A Letter Home

"Christmas morning. A gentle fog has settled in on the base here outside of the village of Terin Kowt. With it comes the dew, covering the gravel floor that stretches from wall to wall, as well as memories of an Oregon morning. As I walked over to check on the bread I had left to cook over night in the coal heated Dutch oven, the world back home and the world here seemed not quite so far apart. The bread had cooked to perfection. We would share it in a bit for our Christmas morning get together.

I have now been with the members of Task Force Phoenix-V for nearly 10 months. A mission composed primarily of Army National Guard men and women, supplemented by members of the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine soldiers, both regular and reserve. It's a mission that finds its roots in the attacks of 9-11; a memory that sits strong with ever person here. I came here without an agenda, other than the desire to tell the story through the eyes of the soldiers as they live each day. One of the most impressionable pieces to date has nothing to do with duty, or heroism, or sacrifice, but that these soldiers are just people, just like every one of us back home. A melting pot of personalities, races and beliefs unified around the fundamental precepts of our country: the Constitution and the Bill of Rights."
KGW Afghanistan Blog