mike boettcher, abc news, afghanistan. >> just one young man of so many fighting every day. >>> and, we turn now to the american economy, and tough words today from fed chairman ben bernanke, who fired back at his critics in germany and china. he told a banking conference in germany the decision to pump another $600 billion into the u.s. economy was necessary to boost america's recovery. and he warned china they they put the global economy at risk by keeping the value of their currency artificially low. >>> and here at home, sometimes the story of a struggling economy can be told in the eyes of one chd. we heard that food banks across the country are overwhelmed with hard-hit families, hoping for help getting a thanksgiving turkey. but the shelves are bare. here's clayton sandell. >> reporter: there isn't a kid alive who doesn't dream of a family dinner like everybody else's. >> turkey! >> turkey! >> reporter: but try to imagine the holiday without it. >> last year, we had pork ch chops, because that's the only thing that we had. >> reporter: ken and tina jackson have five kids. ken

here's mike boettcher. >> reporter: at 8,000 feet in afghanistan's eastern mountains, the air is thin, is so is cover from an enemy ambush. a small team of soldiers from the 101st fame md brigade is hunting for taliban that attacked a u.s. convoy. led by their commander, the hunters become the hunted. the initial insurgent bar rage in a moment pins down the unit on a barren mountainside. it pins us down, too. the snipers are firing on us from a tree line just over there. we're behind some cover, but not much. a sergeant radios in the unit's position. one second later, a bullet misses his head, but this reds his antenna. they fire into a grove of small trees where the taliban is concealed. that ends it. the soldiers return without a casualty, to combat outpost wilderness. a base that's seen more than its share of the tough end of this war. in late august, two soldiers were killed by an ied. 27 of their number have been wounded in action, most since mid-august. bravo troop's casualty rate approaches 50%, an extraordinary number. what keeps you going through that? >> our guys. >> our fam

for "this week," mike boettcher, abc news, forward operating base clark, afghanistan. >>> and joining me now is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen. welcome to "this week." >> good morning. >> and we will discuss, of course, afghanistan, but let me get to the breaking news this morning, the report by "the new york times" of the discovery of a new nuclear facity in north korea. how much of a threat is that to the united states, to the world? >> well, this validates a long-standing concern that we've had with respect to north korea and its enrichment of uranium. it also continues to validate a country that is led by a dictator who is constantly designing -- who constantly desires to destabilize the region, and he's done that again certainly with this capability, as well, and certainly the development of nuclear weapons, it is a huge concern for all of us, those in the region, as well as those around the globe. >> how could this have happened in secret despite the sanctions that were put on? practically as the sanctions were put on this was being built. >> well

tonight, an extraordinary look at one young man in one battle, reported by mike boettcher. >> reporter: it is a 360 degree view of war, from a camera, on the helmet of benjamin mitchell, a 21-year-old purple heart winner from hamilton, ohio. mitchell races to a sandbag fighting position. and the battle is on. >> i saw just, tracers lighting up the hillside. >> reporter: his target, enemy muzzle flashes. around him, commands are coming fast and furious, from his senior sergeant. >> hey, mitch! >> you can control your actions out here, but you don't have control over the consequences. you kind of go into a survival mode mindset. >> here we go. >> it's either me or them, and it's not going to be me. >> reporter: 30 minutes into the fight, soldiers of the 101st run low on ammo. mitchell runs to a bunker for more. >> we got incoming! >> reporter: despite heavy incoming fire, mitchell continues to hang mortar rounds that can travel about a mile over mountain tops. >> i got the better weapons, so i'm going to make them pay for pulling this, so i just fire as many rounds as i possibly can as f

our mike boettcher brought us the story.ned someone in hamilton, ohio, was watching the broadcast too. his fiance and his vigilant dad. >> i made a promise to myself that deep in my faith and as long as i could that i would try to attend the mass here at st. julie's every day. >> and he said how proud he was of his son. by the way, benjamin isn't his only son in combat. his younger son, a marine, also fighting tonight in afghanistan. >>> and the boy wizard didn't need a spell to pull off this trick. "harry potter and the deathly hallows" part one raked in $125 million in its opening weekend, the strongest part of the series which has spanned nearly a decade. take a look at the trio of fledgling wizards in that first film and here they are nearly ten years later, all grown up. the final harry potter movie opens in july 2011. >>> and coming up, where thank heaven the wild things are. copd makes it hard for me to breathe. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now, i can join the fun and games with my grandchildren. great ne

our mike boettcher is at a remote outpost in afghanistan, asking american soldier what they're missingost tonight. >> reporter: what do you miss the most about not being there? >> the food and the music. it's something that's really deep and traditional. >> probably my grandma's cranberry sauce. she makes pretty good cranberry sauce. >> we have a family dip that we usually have during the course of the day before dinner that we, you know, the kids aren't complaining that they're hungry. >> reporter: so, you really miss those flavors of home? >> oh, yes i do, sir, very much so. >> i miss being around my family, obviously. i miss my son. but being able to do what i want to do, go to walmart when i need to. >> we usually go and shoot all the guns and stuff and have a good time before dinner. spend time with the kids, playing video games or whatever, just sitting in the living room. >> being around for all the dysfunctional family moments, fighting over the mashed potatoes. >> i miss playing football with the guys i used to go to high school with. that's kind of a thing we used to do, ever

mike boettcher, abc news, combat >>> a store in buffalo, new tan.rough the windows of a wegman's supermarket yesterday morning. employees and customers sure got a scare but no one was hurt. the deer all eventually got t t the same way they got in. >> they didn't steal anything to eat, did they. >> should have. >>> here's a look at your weather. rain and mountain snow in colorado, wyoming, montana, and the dakotas. snow in the cascades. showers in spokane and seattle. up to 3 inches of rain along the gulf coast drenching houston, new orleans and mobile. lighter into tennessee and the carolinas. >> meanwhile, 6262n atlanta. upper 50s in new york. mostly 50s from kansas city to detroit. 78 in sacramento. 55 in seattle. 50 in salt lake city. >>> we all know the wallflower that is shaquille o'neal. he's a man of many talents. basketball player and all-around funny man among them. >> shaq added the serious task of toy shopper to his hefty resumeme the boston celtic lending a helping hand yesterday to, what else, toys for tots. >> everything he picked up w

this morning, mike boettcher is at an outpost along the pakistan border, where celebrating thanksgiving is a real challenge. mike? >> reporter: happy thanksgiving to you. there are no luxuries here at combat outpost spera. but this base, located a mile from the pakistan border and al qaeda and taliban safe havens, is reputed to have some of the highest morale in afghanistan. it has to have high morale because there is a lot of fighting that occurs here. each step is a deliberate one, on this pre-thanksgiving day patrol. five, armed men, suspected taliban fighters, have been spotted nearby. soldiers scurry to attack positions when gunfire erupts. but their enemy disappears. time to return to base. there is a war going on. but there will be some time to celebrate thanksgiving. the soldiers of apache troop, of the 101st airborne's brigade, are at combat outpost spera. their hardship has created close bonds. >> here, you are dependent on each other for success and survival. >> reporter: today, they are making it the best thanksgiving possible. wood is chopped for a fire. and they built a ne