
The Devil's Playground
The Story of Two Charlie and the Arghandab River Valley
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Narrated by:
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Kevin P. Mullan
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By:
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Andrew Bragg
About this listen
This book shares the story of the men of Two Charlie and their fight for survival in the Arghandab River Valley, the Devil’s Playground.
“The Devil’s Playground” was anything south of the second canal to the men of Charlie Company’s 2nd Platoon—Two Charlie—during their 2009–2010 deployment to the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan. The valley had been a notorious hot spot throughout history, with the Russians unable to maintain a foothold in the 80s and Coalition forces now facing the same problem during Operation Enduring Freedom.
The Two Charlie paratroopers deployed as part of the 2-508th PIR, Two Fury, of the 82nd Airborne Division, but always seemed to be on their own. They started their deployment attached to Canadian forces in Panjwai but were shortly moved into the Arghandab with one of the battalion’s biggest Areas of Operation. They inherited a bare-bones outpost that they worked hard to turn into the defendable position known as COP Tynes while patrolling the grape fields and orchards of the valley. Little did they know that when the leaves returned to the valley in the spring, so too would the fighting.
As the fighting picked up in the valley, the men of Two Charlie continued to sustain casualties as they fought day in and day out. There was never a dull moment in the Arghandab, and the fact that Two Charlie had to patrol, act as a quick reaction force, and secure their outpost on their own ensured that they never stopped. The men were constantly brought to their breaking point as their numbers dwindled and the fighting intensified. The men all started to believe that they weren’t going to make it out of the valley alive. The one rule of the valley would be proved time and time again: in the end, the valley always wins.
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Story
What does an elite Navy SEAL Team operator trained to kill the United States’ most dangerous enemies do when he realizes his skills aren’t being properly utilized? He leaves the Navy. In American Mercenary, Daniel Corbett takes listeners on a wild ride through the unadulterated, morally ambiguous, and riveting world of being a hired gun. From Abu Dhabi to Washington, D.C., Cairo to San Diego, Belgrade to places that must remain secret, this is a world where money rules, and where adventure, danger, and absurdity often follow.
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Great story beginning to end.
- By Mark Knight on 05-14-25
By: Daniel Corbett
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No Way Out
- A Story of Valor in the Mountains of Afghanistan
- By: Mitch Weiss, Kevin Maurer
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In a remote enemy-held valley in Afghanistan, a Special Forces team planned to scale a steep mountain to surprise and capture a terrorist leader. But before they found the target, the target found them. The team was caught in a deadly ambush that threatened not only their lives but the entire mission. The elite soldiers fought huddled for hours on a small rock ledge as rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine-gun fire rained down on them.
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Great book
- By Retired Recruiter on 03-31-17
By: Mitch Weiss, and others
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Dagger 22
- U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan
- By: Michael Golembesky
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The unforgiving Afghan winter settled upon the 22 men of Marine Special Operations Team 8222, call sign Dagger 22, in the remote and hostile river valley of Bala Murghab, Afghanistan. The Taliban fighters in the region would have liked nothing more than to once again go dormant and rest until the new spring fighting season began. No chance of that - this winter would be different.
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Good Story, but...
- By Donovan Russian on 10-10-16
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Guns, Girls, and Greed
- I Was a Blackwater Mercenary in Iraq
- By: Morgan Lerette
- Narrated by: Jay Mohr
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Lerette, a private contractor employed by the notorious Blackwater in the early days of the Iraq War, pulls no punches in calling out the incompetence of both the US military and the Department of State during the collapse of Iraq. You can decide if the insertion of private contractors in Iraq assisted or detracted from the war effort and if the costs in blood and treasure were worth the carnage.
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Tucker Max Meets Gun For Hire
- By Tommy on 03-06-24
By: Morgan Lerette
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Bravo Company
- An Afghanistan Deployment and Its Aftermath
- By: Ben Kesling
- Narrated by: Ben Kesling
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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A decade ago, the soldiers of Bravo Company deployed to Afghanistan for a tour in Kandahar’s notorious Arghandab Valley. By the time they made it home, three soldiers had been killed in action, a dozen more had lost limbs, and an astonishing half of the company had Purple Hearts. In the decade since, two of the soldiers have died by suicide, more than a dozen have tried, and others admit they’ve considered it. Written with an insider’s eye and ear and drawing on extensive interviews and original reporting, Bravo Company follows the men from their initial enlistment on.
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Inspiring and well written
- By Britanny on 03-07-23
By: Ben Kesling
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Zero Footprint
- The True Story of a Private Military Contractor's Covert Assignments in Syria, Libya, and the World's Most Dangerous Places
- By: Simon Chase, Ralph Pezzullo
- Narrated by: Eric Brooks
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Armored cars, burner phones, top-notch weaponry, and top-secret missions - this is the life of today's private military contractor. Like author Simon Chase, many PMCs were once the world's top military operatives, and since retiring from outfits like US Navy SEAL TEAM Six and the UK's Special Boat Service, they have devoted their lives to executing missions too sensitive for the government to acknowledge. Chase reveals here for the first time the operations too hazardous and politically volatile to be officially sanctioned by his employers.
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Read Amazon reviews, not Audible reviews
- By Andrew M on 02-22-16
By: Simon Chase, and others
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Hammerhead Six
- How Green Berets Waged an Unconventional War Against the Taliban to Win in Afghanistan's Deadly Pech Valley
- By: Ronald Fry, Tad Tuleja - contributor
- Narrated by: Ronald Fry
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2003, the Special Forces soldiers entered an area later called "the most dangerous place in Afghanistan". Here, where the line between civilians and armed zealots was indistinct, they illustrated the Afghan proverb "I destroy my enemy by making him my friend." Fry recounts how they were seen as welcome guests rather than invaders. Soon after their deployment ended, the Pech Valley reverted to turmoil. Their success was never replicated.
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A compelling read from start to finish
- By Gregory on 03-05-16
By: Ronald Fry, and others
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Red Platoon
- A True Story of American Valor
- By: Clinton Romesha
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Clinton Romesha
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2009 Clinton Romesha of Red Platoon and the rest of the Black Knight Troop were preparing to shut down Command Outpost Keating, the most remote and inaccessible in a string of bases built by the US military in Nuristan and Kunar in the hope of preventing Taliban insurgents from moving freely back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three years after Keating's construction, the army was finally ready to concede what the men on the ground had known immediately: It was simply too isolated and too dangerous to defend.
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Must Read for Comfortable, Non-combatant Americans
- By Rum Runner on 11-21-18
By: Clinton Romesha
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Land with No Sun
- A Year in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne
- By: Command Sergeant Major Ted G. Arthurs
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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A no-holds-barred, straight-in-your-face account of combat in Vietnam. You know it's going to be hot when your brigade is referred to as a Fireball unit. From May 1967 through May 1968, Ted Arthurs was in the thick of it, humping an eighty-pound rucksack through triple canopy jungle, chasing down the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. As sergeant major for a battalion of eight-hundred men, it was his job to see them through this jungle hell and get them back home again.
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Great non fiction Vietnam
- By Amazon Customer on 05-08-25
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Living with Honor
- A Memoir
- By: Sal Giunta
- Narrated by: Keith Nobbs, Sal Giunta
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Sal Giunta was just a regular kid from Iowa when he enlisted in the army to figure out what to do with his life. He never thought that a few tours of duty later, he would be the first living person since the Vietnam War to be awarded the esteemed Medal of Honor.
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Wonderfully powerful and humble story
- By Joshua on 02-07-13
By: Sal Giunta
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Lions of Medina
- The True Story of the Marines of Charlie 1/1 in Vietnam, 11-12 October 1967
- By: Doyle Glass
- Narrated by: Tim H. Dixon
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Marine Lance Corporal Kevin Cahill stepped onto a trail deep in the remote Hai Lang National Forest of South Vietnam. Following Cahill were the 166 Marines of Charlie Company, First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division....
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Brotherhood
- By James Huddleston on 12-24-24
By: Doyle Glass
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Gray Work
- Confessions of an American Paramilitary Spy
- By: Jamie Smith
- Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In this unprecedented audiobook, a paramilitary contractor with more than two decades of experience gives us a firsthand look into the secret lives of America's private warriors and their highly covert work around the world. Author Jamie Smith has planned and executed hundreds of missions on behalf of government agencies and private industry in some of the world's most dangerous hot spots - and lived to tell the tale.
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Don't believe a word of it.
- By Dustin Harry on 08-26-15
By: Jamie Smith
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Razor 03
- A Night Stalker’s Wars
- By: Alan C. Mack
- Narrated by: Alan C. Mack
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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The attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted the creation of a robust and deadly special operations force—Task Force Dagger. Alan C. Mack, Callsign Razor 03, led a team of MH-47E helicopters and armed MH-60s. Their two-fold mission–Personnel Recovery (PR) and Unconventional Warfare (UW) involved flying in terrain and weather previously not thought possible. If that wasn’t enough, they pushed the flight envelope of their specially modified Chinooks to the limit and beyond.
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The honesty of the author
- By Daniel on 06-10-24
By: Alan C. Mack
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Echo in Ramadi
- The Firsthand Story of U.S. Marines in Iraq's Deadliest City
- By: Scott A. Huesing
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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From the winter of 2006 through the spring of 2007, 250 marines from Echo Company, Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment, fought daily in the dangerous, dense city streets of Ramadi, Iraq, during the Multi-National Forces Surge ordered by President George W. Bush. The marines' mission: to kill or capture anti-Iraqi forces. Their experience: like being in hell. Now Major Scott A. Huesing, the commander who led Echo Company through Ramadi, takes listeners back to the streets of Ramadi in a visceral, gripping portrayal of modern urban combat.
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Combat is Combat
- By Calvin Guthrie on 05-21-18
By: Scott A. Huesing
Incredibly powerful and well written
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The devils playground by Andrew Bragg
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Heartfelt, Raw, and Real.
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amazing read
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God Bless our American Soldiers🙏🏼
Heart Wrenching
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Gritty and real
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Andrew Bragg wrote one hell of a book.
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Closing Remarks
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From the very first page, I was captivated. The author did a phenomenal job of making a complex and painful subject both accessible and gripping. Despite the chaos and sorrow that unfolds throughout the story, the narrative is clear and easy to follow. It never once lost my attention, and I found myself unwilling to put it down, completely immersed in the lives of these brave men.
What really struck me about this book was its portrayal of the cost of freedom — not just in terms of the sacrifices made on the battlefield, but also the emotional and psychological toll these soldiers endured. The book doesn't shy away from showing the trauma that stays with them long after the fighting ends. The way the author honors both the fallen and the living is deeply moving, reminding readers of the true price of war.
If you're on the fence about reading this book, let this review be your sign to pick it up. It’s a powerful and emotional story that not only informs but also resonates long after you turn the final page. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the true cost of war and the incredible men who fought for our freedom.
Support these heroes, learn their stories, and gain a deeper understanding of the sacrifices made for our country. Don’t hesitate — buy the book and experience it for yourself.
The true cost of freedom: A captivating story
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The honesty
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