Raw Footage from Marine’s Helmet GoPro Shows ‘Two Straight Weeks of Worsening Conditions’ in Kabul

The Blaze got ahold of raw video taken from a Marine’s GoPro which shows the true chaos endured by those in Kabul as U.S. evacuations took place at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Marine Cpl. Mike Markland strung together the video clips from his helmet’s GoPro camera. The footage “captured the grittiness and desperation of the hurried evacuation” and reveals “two straight weeks of worsening conditions” on the ground, as seen from the viewpoint of the Marine from 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.

The  7-minute video has been saved on a YouTube page and shows U.S. service members disabling American military equipment and vehicles. It also shows stacks of AK-47s, PK machine guns, M-16s, and other weapons likely abandoned by the Afghan military after the country collapsed. The end of the video pays tribute to the 13 U.S. service members who died in the suicide bombing in Kabul.

Markland originally posted the video to his Instagram account, but it has since been deleted. The Blaze reports Task & Purpose published the video, as well as Markland’s comments on social media before the video, had been removed.

“I hope this answers questions but also provokes you to ask more,” Markland captioned the since-deleted Instagram video. “To my brothers and sisters who were there I made this for you and your family. When you have the lack of ability to explain all that happened in those two weeks, show them this. Stand tall and wear the last two weeks on your chest.”

“I haven’t found a way to explain it with any words I know,” the Marine admitted.

“Many of us joined because we liked fighting and were good with adversity and conflict,” Markland reportedly wrote. “Two weeks in Kabul at HKIA put all of that to the test. I can’t say enough how proud I am of the Marines I serve with.”

“Odds were stacked against us. Circumstances undeniably out of our control, but we never let it deter our tenacious approach towards our mission at hand. Adversity and challenges happened 24/7,” Markland said.

The Marine noted that “almost all had no predesignated plan.”

“We did our absolute best and remained stoic through the sleepless nights and round-the-clock work with minimal food and water,” he continued. “Staying up for two or more days straight at a time grinding but remaining intensely vigilant.”

The Blaze writes of the footage, “Markland’s video paints a far more shambolic Kabul exit than the sanitized photos and videos provided by the Department of Defense.”

The Blaze continues and details the footage:

The Afghans are densely packed into small areas with barbed wire fences at the borders of the holding area outside the Kabul airport. Marines shoot crowd munitions to attempt to calm the frantic masses. When crowd munitions aren’t effective, Marines are seen firing off warning shots from their firearms in an attempt to control the large crowds.

Babies are seen being handed to the Marines for safety. Lacking medical equipment, wounded people are taken to get treatment on a ladder. Men and women are seen bursting into tears. In one clip, a man in civilian clothes bashes another person with the stock of his AK-47.

Despite the sheer inhumanity of the bedlam, there are moments of hopeful humanity as Marines give fist bumps to smiling Afghans.

Marines bond in a circle as the song “Halftime” by Nas blares in the background. They pass around the camera, make silly faces, throw a pineapple at each other, and enjoy friendly bicycle races.