There are stories and articles that when you read them you get that feeling in your chest, whether of disgust or anger, and it sits with you for quite a while.

“The Kill Team” article featured in the most recent issue of the Rolling Stone is one of those stories.

I warn you, the story and its accompanying photos and videos are extremely graphic, but I think regardless of their nature everyone should read it.

“The Kill Team” chronicles some of the repulsive exploits of Cpl. Jeremy Morlock and Pfc. Andrew Holmes, among many others in Bravo Company’s Third Platoon stationed in Afghanistan.

One of the accounts involves the execution of Afghan boy Gul Mudin, a farmer.

Mudin, 15, was alone, with no one around to witness the murder. He would be the first victim in a string of gruesome deaths.

The boy wasn’t in possession of anything that could be perceived as a weapon at the time. In fact, he had a welcoming appearance. Morlock would later confess, “He was not a threat.”

Morlock and Holmes ordered the boy forward, and he obeyed. Morlock then tossed a grenade towards Mudin and Holmes opened fired.

To add to the despicable act, they took pictures with the body, smiling, as they stripped the body and planted weapons to make it seem like the innocent lives were actual threats (the photos can be viewed on the Rolling Stone website, along with other videos from Bravo Company).

The two soldiers then cut off the boy’s pinky for Holmes, a prize for killing his first Afghan.

As the article states: “In many of the photos it is unclear whether the bodies are civilians or Taliban, and it is possible that the unidentified deaths involved no illegal acts by U.S. soldiers. But it is a violation of Army standards to take such photos of the dead, let alone share them with others.”

Whether it was the “enemy” or not, the fact that these photos were passed around as trophies represents a sadistic mindset that truly makes the line between “us” and “them” that much more  blurry.

What both frightens and disappoints me is the possibility that this is probably not the first time that something like this has happened. The chances that the events described in “The Kill Team” in Afghanistan with the Bravo Company aren’t isolated are quite high.

Don’t get me wrong: The Kill Team is a poor representation of what the armed forces truly represent, but it’s an unfortunate reality of what the scum of society are capable of.

A common response from readers included concerns regarding negative opinions of the U.S. and its international roles from others outside the country, but that is not all I am concerned about. I am also concerned what people within our borders think about the military, and the fact that these allegations were not addressed and brought to the forefront by the people in the government.

Where do we go from here? Do we change the interview process to weed out the potentially dangerous? Should the military place more emphasis on the psychological state of our soldiers during their extended tours?

I’m not sure what should be done, but anything is better than a lack of accountability and showing the world that maybe the people on the other side of the enemy lines are not the truly evil ones.