So many others had done so much more while suffering and sacrificing in ways the uninitiated would find difficult to comprehend, believe, or fully appreciate. I offer two examples from the countless many:
Air Force
Afghanistan Mediations – Part 4
When Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin looked out in awe across the lunar landscape, he offered a two-word, visceral, description: “magnificent desolation”. As I flew over southwestern Afghanistan on a cloudless day, I understood his sentiment perfectly. Fifty-thousand square miles of red sand and dirt were laid out before me in a single, breathtakingly beautiful, image.
Afghanistan Mediations – Part 3
“Don’t you just get bored out of your skull up there all that time?” a young Flight Surgeon asked during my post-flight physical after a particularly grueling mission over Kablamistan.
Afghanistan Mediations – Part 2
Rising in the predawn darkness of Sept 11th, 2001, I tried not to wake my wife. I showered with the bathroom door shut and didn’t turn on the sink-top radio as was my habit. Exiting, I left the door open a crack to dress in the minimal light it provided. Gathering my things, I kissed her on the forehead as she slept and whispered “see you tonight”. I wouldn’t see her again for three days.
Afghanistan Meditations – Part 1
As I sat at the chow-hall table that first night at an “undisclosed location” to which I’d been ordered, my head was swimming. Severely jet-lagged and sleep-deprived, I could barely recall the events of the last 72 hours.
If you could read my mind... 