At the entrance to Tombstone base, an image of the legendary Wild West lawman Wyatt Earp, wearing cowboy hat, moustache and holding a revolver across his chest, greets troops.
 

The harsh reality of southern Afghanistan the key battleground of war between NATO forces and Taliban militants have a few things in common with the Wild West – danger, men, guns, and desert wilderness.
 

The military base located in the Taliban stronghold of the Helmand province, has an array of signs and images portraying the epic period in American history
 

"It's a little more entertaining," said Sgt. Maj. Robert Haemmerle, who is attached to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment of Task Force Stryker. "It's got a little pizazz."
 

Many U.S. military installations in Afghanistan 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.
 

Door signs say Long Horn Saloon and Big Nose Kate's, a reference to Holliday's companion, "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 reward notices for the likes of the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy and Jesse James.
 

"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."

(AP contributed to this report)