As Welder rides away from the damage, he looks around and shakes his head. The population of my hometown used to live here - now there are 30. As the ride continues, the view becomes breath-taking, with rich green, rolling countryside all around. The Humvees enter the Serbian part of the valley and the destruction disappears. Neatly kept homes, most with white wooden fences, stand next to fields of rich soil.
Every home looks occupied and many people are out working in the fields.
Instead of waving, many locals throw up their thumb and first two fingers - the Serbian victory sign which stands for the Holy Trinity, central to their Christian faith. Almost every day, the Carson soldiers are faced with such contrasts, shown so plainly in this valley. For Welder, the most maddening part is that he can't fix the problem. But Welder and his men are ordered not to get involved. In fact, they can't even help if they see an elderly man unloading a truck full of bricks, because commanders fear it will show favoritism.