15 April
Listening to my pounding headache
Numerical milestones: AWAC has 444 comments, over 37,000 hits, and four captains bouncing off the walls.
The Four Amigos enjoy a celebratory cigar
Remember the song from Annie that goes, “The sun will come out, to-mor-row?” Well, on Friday, Drew and I started singing, “Our replacements come here, to-mor-row.” Yes, those angels of mercy, our favorite people in the world, arrived last night at KAIA, and TSgt Smith, Hamid, and I were the CMA portion of the welcoming committee, along with five CMA trucks and drivers to haul the baggage.
As we were waiting for the trucks to arrive, the skies parted and angels poured forth through the clouds, singing anthems of happiness. I snapped this photo, but apparently angels don’t show up in photos, much as vampires don’t have reflections in mirrors. But they were there, hundreds of them. Honest.
Once we got all the trucks parked and ready for loading, we settled in for a long wait. Without going into too many boring details, we got there around 6:15 PM, and left at around 3:30 AM. With all that down time, it was good that I found a TV that had all the British Forces TV stations. Did you know the Cricket World Cup was being played in Grenada right now? Neither did I. But I was able to watch New Zealand play South Africa in a real nail biter. Hamid informed me that he hates cricket. His little brother always wanted to watch it when they lived in Pakistan, but Hamid wanted to watch dramas. Mom usually sided with the younger boy, so Hamid spent many miserable hours forced to watch cricket. I was enjoying it, however, and refused to change the channel. Heartless I know, but how often do you get to watch the Cricket World Cup? And for those of you who think football games drag on too long, this puppy was at least six hours long.
While we were there, The CMA Heavy Company Commander, Capt Ghani, came by with meals for his men. I introduced him to Col Brooks and showed him the in-processing area and explained how it would all work. Col Brooks offered him one of our meals, and we all went in and watched cricket while he ate. Afterwards, Hamid snapped this photo of us enjoying the game.
I say, that was a smashing good wicket, old chap
I will add the Capt Ghani was going to be my next “ANA of the Week” subject, so I’ll tell you about him now. He is very sharp, and his building is always the cleanest and most impressive when we do inspections. Everything is always clean and orderly. He always handles his assignments with true military professionalism, and is a credit to the ANA.
I had six of the new folks tell me they had enjoyed my blog, and one major even wanted a photo taken of him with Hamid and me. We were both taken aback, but I told Hamid he was now a celebrity and would need to get used to this sort of thing. I was also able to meet MSgt Dunham, fellow blogger (he does Air Force Afghanistan Mentor) and son of Chief Dunham, winner of many seconds of fame.
By the time we had transported everyone to Phoenix, and escorted the trucks out through the gate, the sky was starting to brighten in the east. I got to sleep at 4:30 AM, and woke up at 9:00 AM with a splitting headache. The rest of the day has been spent trying to recover. So that’s about all you’ll be getting from me today.
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Tonya’s Cute Dog of the Day
Ewok, a Pomeranian fostered by Papillon 911, before and after
George Bailey’s dog, isn’t she cuuuuute? Name is either Holly or Molly, but I’ve deleted the e-mail.
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Five Seconds of Fame:
Dany’s contest is over, as we got our third winner, Dana Schwartz.
“The cow is of the bovine ilk; one end is moo, the other milk” is by Ogden Nash, my favorite poet ever in the whole universe. Dany agrees. So does his sister.
The three winners, in order, are Gloria Gauthier, Susan Carnes, and Dana. I’ll get a good description of the prizes, and let Gloria pick hers first, than Susan.
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Quote of the Day:
“We're not your classic heroes. We're the other guys.”
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Are you kidding? Our replacements are here. What kind of day do you think it was?
- Bear
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It's Sunday. The Rat doesn't work on Sunday
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Here’s Odie:
The first to go…
“Last in, first out.” Not exactly awe-inspiring as far as mottos go, but I don’t mind. Look at my departure and home coming as a good warm-up act. The details of one guy leaving after four months will just give you a little taste and get you ready for the main event as a whole group of people leave after more than an entire year.
As I write this, I am sitting at Bagram Air Field waiting on the next C-17 out. Since Bear made no attempt to stop me, I guess Anessa got her post in.
We made our final convoy up from Eggers this morning. I’ve made the drive several times so this time I had my camera packed away since I figured I’d already seen most of what lies in between. Of course this time there was something different. In the large valley were scores of nomadic Afghans with little tent villages set up everywhere. They had donkeys and goats galore and even a few camels which is more rare to see here than in other countries closer to the Saudi Arabian Peninsula. It would have made for some cool photos. Since I don’t have any, I’m mainly giving all the other writers a heads-up to take a camera along just in case they are still camping somewhere along the way.
Last night we went to dinner at Camp Warehouse at a little German restaurant they have there. This camp is almost entirely made up of western Europeans (mostly French and German from what I saw). I am going to include the photos because the Europeans clearly have taken amenities to a whole new level. Does Mr. Arkin have a contact at Der Spiegel he can alert? This is really getting out of hand! Here are a couple of pictures that show that these guys have been fighting wars for centuries before America was a country, and they know how to do it in style.
This is me and the gang I worked with.
The guy with his eyes closed is Joe Jackson who wrote the nice piece about his trip to Gardez (a serious piece, but he can be hilarious too). He is the only guy I know who has a harder time keeping his eyes open than I do for pictures. We kept taking them until I had mine open and we finally got one. Joe, however, was 100%. In the back is our Canadian officer, LTC Fraser. He’s got a cool story for everything (Joe and I believe the character of Higgins from Magnum PI was actually based on LTC Fraser). Unfortunately for our Navy rep and F-18 back seater, Spock, he was taking the photo on the best shot we had and isn’t pictured here. Every person at the dinner is a complete character and worthy of his own post. Together, they made the long hours bearable and they will be missed (but not enough to make me want to stay longer).
I had Rumpsteak with Krauterbutter and Pommes. Mmmmm. And we ate it all on real dishes with real silverware. Note: anything that looks like beer is unleaded. They have the real stuff there but Americans are not allowed to partake.
On an unrelated note – on the spine compacting ride out past Camp Phoenix for dinner, we saw this…
…keep in mind the road he’s on would qualify as serious off-roading in America. I need an Afghan to help me pack next time I go on a family vacation!
I actually finished this post up at Manas in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan so I am now completely out of Afghanistan, but I’m still looking for an internet connection that works. There is more to tell and many more pictures (if Bear doesn’t limit me) but I will have to save that for another time since I’m getting pretty long here and, unless I miss my guess, you have already read through several other authors today.
Cheers!
Odie
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Letters (or Poems) to the Editor
Kasee sends this poem -
I am a small and precious child,
My dad has been sent to fight…
The only place I'll see his face,
Is in my dreams at night
He will be gone too many days
For my young mind to keep track.
I may be sad, but I am proud
My daddy's got your back.
I am a caring mother.
My son may go to war…
My mind is filled with worries
That I have never known before.
Every day I try to keep,
My thoughts from turning black.
I may be scared, but I am proud
My son has got your back.
I am a strong and loving wife,
With a husband soon to go.
There are times I'm terrified,
In a way most never know.
I bite my lip and force a smile,
As I watch my husband pack…
My heart may break, but I am proud
My husband's got your back.
I am a soldier, serving proudly, standing tall.
I fight for freedom, yours and mine, by answering this call.
I do my job while knowing the thanks it sometimes lacks.
Say a prayer that I come home
It's me who's got your back.
This poem was written by Autumn Parker as a personal tribute to her husband while he was serving overseas.
Great Poem! Thanks to Autumn for writing it and Kasee for sharing it.
Good timing too, since April is National Poetry Month!
Posted by: Teri Centner | April 16, 2007 at 10:06 AM
Oh wait, the poem was written by Autumn Parker, wasn't it? I need to read things more carefully. Well, thanks Kasee for sending the poem, and thanks Autumn for writing it.
Sheesh. :-)
It's Sunday. I'm going to go follow Rat's example now.
Posted by: Matti | April 15, 2007 at 06:41 PM
As soon as I read today's headline, I immediately got excited. They're here!?!? Because we all know who "they" are and how long we've been waiting for them. I bet you guys are bouncing! :-) That is great news! MSgt Dunham's blog is already on my favorites list. I hope the rest all decide to start blogs too. You will do your best to encourage them, won't you Bear?
And I hope your headache is gone by the time you read this. Ouch.
Odie's already on his way home? That is GREAT! I bet the whole Odum tribe is so happy. Great photos Odie. I laughed outloud over the truck. Oh, and I didn't have a chance to comment yesterday, Anessa, but thanks for your post. I really enjoyed it.
And thank you Kasee for the poem. You said it perfectly.
A truly better-than-great day! :-)
Posted by: Matti | April 15, 2007 at 06:37 PM
Wow Kasee, what a poem. It brought tears to my eyes. I hope your daddy gets home safe and sound to you!
Posted by: Gloria Gauthier | April 15, 2007 at 10:49 AM