We had come to take away their fathers and sons, their brothers and their husbands. We spoke of a nefarious threat, people willing to kill them for no apparent reasons. We game them an enemy, a name and many reasons more to leave their families behind.
We plied them first with food. Then tools. We gave them a reason to trust us. And an obligation. Then with the whirl of chopper blades muffled by the closing rear door, we gave them weapons and their marching order and the village became a distant far off memory.
We nodded. Every new soldier willingly nodded in return. They nodded when they understood. They nodded when they did not.
They were to act as our guides as we navigated the the southern portion of the dingy river. As wide as it was deep, the murky waters proved too much an obstacle to conquer alone even with modern military engineering. We had lost too many of our men looking for an adequate crossing. We needed help to advance the front lines.