over. for thousands of injured american troops, brooke baldwin spoke with a recovering soldier. >> reporter: taliban strong hold, one of the most dangerous assignments for u.s. troops and dan's new home. one month into his deployment. >> people were ambivalent at best and outwardly hostile most commonly. rocks and thumbs down, middle fingers up. >> reporter: from his first mission outside the wire, he realized every day had the potential to be deadly. >> my very first mission, i watched three ieds go off in succession. so it was like, hey, game on. this place is not friendly. let's try to keep ourselves off the road as much as possible. >> reporter: to keep off the road, soldiers would stick to dirt trails, even orchards. that's why his platoon was