At dawn on March 2, 2002, America's first major battle of the twenty-first century began. Over two hundred soldiers of the 101st Airborne and Tenth Mountain Division flew into Afghanistan's Shah-i-Kot valley-and into the mouth of a buzz saw. They were about to pay a bloody price for strategic, high-level miscalculations that underestimated the enemy's strength and willingness to fight.

Now, award-winning journalist Sean Naylor, an eyewitness