(11SEPT2008)Eventually, every day will start to feel the same and I will enter what most of us refer to as “Groundhog Day” (after the Bill Murray movie). As I’ve only been in country for 13 days, I’m not quite there yet. I’m still learning things, still getting the hang of my position here, and my office & living quarters remain in flux.
Even in that state of unchanging days, though, there are occasions that refuse to go unnoticed. Holidays, as an example, remind one of how far away we are from our families and friends, marked in theater only by a meal of dry turkey and ham instead of the usual dry meatloaf and fried chicken. Other than that, it’s business as usual, and if you don’t notice the gray stuffing at the DFAC the holiday can come and go without your knowledge. I didn’t notice Labor Day until dinner.
September 11th is of course such a day – not a holiday, but a day we can’t help but notice and one that speaks directly to the armed forces and what we’re doing all the way out here in the first place. I was in Iraq last year on this date, and the day was subdued, as it was here in Afghanistan today.
Flags were flown at half-staff, and I spotted several units raising and lowering flag after flag, no doubt to be presented to someone with a certificate stating that the flag was flown over such-and-such HQ in Afghanistan on September 11th.
I have a flag that was flown on a UAV last year on this date in Iraq, even brought the flag with me to Afghanistan, though it didn’t occur to me to look for opportunities to fly it today.
It’s not always easy to draw the connection from that tragic day to our life and work in Afghanistan, though we often try to. I went about my business today, reflecting and remembering the events of 7 years ago, but focused, as we all are, on what we’re doing here and now.
DFAC = Dining Facility
UAV = Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
