A Soldier's Letter

We can see the cost of freedom, through a soldiers eyes.      

Hi to all,
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I hope that this finds you all well.  Today is the 10th anniversary of the most humbling time in our lives for the country.  Here in Afghanistan at my guys had a memorial service for that horrific event to memorialize all the heroes that we lost that dreadful day.  As we watched a video of the fall of the Twin Towers and the after math of the Pentagon, it put into perspective in these young warriors why they are here and why after ten years we are still in Afghanistan.  Today is not only a day of remembrance for those that perished that day, but also for all those fallen heroes that gave their life over the last ten years in order to prevent another tragedy like that to happen to our great country.  We also have to keep in mind those heroes that are still with us, but their lives will never be the same, those that have lost parts of their bodies and their minds.

I sit here with tears in my eyes as I write this, and reflect on the men that I was not able to bring home.  Those that never got to say the final good byes to their families and loved ones, and those that had not even met their families and their children that will never know their daddy.  We all came here knowing that the enemy has a vote in wither we return or not, and they also have a vote in what we do here.  Yet these brave men and women return time after time, leaving their loved ones, and their way of life to come here and fight an enemy that is like no enemy that the US has ever seen before.  Why do they do this?  So that they can preserve our way of life as we know it today.  They volunteer to come back time and time again, and volunteered to join the military, knowing where they will end up.  As I look at the young men and women that are under my watch, it humbles me as it always had, knowing the sacrifices that we all give for the common love that we all have, and that is our great country.

I remember being in Kuwait, waiting to board the aircraft to fly into Iraq, sitting on my duffle bag and Doc Baum was sitting on his next to me and we were looking at the Baker Boys doing the same in front of us.  I was their First Sergeant at the time, and I looked over at Doc and told him that I sure hope that we bring all those boys home.  He told me not to worry about it.  Well, I can remember when we lost our first brother; it was hard on all of us.  Then we lost another, and another, none of our losses were any easier than the other.  Doc Baum was one of those that I lost.  Never would have dreamed that as a First Sergeant that I would lose the only guy in the company that I was directly responsible for.  In Afghanistan, The guys that I lost to include my Afghan soldiers that were under my watch was no easier either.  They are all heroes; they all died in support for our safety and our freedom.  The only reason that I am here right now and able to write this letter is because of those heroes, both American and Afghan.  I also sit here and reflect on the Soldiers that were under my watch that I had to watch leave country early.  They are still among us, but have been severely injured and the way of life they knew before they left is not existent to them anymore.  Their lives now consist of overcoming handicaps that they have now, because they did everything they could to again, preserve our way of life as we know it today.
I am almost 12 hours ahead of most of you back there, but as you go through the day of September 11, do not let a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Policeman, Border Patrol Agent, Fireman, or any other person that risks their life on a daily basis for our protection.  All these heroes that I mentioned voluntarily risk their lives and work get paid peanuts for the jobs they do.

Now on to the happier side, PRT Kunar is busy as ever and doing great stuff for the wonderful country of Afghanistan.  We have opened four more schools, a bridge, have helped the Provincial Government become more efficient and can better work with their districts and tend to the needs of the people. The Kunar Provincial (state) Government is becoming more and more independent and is taking great pride in being able to solve their problems by their self.  The enemy of both the US and the Afghan Government does not like this at all.  This is bringing stability to what was once declared a failed state and allowed for the terrorist to use Afghanistan as a planning area to threaten the world.  Afghanistan is taking more and more measures on their own to stand up against these enemies and fight them toe to toe. More and More villages are taking matters in their own hands and standing up together to rid their villages of the enemies.  There are also Taliban fighters that are now seeing that the Taliban agenda goes against Islam and they are only hurting their own country and families.  Every day, more and more Taliban fighters are laying down their weapons and trying to reintegrate into society.  The Afghan government has developed a program for these young men to reintegrate them and put them in the work force and allow them to start a new life on the right side of the fence.

These actions are enraging the Taliban commanders as well as the Al Qaida leaders and they are blaming the US military for this happening.  They also think that the Americans are the ones that are pushing this, the truth is that the better Afghanistan is doing this and we are by all means supporting them as much as we can, but this is a good news story for the government. Those of you that were connect dot me on facebook probably realized that I am not on there anymore.  The reason is that the Enemy is now targeting those that work directly with the Afghan government and is getting personal information about us and using that to attack our loved ones back in the states with distortion attempts and scare tactics.  The funny thing about this is that they think that we are leading the way on this.  The truth is that the US forces is not in the lead, we are strictly here to support the Afghan Government.  Why is this good news?  Because that is our ticket home, for good.

I truly hope that sometime in the future, before I die, I can come back to Afghanistan without wearing camouflage clothes and carry a gun everywhere I go and be able to come back on a vacation and be able to visit the great friends that I have made in this beautiful country.  Until that time though, do keep in your prayers my men and women that serve under my watch, and our loved ones that we have left behind.  Remember the families and loved ones of the brothers and sisters that we have lost.  Also keep my little brother that is here with me as he starts to get ready to return home.  Again, thank you all for your continued support over the years and all my deployments.

I also have included some pictures of the area that I am at.