude—and the promise that their story will never be forgotten.
Specialist Miller- Barge-Metal Nuristan, Afghanistan
I remember hearing the stories from Monti, the combat outpost where I was stationed before my leave. The tales of Barge-Matal were like something out of a war movie—only grittier, bloodier, and without a guaranteed ending. When my brother called me and said our mom was sick, I knew I had to get home. Lieutenant Kerr gave me the green light. I cracked a joke about staying a month. “No way, Johnny boy, we need you,” Sgt. 1st Class Devine said.
Four days was the deal.
But barely 48 hours into being home, I got a message from Devine:“Johnny, we need you back here as soon as possible.”
I thought he was messing around. He wasn’t. I didn’t even tell my mom that I was leaving that night. She had just said, “I’m not sick. You just make me sick because I worry about you.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was going to Barge-Matal. Everyone knew how bad it was. I left quietly, with the weight of her worry in my chest, and the smell of home still clinging to my uniform.
A Mission that Changed Us
The operation in Barge-Matal wasn’t just about retaking a village—it was about showing the people there that someone was willing to fight for them. But when it was all over, one question haunted all of us:
Who would stay behind to govern and support the people after we left?
1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Barge-Metal, Nuristan, Afghanistan.
We bled for that place. We lost friends in that place. And we feared what would happen to it when our helicopters lifted off for the final time. It was never about politics. It was about people—the villagers who just wanted peace, our Afghan allies who stood beside us in the fight, and the brothers to our left and right. What we did in Barge-Matal mattered. We stood for something. We fought for something. And unlike the chaotic and heartbreaking withdrawal in 2021, our presence then was a symbol of commitment—not abandonment.
The Real Cost of Independence
Today, as fireworks light up American skies and families gather around grills, it's easy to forget that freedom doesn’t come without a price. Those of us who fought in the valleys and peaks of Afghanistan know it intimately.
Ask any soldier who was there—ask me—and we’ll tell you:“Do you want to go back?”No. Never.But if you ask us whether we would do it again—whether we would bleed for our brothers, whether we would risk it all for the people who believed in something better—the answer is also simple:Yes. Every time.
So this 4th of July, celebrate your freedom. Cherish your safety. Hug your loved ones. But remember:
Freedom is not free.It is paid for in sweat, sacrifice, and blood.And sometimes, it is paid for by those who never come home.
The courage and selflessness of Specialist Miller, Specialist Coleman, and other remarkable soldiers—and the sacrifices of so many others—are honored in full in my memoir, Get the Terp Up Here. Their stories live on in our hearts, in our memories, and in the freedom we continue to protect🇺🇸 Happy Independence Day!!