As Marines Exit Afghan Province, a Feeling That a Campaign Was Worth It
By JAMES DAO
Published: March 2, 2013
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — On a whirlwind Christmas tour of Helmand Province in 2010, Gen. James F. Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, visited 11 bases in a single day. At one, thousands of Marines showed up for prime rib, dust-covered and grim-faced after weeks of dodging and delivering gunfire, seeing comrades killed, and sleeping on dirt. Helmand had become Marineistan.