Over the weekend, Capt. Michael Waldrop of the 41st Brigade led a platoon of Afghan soldiers in some of the fiercest fighting to take place in southern Afghanistan. Waldrop, who was wounded in the conflict, recounted three days of intense fighting around the small of village of Pashmul in the Kandahar province -- with almost no sleep, no food, and little water.

Listen to the story of Michael Waldrop, originally aired by NPR's All Things Considered on July 11, 2006.