Editor's note: Two Associated Press photographers Photoblogged this summer from an embed with the U.S. military in Afghanstan. This was their last post. The rest of the series is below, in reverse chronological order.

It’s nothing like the movies. There's no glamour when a young man loses his leg to a hidden bomb. There's nothing romantic about the ear-piercing shrieks from a man as his leg is torn from his body. These are images Americans back home rarely experience - the gritty horror of war fought in a land half a world away.

So it was when the bomb, or IED, went off about 30 yards from Combat Outpost Nolen in the Arghandab Valley, home to troops of the 101st Airborne Division. Everyone froze, expecting the worst. And it was bad. A soldier had lost his leg. It was the sixth limb lost among soldiers at the outpost in just three weeks.

The thought that the Taliban could sneak so close to the base angered many soldiers. Thick trees and mudwalls offer plenty of cover for Taliban bombers to hide. Cut down the trees? The idea had come up. But cutting down trees might anger the locals. And winning their friendship and support is a key goal of the campaign against the Taliban.

After the blast, the scene was chaotic. Soldiers scrambled to carry the wounded comrade to a helicopter landing zone. One soldier, Pvt. James Stennett, sat on the ground, dazed after being hit by a bomb fragment. Several soldiers screamed at photographers not to take pictures of the scene .

Soon a medevac helicopter arrived and flew the soldier who'd lost his leg to a military hospital. The men had a chance to decompress. A young officer walked over to apologize for screaming at us. The sun was boiling. And tensions were high. The American people need to see the reality that soldiers at Combat Outpost Nolen must endure every day, he says.

Editor’s Note: Pvt. James Stennett gave his permission to the Associated Press to have his name and image published. The second wounded soldier has not. Under standard rules for journalists embedded with combat units, the identity of wounded military personnel may not be published without their permission.

It's a war for "hearts and minds" of the Afghan people and the strategy is COIN, or counterinsurgency. The idea is that if you protect the population from Taliban threats, and if you bring them schools, health clinics, clean water and other services, they'll turn away from the insurgents.

That sounds a lot simpler in the halls of the Pentagon than it does in the gritty mudbrick villages of southern Afghanistan, which is the focus of the U.S.-led effort to turn back the Taliban.

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An example:
Recently, a platoon from the 101st Airborne Division was ordered to move into the village of Samir Kalacheh in the volatile Arghandab Valley near Kandahar to set up a patrol base for 48 hours, and convince the people they were there to protect them and give them a better life.

Photographer Rodrigo Abd and I followed the soldiers on their operation to the village. Watch the video above to see how the day unfolded in unexpected ways, showing the complexity of waging a counterinsurgency war.

Editor’s note: This video contains graphic images, including video of a U.S. soldier taking an identification picture of a dead Afghan man.

Here in southern Afghanistan, I often ask the soldiers what they think about the things folks are saying about the war back home. The question is usually phrased as a simple, "Does the American public get it?"

How can they? The don’t feel the heat, the fear, the flies. Who can understand what it’s like to know the next step may be your last -- unless you’ve been there? Still, it’s a question often on soldiers’ minds.

First Lt. Christopher Babcock, of New Orleans, gave an answer that I’ve often heard from soldiers over the years.

Babcock is as smart and capable a platoon leader as I’ve ever met. He joined the Army as an enlisted soldier in 1997 and served as a combat medic in his first tour in Baghdad. He went to Officer Candidate School in 2008 and earned a commission.

He said, "I’ve had people come up to me and say ‘I support the troops, I want you out of there.’ Really? What have you done to support the troops? What have you done other than complain? Have you petitioned the halls of Congress? Have you written your representative? Have you asked the president to increase our pay, increase our benefits? That’s supporting the troops. Saying you want the troops out of Afghanistan by talking to no one of influence is wasting your time, and you’re a complainer. And you’re not supporting the troops.

"Do something for us. Call your senator, talk to your senator. Talk to your representative. If you want us to stay here and continue to fight this war on terror, tell your senator, tell your representative. If you don’t want us to fight this war on terror, and want us back home, call your representative, call your senator. Write them a letter. Say, 'I’m in your constituency, I want the soldiers gone.' Vote.

"I want engagement. I want them to do something realistic. I’m a soldier through and through. My opinion of this has waned from caring to disconcern. I care about the men on the left and right. That’s what really matters."

That’s a view echoed by many soldiers I meet. His personal opinions Babcock won’t share, and quite frankly they don’t matter. He’s a soldier, he carries out the orders given to him. His job is to complete his mission, and get his men home alive.

The faded yellow ribbons are nice, but constructive engagement by the citizens of the United States is what makes the men at Combat Outpost Nolen feel that people thousands of miles away haven’t forgotten them.

Editor's note: Associated Press photojournalists Evan Vucci and Rodrigo Abd are Photoblogging for msnbc.com while embedded with U.S. troops stationed at Combat Outpost Nolen, in the volatile Arghandab Valley in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Spc. Dallas Purdy from Hockley, Texas, sits next to a message of support from friends Ashley and Katie Daniels at COP Nolen, Thursday, July 29. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Growing up in a country that has endured almost constant warfare for more than 30 years, many Afghan soldiers have been fighting nearly their entire lives. Their fighting skills are important for their American partners. The performance of the Afghan National Army is key to the eventual withdrawal of American forces, and for the future of a stable Afghanistan.

So the American soldiers at Combat Outpost Nolen welcome the Afghan soldiers here with open arms, hopeful that they'll take some pressure off their shoulders from the intense battle that has raged here since their arrival. Some soldiers go so far as to say the Afghans have a "sixth sense" for finding the homemade bombs, or IED's, that have plagued them throughout their deployment.

Afghan army and U.S. Army soldiers play with a ball at the joint U.S.-Afghan base at COP Nolen. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

An Afghan soldier fires a rocket-propelled grenade towards insurgent positions as a U.S. Army soldier ducks. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

As an institution, the Afghan National Army isn't perfect and has a long way to go before it can operate on its own. There are doubts about discipline, training, equipment, motivation, Taliban infiltrators and their ability to follow the counterinsurgency strategy, which requires diplomacy nearly as much as marksmanship.

But at the man-for-man level, it's different, and bravery is not in doubt.

Watching the Americans and Afghans getting to know each other is like watching the arrival of new kids at summer camp. They play volleyball, share food, give each other nicknames and swap war stories. Whether Afghans, who can fight well individually, can be forged into a cohesive fighting unit is the million-dollar question. The results of the Afghan army's past performances are mixed. But stakes are high here in the fight for Kandahar, the biggest city in the south and the Taliban's former headquarters.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, has said, "As goes Kandahar, so goes Afghanistan." Over the coming months a major push will be made to bring Kandahar under the control of the Karzai government. The U.S. military is hoping the face of that push will be an Afghan one. The Afghan army is going to have to step up and prove to its partners that it is ready - not only for the fight, but to operate like a professional army.

Editor's note: Associated Press photojournalists Evan Vucci and Rodrigo Abd are Photoblogging for msnbc.com while embedded with U.S. troops stationed at Combat Outpost Nolen, in the volatile Arghandab Valley in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Afghan army soldier Said prays at the joint U.S.-Afghan base at COP Nolen, Friday, July 23. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Afghan army soldiers have dinner at COP Nolen, Friday, July 23.(Rodrigo Abd / AP)

An Afghan soldier stands guard next to a villager who was detained at COP Nolen due to his fingers having trace amounts of ammonium nitrate, the key component used in manufacturing IED's in the volatile Arghandab Valley, Kandahar, Afghanistan, Sunday, July 25. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Afghan army soldiers cool off from the fierce Afghan heat with a swim in a canal near the joint Afghan-U.S. base COP Nolen. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

"The worst camp experience I've ever had," is the way Spc. Josh Socha of Portland, Oregon, describes his time at Combat Outpost Nolen in the volatile Arghandab Valley of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

The men of COP Nolen have been in that valley for just over a month and have already seen their share of the most intense combat in Afghanistan. When last we reported, one of the camp's platoons had experienced severe casualties, losing nearly half of their men. As they are moved to the rear to regroup, a new set of troops is arriving to reinforce the position. Nolen comes under attack nearly every day, and patrols that leave the protective razor wire around their compound often run into either small arms fire or homemade bombs – IEDs, as the military calls them.

1LT Chris Babcock, front, and SPC Manuel Salvador conduct personal hygiene at COP Nolen, Sunday, July 25. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

US Army soldiers relax after a morning exercise session at COP Nolen, Thursday, July 22. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

US Army troops fire a rocket propelled grenade toward insurgent positions at COP Nolen, Thursday, July 22. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Four to five men sleep in the cramped rooms of this former school. With daytime temperatures often reaching 115-120 degrees, the stench from body armor, equipment and clothing is overpowering. It's nearly impossible to escape the oppressive heat. The ground is littered with spent shell casings from the daily firefights and the cigarette butts that often go hand-in-hand with those firefights. A well provides water for showers, shaving and laundry. The men burn their own trash and feces – a task that often falls to the lower-ranking soldiers.

Bottles of drinking water are stacked in cases in the compound. To keep the water cool the men put it in a large deep freezer. But they burn through water so fast that finding a cool or lukewarm bottle is like hitting the lottery. Breakfast and dinner are cooked by Sgt. Jeffery Meador, who the soldiers swear can make a gourmet meal out of anything. Steak and lobster were even served here this week – a rare treat.

Morbid humor and relentless teasing pass the time. Wives, girlfriends, mothers and past missteps on patrol are all fair game. Men who share the same shoe size joke that if they step on an IED with opposite feet, they can split the cost of a new pair of shoes. The bond of brotherhood runs deep. These men have shared experiences and a part of their lives they will never forget.

US Army soldiers laugh as they have lunch at COP Nolen, Saturday, July 24. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

SGT David Stricklans, of Shepherdsville, Ky., center, and SSG David Chavez, of Phoenix, Ariz., gather inside their room at COP Nolen, Sunday, July 25. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

I often ask the soldiers what they miss about home, and the answers usually run the gamut from the sarcastic to the sweet. But my favorite came from Socha.
"I miss for the most part that it's never sunny with a chance of RPGs," he said, referring to rocket-propelled grenades.
"There's never a chance of mortars at home unless it's the 4th of July and you just came home from the reservation with a boatload of illegal explosives or fireworks. So that's what I miss most about home. That there's an innocence there that you can do things that are dangerous but it just isn't the same there as it is here. Just going outside can get you injured, or killed, or maimed."

Editor's note: Associated Press photojournalists Evan Vucci and Rodrigo Abd are Photoblogging for msnbc.com while embedded with U.S. troops stationed at Combat Outpost Nolen, in the volatile Arghandab Valley in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

A US soldier watches an Afghan movie on TV while relaxing at COP Nolen, Tuesday, July 20. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Three weeks into the fight in the volatile Arghandab Valley, an American platoon of the Army's 101st Airborne Division is heading to the rear, weakened by horrific war injuries and unable to continue its mission. The platoon -- 1st platoon, Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 320 Field Artillery Regiment, of the 101st Airborne Division -- started the mission with 17 men, and now is down to nine. Combat Outpost Nolen has seen some of the most intense fighting in Kandahar Province.

This area is critical to U.S. control of the region because it's a main supply route into the city of Kandahar for the Taliban. It's also treacherous for the platoon trying to carry out its mission.

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Shrapnel ripped into Sgt. Matthew Kendall's face and left arm on July 4, when a soldier from another unit stepped on a homemade bomb, which the military calls an IED, as Kendall walked next to him.

Spc. Kevin Gatson fell victim to another IED July 12. It was one of many that have been seeded in farming land surrounding the former school the platoon is using as a base. Gatson lost his leg and three fingers. The platoon leader, 1st Lt. Norman Black, had his eardrum blown out by the blast.

A quick reaction team was immediately sent from COP Nolen and came to Gatson's aid. On the way, an IED exploded and Staff Sgt. Kyle Malin lost both of his legs. Less than 45 minutes later, an IED took off both of Pfc. Corey Kent's legs and part of his left hand. Sgt. Michael Hagan was hit in the face and arm by shrapnel, and also suffered a ruptured eardrum.

Just two days later on July 14, Pfc. Brandon King, a soldier from a different platoon, was shot by a marksman while standing guard duty. He was the first soldier killed at COP Nolen since it was taken over by the 101st Airborne Division.

On July 19, Staff Sgt. Avionne Reese walked into an IED for the third time in the three-week deployment -- it shot pieces of the bomb into the right side of his body. Luckily no one was seriously injured in the first incident on July 5, when an IED went off near a patrol. But on July 12, in the second incident, he was struck by shrapnel from the IED that hit Gatson. After three IEDs the Army will take a soldier out of the fight for evaluation.

Spc. Pedro Torres injured his arm and was hit in the face by the same blast that hit Reese.

The group has already been recommended for 10 Purple Hearts.

Sgt. Leon Richards, from a different platoon, was recommended for a Bronze Star for Valor for calling a medivac helicopter, providing aid and assistance to the wounded, and helping Spc. Jacob Walker out of a field peppered with IEDs.

The numbers alone tell you Afghanistan is getting more dangerous by the month, but those tragically killed in action only tell part of the story.

The numbers can't describe the feeling these men have of leaving the razor wire around their tiny mud-walled compound each day. Every day they try desperately to walk in the footprints of the man in front of them, in 120 degree heat, while weighed down by 85 pounds of gear through humid pomegranate groves and grape fields. The fields swamp visibility in every direction, with green foliage carpeting otherwise dusty terrain areas.

They can't walk on roads or paths because the IED threat is too great. They must climb over 10-foot mud walls on a route so difficult that 600 meters of walking could take an hour and a half. All the while they're on the lookout for a command wire, milk jug, or a rock pile that wasn't there the day before.

The minute they leave the wire the enemy has been alerted they're on the move. The element of surprise is not in their favor. Firefights are a daily occurrence. In fact, COP Nolen is attacked so often that the men refer to a "witching hour," usually between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. That's when the energy-sapping heat has faded down enough that the Taliban is ready for fighting.

The buzzwords here are about counterinsurgency doctrine, fighting corruption in the government, setting up local governance, and standing up the Afghan Army and police. But at the very basic level it's about survival for the men leaving the wire to walk through the fields, and for the average farmer working those same fields, too.

Numbers can't explain the constant tension, fear, lack of sleep, or horrific scenes that unfold before platoon members' eyes each day.

Soldiers often say that courage isn't just willing to go into the fight. True courage is knowing what's waiting for you, and going anyway.

Editor's note: Associated Press photojournalists Evan Vucci and Rodrigo Abd are Photoblogging for msnbc.com while embedded with U.S. troops stationed at Combat Outpost Nolen, in the volatile Arghandab Valley in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Battery walk among grape orchards during a patrol towards COP Nolen, in the Arghandab Valley, Kandahar, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)