Fair Winds and Following Seas to a Brother in Arms

Last weekend, I took my friend Huan Nguyen to the BIAP (Baghdad International Air Port) military terminal and put him on the plane. I was glad but bittersweet. You see, I was sent here early to relieve him. Normally, as part of the military you get used to arrivals and departures - your own happens roughly every three years, and within a command there is always someone coming and going. Usually as well, people are far more sad to see your replacement leave, and you personally can't wait for them to get the hell out, because the longer they stay, the harder it is for you to take the reins. This was different though.
Technically, you could say I only knew Huan for about three months. I arrived on April Fools day, and he left in the middle of June, and except for a few emails upon me receiving orders, we were strangers. But I feel that I have known him for most of my life. You get that when you run into those people whom you can call "old souls". You see, Huan is the embodiment of someone called to duty in service of his country.
As you can guess, Huan wasn't born in the US. He was born in Vietnam, back in a time when that didn't have the nicest of connotations. While we share the same rank, he continues to serve in the reserves at 45 years old. As an early teenager he was beaten, tortured and part of his family were murdered. He escaped the hell he was living in and emigrated to the US, to live with his extended family. As many immigrant stories go, he learned english from sesame street, and studied hard, eventually going to college, earning a degree or two and becoming a productive member of society. But that wasn't enough.
While most of us look to college and jobs as stepping stones, Huan looked at them as gifts that needed to be repaid. He joined the Naval Reserves in some small effort to pay back his debt for America allowing him to become a citizen. Then the war came. August would have made two years that he had been away from his family. August of 2004, Huan was sent to Japan for six months to help push papers for an organization that had a need since one of it's own had been called to the front. Following that hitch, he volunteered to come to Iraq.

Huan more or less singlehandedly built an organization from the ground up, that one day people will say turned the tide of this conflict. Not only was he recognized by his command, but by practically every other Army organization in the theater that had worked with him. People would call here - not asking for someone familiar with CREW systems, but asking for Huan.
Keep in mind, that while most of us over here count days till our return, Huan actually almost fought to stay here and help wherever he could. Not that he didn't miss his family. Nor was he an opportunist looking to build a career out of military contacts - he holds patents with his "real" job at General Motors - they even supplemented his income with what he was "losing" by going on active duty. He just felt that at this time in his life, he could save people in the battlefield, help defend his country, and pay back the nation that had offered him hope and prosperity.
There are many many times a day when I wish I was home and out of this place. But it is at those times that I remind myself of the wonderful opportunities that I have to support my family, live in a land where I don't have to worry about roving gangs of armed militia, and where I have the freedoms to pursue life, liberty and happiness, and remind myself that this is just but a small sacrifice I make to pay back the debt my country has given me.
Huan, have a seat, hell - have a real beer! Put down your pack and rest my friend - consider your debt paid - your shipmates have the watch.

Hallmark, what have you done?

Ladies and Gentlemen -
If this works, I want my Mother to get some royalties out of this! She went to the store to try and find some hallmark cards for the occasion of "hope you have a happy anniversary, even though you are in a war zone, and your family is worried about you back at home". So she sent this letter....Reprinted with permission of the author!

Hallmark, Hallmark, what have you done?
I looked for a special card and I could find none!
You’ve always been there for me,
With cards for one and all.
Birthdays, weddings, retirement,
thank-yous, and passing-the-bar.

You have cards about movie stars, politics,
Divorce, and bodily functions.
Cards about weight loss, getting older,
Getting treatment, and luncheons.
You remember Father’s Day, Mother’s Day,
Kwanza, and Diwali.
You recognize nurses and bosses,
Kittens and collies.

You cater to swingers, doers,
Golfers, and losers.
Hair dressers, bus drivers,
Teachers, and boozers.
You counsel about moving, moving on,
Moving up and moving out.
Of your care and concern,
There is no doubt.

You care deeply, openly, simply and truly,
Your concern is honest, greatly, justly and duly.
Imagine my surprise then
When a card I could not find.
A card for our military men and women
Who are all on our minds.

You may be quite liberal,
And politically correct.
Just remember our men and women in uniform
Provide you the freedom to do what you elect.
These military folks don’t like being away from home
And they don’t like the war.
They miss their families, their friends, their pets, their comforts,
Down deep in their core.

So I implore you, O’Hallmark the great
Show us what you’re made of, show us that you rate.
Produce a line of "Freedom" cards that will show support
For our men and women in uniform and their families still at port.
To start a "Freedom" line is not only the right thing to do,
But think of the revenue it would produce for you!!

Happy Father's Day!!

One of the benefits of working this much without a weekend, is that time FLIES!! It just seems like yesterday I was making my Mother's day entry. One of the first casualties of war they say is innocence. While I have yet to see any "action" per se (and hope never to have to - submariners on the front line just sounds like a bad storyline!)I can definately see the effects. This is a country of walls, barriers, checkpoints and wire. It also is a country of Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters and Family. When I look at the role models I have in my life for men, I can truly say that I am blessed. I can only hope that I can live a life half as good as my Dad, and my 'second' dad, or as Shannon says "my Bob".
There are times when I feel down, depressed, mad, and angry at the world. And then I think of how old I am in relation to the boys, and get caught off guard - all those memories I have of what I was doing and how I was feeling when I was their age and what perceptions I had of my Dad. I remember being mad at him, for being in awe of him as he coached baseball, of how easy he made it seem to be a dad, to be in charge, to be a man.
I now realize that he felt the same things I am feeling today - scared, nervous, worried, concerned, lacking confidence and like everything is a charade. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is that there is a job to do, with people depending on you. That the only thing in the world that matters is your family. That you will do anything in the world to give them a better life and to keep them safe, even if it means leaving them to go halfway around the world to fight evil.
Derek and Aleks - you boys make me so proud, and a guy couldn't ask for better kids. I am so happy to be your dad. Bob - thanks for being a role model, and treating me as your own son. Brad - happy almost Father's day on your latest addition - I can't wait to hear the news tomorrow! Jon - welcome to the club! Enjoy the diapers and the 3AM feeding and the hassles of dealing with car seats - they grow up too fast. Dad - thank you for teaching me how to be a man. Not by hiding your feelings, or being stoic, but for enjoying life, cussing, yelling, laughing, and living. If anything my time over here has taught me is that (pardon the blatant copyright infringement Mr. Brooks) life is not tried, it is merely survived if you are standing outside the fire. Thank you for teaching me how to laugh about getting burned!

Ding Dong the Witch is dead!

Sorry to start out with such a graphic image, but this is a really big thing here. I totally agree with our Commander in Chief here, but it was a definite boost to the old spirits here when the news came out. I happened to be driving around Log Base Seitz at the time. It is a logistical base on the edge of camp where there are a lot of mechanics and techs. I had asked for directions when I went in the gate, and an Army SGT came over and gave me directions. At the time, his attitude was locked on, very professional and straight forward. All around good kid. So later, as I was driving out and heard the news, I pulled up to the checkpoint (which people don't normally do, so it drew the attention of the multiple guards there - most of them privates / Specialists). I started telling one of them about the news, and he had an "Oh that's nice" sort of reaction, but when the SGT came over and I told him, he practically was doing backflips. Fist pumping, hooting, jumping up and down. It was nice to make someone's day here.

So what does this all mean to the troops? Yes, there is an insurgency still out here, and the websites are going crazy - we hear translations of them in the Stars and Stripes all the time. I am a big fan of energy however - you can feel it, you can sense it. If nothing had happened and we wouldn't have gotten the bastard, then things would have just "gone on". That is what stage of the war we are at right now - making progress, doing good work, but for the most part putting in time until something happens. Well, something DID happen. You can feel it. It is like a momentary big sigh of relief. While not necessarily physical, there is an emotional energy building here. Unless someone steps up quickly and is more bloodthirsty, evil, insane, etc, fill in the evil blanks.....I think we may have turned a corner. While they will never be totally gone (how many of us can say we killed ALL the cockroaches in our house?) they are without an energy source themselves.

Who knows what the future may bring, but for right now, things are starting to look up.

Happy Anniversary Baby!

Ok, to all the "other" readers, I will apologize up front, but this may get mushy! Between the post by Bearnice and this one, there hasn't really been any "hard" news, but we can get back to that later...
Shannon, you always say that "one of these days" you may let me off the hook for my embarrasing and awkward moments, like at our wedding reception when I totally blanked the idea that I had the opportunity to publicly proclaim my love for you, and chose instead to say a bunch of things about family and friends.....well you can see that with the whole www.world watching, that I hope this makes up for it.
I may be here half a world away right now in the middle of a combat zone, but I still find myself thinking of you - Looking at the bombed out former palaces of dictators past, and think how I am going to describe a particular arch, or mosaic, or artifact. I don't see the war or the bad stuff that often - not because it isn't there, but because I find myself looking for things that are good in my life to tell you about.
It is so incredible when you realize that your life can be made so good, not because you are living in paradise, but because no matter how crappy your situation may be, you have someone to share it with......wait a minute, that didn't come out right. Maybe what I am trying to tell you is that while this may not be ideal right now, at least we still have each other. And while we are apart for almost all the holidays this year, we still have next year, and the year after, and many many more holidays, events, good times and bad times to share, but the key is that we will share them together.
Anniversaries don't mean that we celebrate another year gone by, it means that we revel in the wonderful life we will have together. As I sit here in my time zone, and you in yours (not quite the 7th yet!) I can't help but feel close to you still. And to the whole world, while I may have missed some previous opportunities to get things right, I am making it known now, that I am the luckiest man on earth to have such a wonderful, strong, and amazingly beautiful wife to share the rest of my life with.

Happy anniversary Shannon
Love always,
Vince