Happy Memorial Day

I was honored to be present for the reading of the 1475 names of the heroes that have given their lives for the freedom of the Afghan people from oppression at Camp Eggers Afghanistan.  These men and women served our country and provided safety and security to the Afghan people.

My hat is off today to all families, friends and fellow soldiers that have lost loved ones and friends in service to the greatest cause, individual freedom.  My prayers are with you, thank you for your sacrifice, you WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN OR LEFT BEHIND.  My family will honor and remember you.

The cause to serve abroad and provide basic security and safety to others that could not otherwise do so for themselves is the most noble cause.   In my opinion, it is our basic responsibility to other nations that do not have this.  We owe this to humanity.  We sit as Americans in our comfortable surroundings and complain about the BS politics and how our money is being given away.  How about you live in a nation where your basic needs cannot be met.

For example.. you could live in a place that in order to provide heat for your family in winter (lows well below 0 degrees F) requires you to walk 6 miles to barter for wood for heat for your house.  In that 6 miles you walked, you had to pay the equivalent of a weeks worth of pay to guarantee your safety in the form of bribes/protection money.  This is the basic requirement for the average Afghan living in Kabul, let alone the outlying areas.

So before you get on Facebook or other places and prosteletize about how our government should be helping those at home before we help those in other parts of the world.  Put yourself in these shoes, understand that this .

We still, and will remain the richest nation  on earth.  Come join me and live in Afghanistan, Iraq, Dubai, Oman, Qatar, etc, etc and see what is like before you comment on how our poor are hungry or suffering.

Without basic security... "men with guns".. this cannot happen without our sons, brothers, husbands willing to put on the uniform and step forward for this basic right.  I love our country, I love what our young men and women do every day out here in Iraq and Afghanistan and am honored to provide service to them.

Happy Memorial Day.  Enjoy, remember and all be blessed.

Bin Laden Confirmed Dead - Does it Matter?

With the US confirming they have killed UBL in a US strike does it matter?  Morally I think it is a victory. Strategically it will have short term impact, but long term someone will take his place.  Maybe Mullah Omar or one of the other top Al Qaeda / Taliban types who knows.  Or likely, they split into many factions which will hopefully make them less effective.

Why does this impact the Expat working in a warzone?  For some of us, mostly Americans but I would gather that other nationalities feel the same, our motivations for coming here were far beyond the need to make money.  There was a national pride and a thought of a way to make an impact into the overall goal of winning the 'war on terror'.  Simply put, a good percentage of guys I've worked with over here just are not here for the money.  If you come over here for just the money, and that alone, you will not last.  I've seen it time again.  There has to be some other inner drive either for adventure, sense of chipping in to the effort or for some a resume builder.

Osama, Usama Bin Laden being finally put to rest closes a significant chapter for some of us, probably most of us that watched with horror on 11SEP01 as those planes crashed into the buildings and the buildings fell.  It probably was a national past time to wonder when/if he would be captured or killed.  One thing I know working with and serving in the military, is the dedication and fortitude of the guys that literally went to the ends of the earth to find this one man is unmatched.  My hat is off to them today, they are the true heroes.

So, in the end the war goes on.  The machine still rolls forward, but with one small victory in hand.