Original subtitles

- Anything that I can do to stop ISIS,

that's what I'm gonna do.

[explosion]

- TV announcer: 24-year-old Levi Shirley

has died in the war against terrorism.

- Levi went long before his time.

I loved the kid to death.

- Falling back into the realm of hard drugs,

that's what I'm afraid of.

- There's nothing I wouldn't do to get back over there.

Reporter: The Iraqi military

is planning a showdown with ISIS in Mosul.

- Mosul will be something like my worst fears.

Imagine Stalingrad with GoPros.

Incoming?

- ISIS, one of the most dangerous

terrorist groups on earth.

They've brutally conquered territories

all across the Middle East

and spread fear across the globe.

Their goal is to create a worldwide Islamic State,

and they will do anything to achieve it.

Against the advice of the U.S. military,

some Americans are fighting back.

- In the truck! In the truck!

- This isn't just their war.

It's everybody's problem.

- Hold him! Somebody grab him!

- Some of us were not able to sit back

and watch this happen on the news.

We're men of action, not men of words over here.

- This is their story.

[honk honk]

- Overseas to the biggest offensive against ISIS yet.

Just after dawn, Iraqi tanks rolled into battle,

the offensive officially underway

to retake Mosul from ISIS.

- There's an armored column moving way up that road,

and the whole way up there, they've been hitting I.E.D.s

and shooting tank rounds,

and there's been small arms fire.

[speaking Arabic]

How far up is that column?

- Probably like 2K.

- So we have followed an armored column,

and then we stopped and let the armor go ahead.

So right now, they're fighting in here.

We've seen quite a few I.E.D.s go off.

- ISIS isn't stupid.

They're led by foreign military commanders.

They know how to set up a defense.

We're fighting an enemy who's well entrenched.

This is army versus army.

- Let's go.

[speaking Italian]

- Nash just said on the radio

they have five V.B.I.E.D.s ready

and have snipers ready to counter-attack.

- [speaking Italian]

- We're in a decently exposed spot

surrounded by orchards

that are completely not clear

and a village that is partially clear.

- Watch for any vehicles coming down that field, okay?

We got nothing that can stop it.

- Everybody got that?

- [speaking Italian]

- Hey, Pete, we got a pickup truck heading towards us.

Hey, we got a pickup truck coming this way.

- I'm gonna spin around. I'm moving the truck.

- All right.

- Where? - Over there.

[cheering]

- Okay, so this is good

because now we're gonna be in the rear of the column

with zero armor support.

- I'm gonna go condition zero. Nobody freak out.

- Oh, shit. Mortar.

- More. - Hey, up to the left.

We got 'em. 300 meters.

This is gonna be every single street.

ISIS is gonna have it planned out.

Shit! Big bombs straight ahead of us.

Get someone on the left side.

Now it's V.B.I.E.D.s, suicide vests, snipers, heavy arms,

and a heavily defended street-by-street fight.

[siren]

I got a single gunshot wound.

Excuse me. Mortar. I got multiple.

Jorge, I need compression bandages!

- We're kind of in a vulnerable spot

because there's so many avenues of approach,

so many places where someone could come in here.

War is how you find yourself.

You find what you're made of.

I like when the stakes are high.

I don't wear armor

because it boosts the morale of these soldiers,

and they see this westerner is out there with them,

so I shouldn't be scared either.

- We moved up so we could set up

a more forward casualty collection point.

There's a lot more fighting, a lot more casualties.

Hold him! Somebody grab him!

Stop standing there!

- [speaking Italian]

[explosion]

- ISIS puts spike strips in the road

so Humvee gets stuck,

and then they would set off an I.E.D.

Guys get out of the rear vehicles.

They start taking contact,

and step on an I.E.D. at the beginning of the street.

The people are trapped

and create a nice little death vacuum in the middle.

It's just massive.

- That first day, it was one of the heaviest days we ever had.

- Yeah, yeah, a little.

- I gotta roll him over for a sec.

[all talking at once]

- We started at 7 A.M., finished at midnight.

[siren]

- Nine human beings came in Humvee parts.

- Okay.

- That we had to put in body bags.

The smells that went with them.

Trying to separate who was who,

figure out which body part went to which body.

Picking up a human head.

Lots of people in the body bags.

Derek said this is the shit nightmares are made of.

He was right.

Because it is.

[siren]

TV Reporter: 24-year-old Levi Shirley of Arvada

couldn't fight with the U.S. Marines.

He made a different decision:

to fight the Islamic State in Syria

alongside Kurdish forces.

[gunfire]

Levi died on July 14th

in a small town about 23 miles from the Turkish border.

Levi strengthened our belief in a future

where we can all live together across our differences.

[telephone rings]

- Hi, Mrs. Shirley. This is PJ.

I was a good friend of your son, and I'm sorry for your loss.

- There were a lot of people who cared a lot about him,

and everybody's lost someone.

- The world seems so oblivious to what's going on over there.

I mean, he's a hero to all of us.

I consider him a brother of mine, not just a friend.

I mean, not everyone's son or daughter

is going over there volunteering and dying.

- I know. I don't understand why everybody isn't over there.

I don't understand it at all.

- Well, ma'am, because-- - It makes no sense to me.

- Ma'am, we have to keep up with the Kardashians.

I mean, there's more important things on TV

than, you know, like, Americans dying,

fighting the greatest evil we've seen

since the rise of the Third Reich.

How many Americans now have we lost

in the last month, two months?

Three Americans now, two from Colorado,

from your home state, ma'am.

- That's right. Three. Are you going back?

- Before this month, I would have said no.

But I am now debating it after the loss of your son.

I will be flying out to meet you guys.

- Yeah. Levi would really like that.

- I know. I know he would.

It broke my heart when Levi was killed.

He was like a little brother to me.

- I'm standing here

with a jarhead who was working security

and decided to take five minutes off

so that he could look at,

as he quoted, "some sweet poon."

It was "Maxim" magazine.

We are here at the upcoming Taylor Swift concert,

and as you can tell, it's vacant beyond all recognition.

Back to you in the studio, Dennis.

- Even now, more than a month after we heard the news,

it still doesn't feel real.

I think part of the reason it doesn't feel real yet

is because we haven't actually gotten his body back.

You know, he's still over there.

- He has sat in a drawer in a hospital

for five weeks now.

It's beyond disrespectful.

When we first received the word that Levi had been killed,

we got the advice from the State Department

to have him taken into Turkey,

and that there was

an English-speaking funeral home there

where he could be prepared for a return to the United States.

Well, there actually happened to be

a parents' group at that point which had brought me into it.

These are parents from around the world

who have lost their children

fighting against ISIS with the YPG.

I told them we're being told that he should go into Turkey,

and all of them were horrified.

They're like, "Don't, don't, don't, don't.

Please, please don't."

Not that border and not that country.

And so the next day, I talked to the State Department lady,

and I said, we're gonna find another way.

I was even told there's an army base

across where they would have to travel,

and maybe they could help.

And I brought that up to the State Department lady,

and she said, no, no, no. That's for military people.

At that point, talks broke down.

I never in my wildest dreams

expected that the roadblock would be my own government.

They're not regular military, but so what?

I mean, you know, those bullets are colorblind

and they're blind to flags

and they're blind to nationalities.

They're heroes.

- So what do you plan on doing next?

- I'm gonna finish this beer.

- And then what? - [laughs]

- I'm actually-- and I just told Mom and Dad.

They're not pleased.

I'm actually debating going back to Syria.

- Listen very carefully to what he says.

It's very important.

We don't need any accidental discharges today.

We don't need anybody getting shot today.

No fuck-ups.

- Shooters, at this time, pick up your magazine

and insert it into your weapon.

- Tensions are really high right now.

Everybody's anxious.

Daesh just stepped up their attacks.

We're just 30 kilometers away

from a Daesh stronghold right now.

Place your weapon from safe to semi.

Shooters, identify your target

and fire one round into your target.

[gunshots]

Firers, at this time,

place your weapons from semi to safe.

[gunshot] One [bleep] round!

One [bleep] round!

Yes, we specifically emphasized one round.

Take your magazine out of the weapon.

Cold.

I went back home for Christmas.

Honestly, the first week I was there, I was done.

I was ready to get back over.

I felt like I'm supposed to be here

right now for a reason.

Everything here is based off

of helping the local people defend themselves from ISIS.

So we're gonna train them

on many different types of military tactics

that a lot of them have never even heard of before.

Go, go, go, go!

We're teaching them survival skills.

We're teaching them how to clear houses.

Things that are gonna save their lives one day.

We incorporate as many urban and guerilla warfare tactics

that the Daesh uses

because they're gonna be fighting that.

They're gonna be walking into houses that are boobytrapped,

and they need to be able to identify

all these threats and eliminate 'em.

- Boom!

- We like to simulate I.E.D.s.

He went up, scanned the door.

He went right over it.

He didn't scan the bottom of it and missed it.

When they kicked in, they all died.

I'm very honored to be here training with these guys.

Ahh. He got you.

- [speaking Arabic]

- Yes. And it feels good.

I'm happy like this.

[laughs]

Yes! Whoo!

That's so fun!

I do love fighting, and that'll never change.

But you feel like in the end,

you get more done training.

You gotta see the bigger picture.

You're there for the people.

It helps them establish a secure future.

An entire military,

they're focused primarily on seizing Mosul.

They're gonna take Mosul,

and everybody's on wit's end about it.

How close it is, it's surreal.

30 kilometers from Mosul right now.

South, right here, down this road.

Reporter: A new wave of air strikes and shelling

has started targeting militants near Iraq's second largest city.

Reporter: The Iraqi military

now have a foothold in the east of Mosul.

Reporter: Security forces conduct house-to-house searches.

ISIL is reportedly been threatening

and even killing civilians.

- Most people, they don't fully grasp how brutal this war is.

It's like a gunfight in a really crowded room.

Reporter: Civilians continue to flee.

The threat of being caught in the crossfire is too great.

- No one has any idea how long it's gonna take

because this is all based on one X factor that is ISIS.

We've been doing this for a month,

for a month straight.

A typical day on a frontline casualty collection point,

you wake up pretty abruptly.

You do your best to make your morning coffee.

For me, it's a water bottle

with instant coffee dumped inside of it,

and you shake it and you drink it as fast as you can.

Then the Iraqi army

start an offensive at 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning.

Finally at 9:00, 10:00, patients start coming out.

- It usually slows down early afternoon.

You mill around for a little bit

and wait for the patients.

That's like a typical day.

But that changes.

[explosion]

- Come on, come on, come on, come on!

- Tourniquet! Tourniquet! Tourniquet!

I need fluid, fluid, fluid!

Get your fucking hands on him now!

I need the gauze. I need the gauze.

Keep him looking up, not down.

Get the second IV line in!

You!

Probody, gauze, now!

Probody, gauze, tourniquet!

Check for other wounds, please, someone.

We're good. Let's go.

Five mortars came in 200, 300 meters away, the closest.

But in the process, it ended up hitting a family.

They had two boys.

A 15-year-old and a 13-year-old.

- [sobbing]

- The 15-year-old is dead.

The kid that was alive

probably definitely gonna lose that leg.

Might live.

Maybe.

- The intensity of what is happening in Mosul

and what they're dealing with,

for him, he feels so responsible

to be the one that saves these lives.

It's overwhelming.

He calls it going down the rabbit hole.

And he can't spiral out of it.

- We're a cog in a machine,

and now we're pretty indispensable.

At the moment, that's still worth it.

A bunch of guys left here bleeding

that would have been absolutely dead

if we weren't here.

Still a good feeling.

[chuckles]

[explosion]

The Iraqi army, we were told the other day

they held 30% of the city.

They're barely holding it.

- Forward, forward, forward.

[gunfire]

[speaking Italian]

[speaking Arabic]

[explosion]

- As the gunfights happen and the mortars,

the V.B.I.E.D.s from Daesh,

the air strikes from the good guys...

A lot of civilians are just gonna get torn up.

- [sobbing]

- How long ago since he cried?

- [speaking Arabic]

- SvO2 monitor.

Oxygen, oxygen, oxygen! Oxygen!

How many human bodies can I see before I can't feel feelings?

- [speaking Arabic]

- All right, cut him open.

Okay, this is intact. We're gonna lift up the knee.

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

Let's go!

IV lines now! IV! IV! IV!

Big ones!

[man moans]

- Hey, what's the count so far?

- So those two, one this morning.

- There was one OF guy,

two civilians.

- [coughs]

[cries]

- What is my mind equipped to handle?

How long can you run before your mind just snaps?

[screaming and shouting]

These are the traumatic moments hearing screams day and night.

Pulse is low. Fluids.

Fluids.

What is the psychological term

for what the fuck I'm going through right now?

- What happened? - Fareed!

- Hold it right there.

- [sigh]

Fuck.

The baby died.

- It broke my heart when Levi was killed.

I mean, he was like a little brother to me.

I'm very much looking forward

to meeting Susan Shirley, his mother.

A little nervous as well.

So, unfortunately, it's under these circumstances.

Levi's mother has been trying to get her son's body back

for a month now, and she's hit a dead end.

I can only imagine what that would do to my mother.

- You know, I'm really glad that we're doing this memorial.

I'm glad we're doing it on his birthday, but--

- It's especially hard that he's not home yet

and that we're still not actually sure

if we're going to be able to get him home.

- It's definitely surreal.

I mean, just months ago, I was hanging out with the kid

like he was a little brother of mine.

And now here I am

coming to see his family at a memorial.

- Hey. - Susan?

- Hey! - How are you?

- Oh, good. How are you? - How are you today?

I'm good, I'm good, good as can be.

- Come on in. - Thank you, thank you.

It breaks my heart

to think about his mother, his sister, his father.

Levi: If something ends up happening to me,

I would just want my family to know that I'm sorry.

No one else is gonna go. You know what I mean?

So it's like people are...

- God, it's hard to watch him, though, sometimes.

You just... You just want to grab him

and pull him out of that shit, you know.

Levi: Eventually, I'm gonna die anyway someday.

You know, at least I died for a good cause.

- It was an honorable thing to do, I believe,

and I'm very proud of him for doing it.

- If you have part of your life ripped away,

there's no closure.

Every time I wake up in the morning,

things are okay for a second, and then it sinks in.

You know, he's really not coming back.

You just have to learn to live with that.

It's all you can do.

- My brother, my hero.

Levi, I can't describe in words

how much your courage and your motivation

will mean to me for the rest of my days.

Your humor, one of a kind.

You were a little brother to me

since we first met earlier this year.

Today would have been your birthday.

Today we celebrate the man you were in life,

an inspiration to all around you.

Your selflessness was of epic proportions.

You, my brother, gave your life so that others may live.

Bad things to bad people was a common motto of yours.

Well, as mine now.

Thank you for being a compassionate young man.

Thank you for caring about those less fortunate

and standing up for what you know to be right.

Thank you for being my friend.

Rest easy.

- This is pretty bittersweet.

My boy really loved birthdays.

There's no way we're not giving him a birthday,

and it's full of people he loved.

And I know he would be enjoying this birthday very, very much.

And I want to say happy, happy birthday to my boy,

wherever you are.

And let's just make this a good celebration for my boy.

Thank you.

[applause]

Thanks for being here.

- I got a call from a woman named Susan Shirley.

She was at wit's end

'cause she'd been trying to figure out

how to get her son's body back.

At the time he was killed,

I did not know that there were Americans

being called to help fight against ISIS.

It was clear to me

that she needed somebody to give her some help.

We all made it a mission

to get Levi Shirley's body back to Colorado.

[chanting in Arabic]

Reporter: The bodies of two Colorado men

who died fighting ISIS alongside Kurdish forces

are right now back in the U.S.

Reporter: These families have been waiting weeks and weeks

to lay their sons to rest.

- On Veterans Day of 2015,

we went out and had a steak dinner

and we had the best conversation I'd had in years with him.

You know, sat down and talked

and laughed and joked

and told stories one veteran to another.

It was really a moment for me, you know.

And that's the last time I saw him.

- I don't know that there's any deeper hole

that you can have in your soul than to lose a child.

You want to have moments in your life

where you can look back

and say we did something really good.

And I'm proud of what we did.

- I think about Levi very often,

and it lays heavy, very heavy on my heart.

The what if, you know,

the should've, the could've, the would've.

I'd like to try out at least a 9 mil or two today.

I'm thinking maybe the Glock 43.

I don't blame myself personally,

but there's a possibility

I could have saved his life.

I've made the decision to return.

- When he decided to go back, I tried to stop him

and I tried to bribe him.

It was all for nothing, because he had made up his mind

that that's what he was gonna do.

- I did my damnedest to talk him out of it.

I told him your blood in the sand over there

ain't gonna change a damn thing.

The only difference between there and Vietnam is jungle.

Anybody can die. Nothing tough to that at all.

Living's the bitch.

- First time around,

I spent thousands of dollars on equipment.

This time around,

I'm showing up with flip-flops and a backpack.

Most people would do anything in their power to avoid war.

Whereas, me, I'm willing to fight and die

for the people who are willing to do the same for me.

[chanting]

- The Iraqi army has secured the entire east side of Mosul.

The Iraqi army has chosen

to now attack Mosul from the other side,

so they're gonna attack from the south

and push ISIS north.

- [singing]

According to our best estimates,

we've treated somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 people.

At the end of this event, there's always a body count.

The idea of mission accomplished for Mosul,

it's a pretty silly idea

because the insurgency's already started.

[explosion]

Reporter: Today ISIS fighters

attacked the city of Kirkuk as a diversion.

Reporter: ISIS infiltrated Kirkuk overnight

and laid siege to neighborhoods across the city.

This looks like retribution by ISIS

for the Mosul offensive

where it is losing fighters and territory.

[speaking Italian]

[gunfire]