September 5
Today was a tale of two nights. My day started off as normal. Mainly it was a day to remember how happy and lucky I am to be married to Jenn. Two years ago today she became my wife. Since we met, there has never been a question about her and I being made for each other. We enjoy being together no matter what we are doing including doing nothing. We rarely argue, but when we do it is never with cruel intent. Most of our arguments end with us laughing or with her telling me “frying pan” which came from a day when she told me she felt like hitting me with a frying pan. Our lives were made even better with the arrival of Emma. I never thought I could have a life so filled with joy and love. Jenn truly makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world!
One thing that Jenn is very good at is making me do things I should do. Tonight while we were talking on the phone there was a knock on my door. It was the Major that lives next door. He was asking me if I was going to a music night they were having on base. I told him I had already changed out of my uniform, was talking to my wife, and then heading to bed. Jenn asked who had come to the door, so I filled her in. Her response was to tell me to get dressed and go, because I should show support for stuff. She mentioned that I had previously mentioned how no one goes to things here and now she was making me do the right thing and go. So I got dressed and headed out.
This is when the night changed. I arrived at the music night and there was a delay. Sadly the reason for the delay was that they needed to take the speaker equipment to use for a ceremony. The ceremony was for an American civilian that was killed today at another FOB. They cancelled the movie night, but I remembered what Jenn said about needing to support the important stuff. So I headed out to the helicopter landing zone for the ceremony. This was a powerful event.
We lined up in formation along the side of the landing zone in complete darkness. The only light was the glow of light sticks to mark the landing zone. Over the speaker they said a few words about the man that passed. He was originally from Afghanistan and had moved to the USA when he was a child. When this war kicked off he volunteered to come back and help. He had gone on several missions and according to the speaker was “an invaluable part of their mission.” He was one of several people hit by a mortar. I don’t know the status of the others. Due to his connection with Afghanistan another speaker got on the microphone and said a prayer in their native language. They then played the national anthem. We all saluted and then felt the wind pick up. A helicopter came from the darkness and landed feet from us. As it landed, a pickup truck with the coffin approached followed by a group to transport the coffin to the helicopter. We held our salutes for what seemed like forever. But every time my arm got sore I thought about the pain his family was going to feel and I held the salute high and strong. The wind picked up and the helicopter took off.
I always hear on the news about how these civilian contractors make tons of money and even rip off the government. This man and the others injured/killed today were just doing their job. They were most likely sitting in their room maybe even talking to their wives (just like I was today). We gave this civilian the same honors we give to a fallen soldier and he deserves it. These civilians risk as much as we do and are many times forgotten.
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