AfghanisTanksgiving

This is probably the earliest I've ever wished someone Happy Thanksgiving.  Just after 12:15 am zulu (4:45 am local and 6:15 pm CT) I was working in our TOC due to a 100% 'stand to.'  So I wished everyone Happy Thanksgiving and made myself some coffee.

 

At about 3 am we were stood down, so it was off to breakfast.  But breakfast on Turkey day is a bit different--the sign outside the meal tent said "Continental Breakfast."  Loosely translated it means we are using our burners to get the turkey ready so good luck scrounging up something to eat.  I chose the protein bar, blueberry muffin, and what they claim is white milk.

 

And then I settled in for the American tradition of watching football.  Of course I was in my sleeping bag with the curtains pulled around my little 3'x7' coffin-size slice of personal space, and I was watching the Michigan vs Illinois game from last month (which Illinois could have won) on a portable DVD player.

 

After lunch (a PB&J, yogurty thing, and trail mix) I had a good workout and then looked forward to the one warm shower we get every 3 or 4 days.  Of course the water was cold.  But its only the end of November in the mountains, so a cold shower really hits the spot.

 

But the mood is different today!  We are all hanging around the outdoor makeshift grill and the meal tent--watching the cooks prep for dinner, and the Afghan Army train on their mortars and heavy machine guns.  So the ambience is slightly different, but the anticipation is the same. 

 

We even have a football to toss around, and kids to teach how to throw a spiral.  One of the trannys (translator) teaches a few dozen of the local kids english a gew times a week in our chow tent, and today he was teaching them to say Happy Thanksgiving.  While our boys are happy to be gone from school, these kids are thrilled to be able to attend a class on Thanksgiving.  So far they have learned to count to ten, say their ABC's, wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING, and say "Go Packers."  Which is about all one needs to know on a day like this!

 

Well, I know everyone is wondering the same thing, "What am I thankful for?"  So here's my Top Ten Thankfuls":

 

10.  That I have the privilege of watching these 18, 19, 20+ year old 'kids' come of age in a far-away land.  I see them pass their time playing dominos, watching movies, listening to music;  I see them pull 3 hour guard shifts in below freezing weather in the middle of the night; and I see them ruck 3 hours up a mountain and provide overwatch for the Afghan Army and then get back down in time to prepare for the next days mission; I see them perform even the most common tasks to the best of their ability just so "my boys have a great dinner;" and I see them sacrifice time away from loved ones so these Afghanis can have a chance at a life free from barbarism.

 

9.  That I know a God who enjoys giving good gifts to His children, who never gave up on me--a rebellious prodigal, and has great plans for those who want to know the truth.

 

8.  For the generators that provide the AC power that brings our Ipods and dvd players to life, and provides light so we can read!

 

7.  For being born a citizen of a blessed and free country that protects individual rights to worship, speak, vote, bear arms, and vote, and that provides opportunity to pursue dreams, and that sacrifices its own so that others can have a chance to taste what we have feasted on.

 

6.  That technology has brought an internet line and two phone lines to the middle of nowhere so a bunch of guys can hear the familiar voices of their loved ones.

 

5.  For growing up with Garrett, Chad, Joseph, and the crazy Italian family that made Thanksgiving and Christmas memorable--to say the least.

 

4.  For being a brand new Uncle!

 

3.  That I was entrusted with the lives of two red-blooded American boys capable of more mischief than their father, and also capable of giving me the greatest joys a father can know.

 

2.  That God blessed me with the most beautiful, graceful, loving, stubborn and passionate miracle ever given in marriage to an undeserving knucklehead of a husband; but thanks be to God that He is molding us into one.

 

1.  That I have been set free to enjoy the wife of my youth, the two boys of my gray hair, and the God that has always saved me.

 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

K12

Pushing Beyond

A few days ago I went up a mountain, and then came back down.

 

It's strange how a simple sentence can say so much and so little at the same time.

 

In reality I climbed about 2000 feet in elevation and covered at least two klicks (as the crow flies, definitely not as the goat climbs) in 2 hours and 20 minutes with my full combat loadout plus a ruck filled with day and night gear and stopped (so I wouldn't pass out) for less than 5 minutes two or three times.

 

Now that sentence comes closer, but still does not convey the agony.  After the first thirty minutes I thought I had reached my limit.  Everything after the first thirty minutes came from some deep reserve that we rarely tap.

 

I asked God for strength, I repeated "just keep swimming" from Finding Nemo, I blanked out a few times, I stopped, I sucked air, I put my hands on my knees, but I didn't quit.

 

I learned quite a bit about the word essential.  As in what I thought was 'essential' for my ruck.  I also remembered what I had forgotten about elevation.  A mile above sea level is something worth remembering.  I also remembered that there is a difference between 18 and 38.

 

However, we did set the land speed record for time from the FOB up to the OP.  And I guess that is worth something.  Perhaps its also worth remembering--for a later time--that we can push beyond what we think is possible...physically and mentally.  I can clearly identify with David as he wrote in II Samuel 22:3, "....He is my shield and SAVING STRENGTH, my defender and my place of safety," and of course in verse 34, "He makes me like a deer that does not stumble, He helps me stand on the steep mountains."

 

Its amazing how a simple verse can say so little to me at times, and then, at other times, so much.

 

K12

 

Collector's Edition

Sometimes children collect the strangest things.  And in Afghanistan, a childs collection can become surreal.  As is true with most of my strange stories, it all started out innocently enough.

 

Three of us Air Force dudes (2 TACP, 1 CCT) headed to the firing range to shoot 9 mil.  However, the range was closed due to some type of construction.  Not to be deterred, we simply headed to the heavy gun range.  Of course this range was just outside the wire, but we each had an ATV.  The shoot was becoming more and more adventurous by the minute!

 

We set up our targets, loaded mags, and started to shoot.  And then, like moths to a flame, the children arrived.  Or I should say appeared.  There is a small village down the road, but the half dozen kids just seemed to materialize as soon as we began shooting. 

 

And they were not spectators.  They were collectors.

 

We would hardly finish shooting and they would begin grabbing the brass like kids picking up candy during a parade.  And in a matter of minutes we had a dozen or more all competing for the scarce resource.  By this time we had put one of us on full time crowd control while the other two tried to finish shooting.  And by now a few "grown ups" had arrived--but not to assist in any way. 

 

These grown ups were true spectators.  And they seemed to enjoy the scene: Alarmed American trying to keep crazy Afghani kids off the firing line. 

 

Although I could keep 5 or 6 kids behind my pretend line, the others were catching brass in mid air.  I soon realized this was like some kind of national sport, and I did not have the means to prevent these collectors from getting at their treasure.  So there we stood, firing 9 mil with built in brass collectors working feverishly by our side.  

 

Now, when little Johnny wants to add something strange to his collection, just think, he could be down the street playing with the neighborhood foreign fighters during target practice!

 

-K12