Day 100

Wow. That is one word that describes Day 100 and it means so much. In interest of full disclosure, I am typing this on Day 101...just after 8am "Oz" time. It's the first time I've been able to get to a computer in the past 18 hours. So let's start back at Day 100 and bring you full circle. I'm tight on time here so I'll try to type quick...much to say. (shocking, I know!)

Day 100 started like any other except that I was trying to fly out again..back to "Theme Park #1"...if you recall from Memorial Day weekend. Back up north to the half-German/half-American base. I got booked on the 7:45am flight then kicked off so back to the office I went and sadly turned off the out-of-office on my e-mail. Dangit! The next flight wasn't until a "showtime" of 6:30pm. Showtime is when you show up to get manifested on a flight and normally precedes the actual flight time by 1, 2, or 3 hours. In interest of security, I'll leave it at that. That being said, it was back to the grind of a typical Monday in the office.

It wasn't long before the day turned not-so-normal. The brigade headquarters where my office sits got some bad news. Mid-morning, 3 members of the brigade were hit with a roadside bomb and lost their lives. Many of us were amazed because the MRAP vehicle they were in is one of our most safe and secure. This immediately told me the poundage of this bomb had to be big which is what the enemy has been doing. As we increase the strength of our armor, they make their IEDs/roadside bombs stronger and more destructive. Not everyone lost their lives in that vehicle and there were other injuries. As expected, the hallways and mood within my building turned very somber and sorrowful immediately. As the day wore on, not much more news came forth which was expected as next of kin notification has priority. All I could think about all day was the two uniformed soldiers showing up in a government vehicle at three different homes, in the three different parts of the country, knocking on three different front doors, but all delivering the same message...which all started with "On behalf of a grateful nation, we are sorry to inform you...." I think you get the idea. My heart...my soul...every fiber of my being was pouring out to the families...the moms, the dads, the children, the friends, and the brothers and sisters of the fallen. Their lives are all forever changed and this is only the beginning. Soon, their heroes will be coming home. Grateful nation...is it a grateful nation? I believe that in so many ways it is, but there is still so many stories to be told to the masses.  America needs to know about their brothers and sisters in Harms Way who are giving their lives for the blanket of freedom they sleep beneath. For all of you who are reading this, you get it...you really do. Help me spread the word and live by example.

OK...the day wasn't over yet. Nope. It was mid-afternoon and word came in again...this time from a base that is less than a half mile from where I type right now...a soldier took his own life. I won't go into a dissertation here about what I think about suicide and the ripple effect it will have on that soldier's family's loved ones, but that soldier was ALSO attached to the place where I work. That's four losses within a span of about 5 hours. The details of this death is very troubling, too, but that...even on my anonymous blog, is too much to share. After I found out about this news, I had but one gut feeling...I will see this flag-draped casket...for where I am flying is the path it will take back to my home base as all fallen comrades come there for their final trip home. I'd soon find out.

Later that evening, I spent a few hours at the terminal waiting for my flight north and ended up for the first time on a C-130 cargo plane..run by the Alaska Air National Guard. First time on this tin can but it was a great flight. I just immersed myself in Passion 2010's live album. With the kind of day it had been so far, praise and worship is all I wanted in my head. I still had a gut feeling of what waited at the northern German base. A C-130, afterall, is the kind of plane what would transport the fallen...and this was the only flight north today.  After a 45min flight north, we landed. Something wasn't quite right with the flight crew...they seem agitated...on edge...snapping at each other. Turns out, I was right.  This flight crew had a very different payload as they were about to return to the home base after dropping us off.

After a very delayed departure from the aircraft, we boarded a shuttle bus and were immediately briefed by the flight crew that a fallen comrade was on the flight line and if we could remain silent as we passed by. As the C-130 disappeared behind us, a group of vehicles sat ahead...one caught my eye, though. As we turned the corner, the familiar looking rectangular box jutted out the back of a humvee truck, mostly covered. It was out enough, though to see the red and white stripes of Old Glory. Therein lied the fallen soldier who I had expected to see all day....speechless...numb....staring.  We didn't stop and kept on rolling past but I stretched my neck as far as I could to try to remember this moment. I was only passing by but I didn't want to forget the image of what I saw...let it never be forgotten...let me never grow complacent...let me never forget. While this soldier took his own life and we'll never know his story, he served his country and died while protecting it.

A short while later, I was in a room within a compound filled with Germans. I heard about an internet cafe down the sidewalk and quickly found when I got there that it cost a lot of money and I couldn't read one lick of what was on the screen...even the keyboard was in German. I quickly left the cafe and used the only lifeline I had left to reach out to Dorothy...an emergency phone I carry on me. I called her and luckily got her at work just to tell her I'm OK, I've arrived and that I love her more than anything.  We said goodnight and "I love you" many times and I headed on back to my room for a quick shower and into bed.

Rising early this morning, myself and those traveling with me grabbed a quick German breakfast and caught a helicopter to my current location where I'll brief the engineers in about an hour. Later this afternoon after an Afghan lunch here on this tiny outpost, I'll head back to the German base for the night and hopefully, get Day 101 written for you.

So there you have it, friends and family...Day 100 in the books and one never, ever to be forgotten.  Since I'm not saying goodnight as I normally would...I'll simply say goodbye and I'll catch you again at Day 101.