It was disgusting and reprehensible to say the least.
My squad was out on patrol and just doing our daily thing. Walk. Talk. Shake hands. Repeat.
It was a normal day for Afghanistan, hot and sunny. We were walking for about two hours and decided to set up a VCP (Vehicle Checkpoint), basically just to make sure people are who they say not search all them. There was a strange metallic scent in the air, one that was very familiar but unknown.
We weren't getting much traffic, I think two cars and a moped in maybe an hour so we figured something may have been going on. Well we ended up knocking on a door nearby to talk to some people and see what was up and show our faces.
The scent in the air grew much stronger as we got closer to one compound and a few of us agreed that we should see what that smell is. We knew we had smelt it before but not sure where, and it was strong.
My squad leader and interpreter knock and the door and greet the man of the house and a few of his kids. Everything was normal, except for that smell of copper and iron.
One of my buddies and I branched out and started looking through his compound. Just a walkthrough, not ransacking his life. We didn't touch anything the whole time actually.
We came up to this door that led inside a separate part of the compound. Maybe 6x8 and just a little over 5 1/2 feet tall. Not entirely uncommon to see things like that in Afghanistan but behind the door was that smell. My boy and I just looked at each other and gave one another the, “Whatever, these people do strange shit” look. We opened the door and I walked in…
The smell was horrible and strong and overpowered my whole face. I never had before and to this day have never smelled something so strong. It smelled like the inside of copper factory that was coated in what I could only describe as death. It smelled like a nightmare version of a veterinarians office is what I later described it as. It was pitch black until I keyed on the floodlight on PEQ-16 (It's a flashlight/laser pointer, pretty much) and then I saw her.
There in the middle of the floor was a woman. A girl really, maybe 16–17, a little older possibly. I ran the light from her face to her hands just to see if they were clear and kept it going. When I got to her right leg I saw a shackle attached to a chain that ran to a stake in the ground.
She was dirty and her hair was messed up, crusted with dirt and sand. She backed away, covering her face and gesturing to close the door. I did.
This poor girl was surrounded by buckets of blood. Most of it had coagulated and dotted the walls of the buckets like paint flecks. There was a wet spot in corner and it reeked of ammonia. We located the cause of the smell but this presented other issues.
My friend and I exited and he stayed right outside the door while I, in the calmest rage possible went to get the man and our interpreter. I retrieved the two and my squad leader and we went back to the room.
Just as I was about to knock on the door the man began to speak in the most hurried Pashtu I ever heard. He was shouting at our terp and pointing at the door and myself.
The interpreter went on to describe was he saying and explained what was happening. I was aghast at his excuse for this.
She was on her period and this was a place for the women to bleed.
My squad and I were unsure of how to react to this. I elaborated on what was happening inside and the man calmly said that she, “Was almost done.”
We called up to our platoon and asked how exactly we are supposed to handle this, this is some uncharted territory for pretty much all of us. After they called back we were informed that a Doc could check on her; if the husband allowed and he could only treat any injuries but not remove her.
The disappointment and disgust was evident as that was passed to us and after our corpsman tended to her, supervised by the husband, we had to leave.
I walked away from that house with a newfound realization of human cruelty. Before this the only time I had heard of such things was in holy books and Ruby Ridge in the 1990’s. For such a thing to be happening now was impossible to me.
But it wasn't impossible. This was the most calmly accepted and unthinking cruelty I have ever seen. A teenager staked to a floor because of her body and left to wallow in her own excrement and blood.
I have seen worse things done by people before but this is one that always stuck with me. The smell and the helplessness both hers and ours was appalling to me. The fact that this man was doing this to his wife is the biggest marginalization and lack of care I have ever seen another human endure.
THOMAS LEWANDOSKI
