A DAY IN THE LIFE…

I started today like all the rest, hit the snooze button at 0455, twice and got out of bed at 0505. Took my shower as quickly as possible to ensure I am conserving as much water as possible, since there is a water shortage. After getting dressed I left my room and walked to the office. It is only about a 5 minute walk but I really enjoy starting my day off looking at the beautiful mountains, that have now begun to show a light sprinkling of snow. Winter is coming.

This morning I have to go and escort about 1 million dollars worth of property to the air terminal for shipment to another FOB (forward operating base), so it is important that I get my coffee started early. I drank my coffee while checking my email. When I first arrived the internet was not working. During our search for the issue we found a cable unplugged and plugged it back in, and got the internet back up. I talked to my lovely wife for about 20 minutes or so and then made my way to breakfast with a friend but had to eat quickly since I had an appointment. Oatmeal and a bagel with peanut butter and jelly and some bacon was breakfast today.

I arrived back at the office and loaded up with two other soldiers, my clerk and the transportation NCO. After a twenty minute drive around the Air Strip we arrived at the pickup site. We had to track down the forklift operator and the truck driver since they of course went to the wrong place. There are not street signs here, no addresses, just landmarks and made up names like the CRISP yard or NETA yard. No one knows for sure where these names came from but we continue to use them as a means to get around or identify a location. After all was loaded on the truck then it was off to the Air terminal to ensure the load gets manifested on the earliest flight possible. Sounds like it might take two weeks for this cargo to make its way 2 or 3 hours south.

Since the transportation NCO has the “ball” now, we decided to leave the keys to the truck and walk back. Walking is a normal occurrence. In fact I walked through a pair of boots shortly after arrival. They were not new by any stretch of the imagination but they would have lasted another couple of years stateside. After our twenty minute walk, we arrived back at the office to the bad news.

COMMUNICATIONS BLACK OUT.

Blackouts are usually the result of two things, either the net is down and we must wait for repair, or the death of a soldier. Unfortunately this time it was the latter. Two soldiers in our Brigade were killed in action and another two were injured when the vehicle they were driving hit an IED. Now the somber mood is all around us. I did not know these soldiers yet, they were my brothers. One soldier has a family member in the same unit. Can you imagine? The depressing feeling is with most of us. I feel guilty if I smile. I feel sad if I laugh. I feel wrong for being where I am. I know that feeling guilty is not going to make anyone come back to us. I know there was nothing I could have done. But the big question I have is WHY IN THE HELL ARE WE HERE…..

We are told that we are here to “win the hearts and minds”. Well right now my heart goes out to the soldiers of the unit and the family members of the soldiers killed here. My mind is going off the deep end wondering what we are doing here. If we were not here we would not need to clear the routes, we would not need to have soldiers out there looking for the bombs that often times kill or injure them. So winning the hearts and minds is the mission but how are we supposed to win the hearts and minds of people who want to kill us. I hate to say it but I think we either need to go back to the “all or none” combat concept or get out of here. I do not wish to kill people, I do not wish to see people killed but I am really tired of being here while America people are killed. It is like being in a bad movie, bear with me for a minute. Let’s say that you are in a movie or just live in a bad neighborhood. Every time you go to the grocery store someone dies. You visit twice a week and people die, you visit once a month people die, how long would it take before you decided you would not do business in that place anymore. We have been here for eight years now…

Last night, standing on the flight line, watching the green then white then green of the strobe light rotating. After a quick train up, we are ready. The flag draped caskets of my brothers arrive ever so slowly in the back of three “spit shinned” HUMMVs. In three caskets are two soldiers, the reality of war has really hit home. In attendance one soldier, tears in his eyes, obvious pain in his heart, walking towards the plane carrying his own father. Extreme sadness turns to extreme madness as an Airman disrespects the ceremony by dipping snuff and spitting in a bottle while in formation. I see red. Our lives must go on but never will they be the same.

Eleven thirty now, head on my pillow and thus ends an emotionally charged day. Maybe God will make tomorrow a better day for us all.

Sorry for the rant, my apologies for scaring anyone, my condolences and prayers go out to the families of the injured and deceased but once again I must ask….. WHY IN THE HELL ARE WE HERE.