’ve never been exposed to military life, and I’ve certainly never been in a combat zone - until last week.
I
spent a good part of my summer vacation in Afghanistan. Danny Kass,
Grete Elliassen, and I spent 10 days in the Middle East, visiting our
troops on an "X Games themed meet and greet." Our mission was simple:
boost moral. If you’ve ever hung out with Danny, Grete, or I you’d know
not only did we accomplish our mission, we went above and beyond the
call of duty. It was a small sacrifice compared to what the servicemen
and women of the Armed Forces are doing for our great nation.
I
went over to Afghanistan with an open mind, to see first hand what was
going on and how the troops were doing. I came back humbled and with a
true understanding of sacrifice. I mean, I know how trying “the road”
can be, but giving yourself for 15 months of your life, away from
family and friends, is one hell of a sacrifice and a test of a true
patriot in my book.
Our Middle East tour started in Qatar, a small but very wealthy country on the Persian Gulf just off of Saudi Arabia.
Qatar
is the hottest place I’ve ever been to - including the sauna at your
local health club. The temperatures ranged from 120 degrees during the
mid-day heat, and would drop to around 90 degrees at night. Needless to
say, we spent the majority of our time in doors soaking up every ounce
of air conditioning we could before bolting to an air-conditioned car,
and off to the next air-conditioned building.
Other than the
heat being almost unbearable, the troops were amazing. The base in
Qatar isn’t only a fully-functioning military base, it’s also a rest
and relaxation base for solders to get out of the combat zones in Iraq
or Afghanistan for four days every six months. This was their R&R
time. The feeling in Qatar was pretty light hearted. The solders were
allowed three beers a day, which loosened them up enough for Danny to
olli four of them laying down - including Col. Cotter on his skateboard.
From
Qatar we boarded a C130 military plane flight into Afghanistan. Once we
arrived in Afghani air space the plane blacked out completely into the
night sky. A young soldier with a thick Kentucky accent leaned over and
said, “We're going to drop in fast, they have a tendency to try and
shoot these things down.” That’s when the realization that I was in a
war zone fully hit me.
He was right, too, the C130 plane
dropped like a rock out of the night sky from about 20-30 thousand feet
up to the runway below. A “combat landing” is one of the coolest things
I’ve ever experienced. My face was glued to the window praying I didn’t
see a rocked fire out of one of the many clusters of lights seen below.
Thankfully nothing “exciting” as another soldier put it happened.
Once
we were “safely” in Afghanistan, Grete fell ill with salmonella
poisoning. She was hospitalized and our tour was put into a holding
pattern. Not only would Danny and I visit Grete in the Afghanistan
Hospitals but we ventured around a met most of the Doctors, Nurses,
Staff, and of course the injured and sick. Carmen our guide practically
lived at the bedside of Grete, what a guide! My experiences of
Hospitals are that they always have an eerie feeling to them, and this
one was no exception. My heart sank as we toured room after room.
Everyone had a different story to tell why they were there. A group of
local Men were all smiles getting routine check ups, so they were able
to get a job on base. Then there was an American Soldier awaiting hand
surgery after his armored vehicle was rolled during a roadside attack.
The most disturbing was by far the small children. One little girl lost
her leg from an old Russian land mind, and in the very next room a
little boy laid out dressed in bandages healing burns from an
explosion. Experiences like these are reinsuring my thoughts and wishes
to have peace on earth.
Danny
and I carried on and entertained ourselves by exploring the rest of the
base. While checking out the base we met a group of armored truck guys
who called themselves “The Reapers”. These guys were cool as hell and
had story after story to tell Danny and I about their life in the
military and their tour in Afghanistan.
While hanging with The
Reapers I felt safe - these guys were the bad asses on the front lines.
They gave Danny and I a full tour of their armored vehicle, including
sitting in the gunner’s chair. Spinning around in that chair armed with
a 50 cal and a grenade launcher was quite a feeling.
Grete
wasn’t getting any better after a couple of days so Danny and I left
her and our tour guide Carmen behind as we ventured to a FOB (Forward
Operating Base) named Solerno - better know as Rocket City.
While
in Rocket City, the Air Calvary gave us a tour of the Heli pad holding
Blackhawks, Apaches, and a smaller surveillance chopper. We took
shooting lessons from a sniper and visited an artillery group of guys
who are responsible for shooting back at the Taliban after Rocket City
is attacked by, well, rockets. Danny and I were reminded that we were
at a FOB nicknamed Rocket City at about 2 am by our guide McKnight. I
was abruptly awoken my McKnight’s deep voice saying, “come on, get your
sh*# on, get your sh*# on, we got to get to the hard building.” I
looked over at Danny while he was throwing his bulletproof vest and
helmet on and started to do the same.
We
all grabbed our blanket and pillow and ran across the street to the
hard building, aka a bunker. It was thought that we may be getting
attacked by rockets that night so we all spent the night tossing and
turning on the concrete floor wearing bullet proof vests and Kevlar
helmets. Let me tell you that was one hell of a night. Let’s just say I
wasn’t missing my flight out of Rocket City.
After
our Rocket City adventures Danny, aka Afghan Dan, and I met back up
with Grete and Carmen, did one last signing in Afghanistan and started
our trip back home.
Although
our trip was short and sweet, I think I got a pretty basic taste of
military life in a war torn country. The highs of hanging out with the
gung-ho soldiers and their weapons, to the lows of visiting a four year
old girl who lost a leg from a land mine are just two extreme emotions
I felt in just one week.
Again my hat goes off to the servicemen and women who sacrifice so much to protect this great country we all love.
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