Ambush in Afghan Valley of Death

KALAGUSH, Nuristan province - Sergeant Mike Mathews packed his mortar system into the back of his jeep and bent over to pick up a leftover plastic wrapper as he prepared to saddle up for the three-hour ride back to base. Up the road, amid cackling chickens and amused children, naval commander Caleb Kerr and his lieutenant chuckled and bid farewell to a cheery Afghan police commander.

Aircraft surveying the rocks detected nothing unusual.

In an instant, however, the mountainside above the rocky town of Doab erupted in muzzle flashes. For the next several hours, American soldiers in a convoy of 18 vehicles scrambled for cover as rockets and mortars rained down from the mountainsides and