starguard
Unluckiest Charm in the Box
...from a friend of mines thats stationed in Afganistan!
Letter gives a very interesting image of exactly what that place is like. Guys says that so far he has no fired a single shot since he's been there, and no one has been killed or injured that he knows of (very good thing). Mostly he spends the majority of his time searching for water. He says that living there is a lot like life in the movie "Mad Max", only this is like the real deal for him. He has often been assigned escort duty where he drives alongside convoys offering protection almost like WWII era fighter planes that provided escort for bombers, but so far, all he's been fighting with is the relentless rays of the sun. There were a few times where they heard explosions far off into the hills, and one time they saw smoke rising up from the horizon, but that was about it!
The locals he says are not in anyway hostile towards them. Its almost as if they are oblivious that they are even there. The locals simply go on with their lives as if our military doesnt even exist. The terrain there is very sandy and rocky. The weather there is far different from anything he's ever experienced in the states. He says it's totally amazing how the temperature can be so hot during the day, and drop down to bone chilling temperatures at night. He asked me if I can rememeber an old 70's song called "a horse with no name". I can remember that song very clearly. He says if I can listen to that song very carefully and visualize that story thats being told, then I should be able to visualize what afganistan is like.
Each day has bought a new experience to him. The only "war" he has been forced to fight there, is purely a war with the elements (fighting sandstorms, keeping sand out of his clothes, finding clean water, ways to keep warm at night and sheild the sun during the days ect, ect). There arent many asians in his unit (only two others that he knows of and one is an officer) so he's someone like the "lone ranger" as he calls himself.
Overall I'm very glad that he's safe and sound over there, and I really hope that things stay that way for him till he gets out and goes back to school like he origionally planned!
:techman:
Letter gives a very interesting image of exactly what that place is like. Guys says that so far he has no fired a single shot since he's been there, and no one has been killed or injured that he knows of (very good thing). Mostly he spends the majority of his time searching for water. He says that living there is a lot like life in the movie "Mad Max", only this is like the real deal for him. He has often been assigned escort duty where he drives alongside convoys offering protection almost like WWII era fighter planes that provided escort for bombers, but so far, all he's been fighting with is the relentless rays of the sun. There were a few times where they heard explosions far off into the hills, and one time they saw smoke rising up from the horizon, but that was about it!
The locals he says are not in anyway hostile towards them. Its almost as if they are oblivious that they are even there. The locals simply go on with their lives as if our military doesnt even exist. The terrain there is very sandy and rocky. The weather there is far different from anything he's ever experienced in the states. He says it's totally amazing how the temperature can be so hot during the day, and drop down to bone chilling temperatures at night. He asked me if I can rememeber an old 70's song called "a horse with no name". I can remember that song very clearly. He says if I can listen to that song very carefully and visualize that story thats being told, then I should be able to visualize what afganistan is like.
Each day has bought a new experience to him. The only "war" he has been forced to fight there, is purely a war with the elements (fighting sandstorms, keeping sand out of his clothes, finding clean water, ways to keep warm at night and sheild the sun during the days ect, ect). There arent many asians in his unit (only two others that he knows of and one is an officer) so he's someone like the "lone ranger" as he calls himself.
Overall I'm very glad that he's safe and sound over there, and I really hope that things stay that way for him till he gets out and goes back to school like he origionally planned!
:techman: