USA. Torrance, California. 2007. Simone Ferrara before her brother Matthew’s funeral. Lieutenant Matthew Ferrera was killed by
insurgents while commanding a platoon in the remote Waigul Valley on the Af-Pak border.
The valley was a major transit point for insurgents, so a small outpost was set up by Lieutenant
Erik Malmstrom with a platoon of thirty soldiers. In an effort to win hearts and minds he met
regularly with tribal elders of Aranas. His unit built a school, installed a small hydroelectric dam
that brought Aranas electricity for the first time, and began constructing a road to the nearest
regional center. Early on in Malmstrom’s deployment an insurgent attack killed and wounded
20 percent of his men, but his development efforts eventually won the guarded approved of the
village elders and the platoon served out the rest of its deployment in relative peace.
Ferrara was his replacement, and the insurgents took advantage of the inexperienced newcomers.
Disguised as Afghan security forces, they launched a major attack and breached the base. Ferrara
was forced to call in an air strike on his own position. In the end, the attackers were driven off,
but not before two Afghan soldiers were killed and eleven of Ferrara’s men were wounded.
On November 9, 2007, Ferrara was on his last patrol before being reassigned to battalion
headquarters. He and his platoon were ambushed by a large number of insurgents. Ferrara was
shot in the head and killed along with five other Americans and three Afghans. He was twentyfour
years old.
Following the ambush, the Waigul Valley returned to insurgent control. In June 2008, the
Americans made one more attempt to reestablish a military presence. Nine Americans were
killed when their unfinished outpost was attacked from the nearby town of Wanat.
Ferrara’s funeral was held in Torrance, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Hundreds attended.
His sister Simone said it felt like someone else’s funeral. His parents, Mario and Linda,