� S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S � Wednesday, February 10, 2010PAGE 4 O F3HIJKLM
BY CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
The Associated Press
FORWARD OPERATING BASE
TOMBSTONE, Afghanistan -- Welcome
to the O.K. Corral.
Past the concrete slabs and guards in
heavy combat gear, a wooden board at the
entrance to an allied military base in Af-
ghanistan shows an image of Wyatt Earp,
the legendary lawman of the American
Wild West. His features are stern and an-
gular. He wears a cowboy hat and a droop-
ing mustache, and a black-gloved hand
holds a long-barreled revolver across his
chest.
The lore of the Wild West and the hard
reality of southern Afghanistan, the key
battleground of the war between NATO
forces and Taliban insurgents, share a few
things: danger, men with guns and desert
wilderness. At Tombstone, an allied base
deep in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand
province, signs and images recalling the
1881 shootout in Tombstone, Ariz., give the
place a gunslinger motif.
The edgy, theme park touch suits the
American soldiers.
"It's a little more entertaining," said Sgt.
Maj. Robert Haemmerle, who is attached
to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regi-
ment of Task Force Stryker. "It's got a little
pizazz."
Many U.S. military installations in Af-
ghanistan are named after soldiers slain
in combat or units that first deployed at
a particular site. It's unusual to see base
features that lighten the mood in a region
where the threat of death is a part of life.
British and Danish soldiers share the
grounds with the Americans but don't have
Wild West logos among their tents and ve-
hicles. On the U.S. side, an "O.K. Corral"
sign has been hoisted in the parking area
of the Strykers, U.S. armored vehicles that
carry infantry.
The gunfight in Tombstone happened
near the O.K. Corral. Earp and his two
brothers, along with dentist and gambler
John H. "Doc" Holliday, were looking to
disarm and arrest the Clanton and the
McLaury brothers for violating a town gun
ordinance. Frank and Tom McLaury and
Billy Clanton were killed in one of the most
famous shootouts in U.S. history.
The Tombstone base is near the Afghan
town of Lashkar Gah, where insurgents
are active. It's adjacent to the far bigger
Camp Leatherneck, a U.S. Marine base,
and close to the British Camp Bastion.
The Wild West theme seems to fit its small
size.
"Out here is the John Wayne outpost,
surrounded," said Daniel Smith of Mount
Holly, N.J., a civilian who supervises the
dining hall and other services for the
American troops. "It gives a little home
feeling, a home away from home."
Civilian contractors say they have added
the Wild West decorations since last year.
Door signs say Long Horn Saloon and Big
Nose Kate's, a reference to Holliday's com-
panion, "Big Nose Kate" Elder. A gazebo
where soldiers chat and smoke is named
after Tombstone's Crystal Palace Saloon.
On the dining hall walls, there are copies
of old "Wanted, Dead or Alive" posters and
rewardnoticesforthelikesoftheSundance
Kid, Butch Cassidy and Jesse James.
One Las Vegas notice hints at a lynching:
"Notice! To Thieves, Thugs, Fakirs, and
Bunko-Steerers ... If found within the lim-
its of this City after TEN O'CLOCK p.m.,
this night, you will be invited to attend a
GRAND NECK-TIE PARTY, the expense
of which will be borne by 100 Substantial
Citizens."
Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez, a military
photographer from Phoenix, knows the
original Tombstone and plans to compile
a display contrasting images of the two
Tombstones. For example, he'll set photos
of the hulking Stryker vehicles alongside
stagecoaches.
"This reminds you a lot of the (Ameri-
can) West because of the desert," Lopez
said of southern Afghanistan.
There is a somber scene in the British
area at Tombstone, where a plaque on a
Yorkshire Regiment memorial lists about
30 names of soldiers who died. It tells the
reader:
"When you go home, tell them of us,
and say: For your tomorrow, we gave our
today."
PHOTOS BY PIER PAOLO CITO/AP
Left: A U.S. soldier on Sunday enters a room labeled with a sign referencing "Big Nose Kate" Elder, the companion of the notorious gunslinger John H. "Doc" Holliday.
Right: A U.S. Stryker armored vehicle leaves the Tombstone base in the Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on Sunday. The sign at the entrance shows Wyatt Earp,
the legendary lawman of the American Wild West. Top: Copies of old Wild West wanted posters hang in the cafeteria as U.S. soldiers get their meals. The gunslinger theme is
designed to lighten the mood at the base, which sits in an area where Taliban insurgents are active.
A wanted baseWild West-themed outpost brings a little fun to dangerous Mideast

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