I was facilitating United Through Reading at the Armed Forces Network offices when a young Army Captain came in to read to his four daughters. (He looked 26, but said he was 32.) He had a German last name, so we were comparing length (his is only 11 letters), discussing his family's story in America, my planned trip to Germany, etc. As we chatted a little more I found that he is actually a Combat Surgeon. While he was reading behind closed doors, the Air Force NCO helping me said that the young Captain was part of a story AFN had aired recently that showed him performing surgery while on a helicopter, trying to save the leg of a critically injured soldier during an evacuation from the field. Ultimately the soldier's life was saved, but his leg was not.
When the Captain was done reading we spoke more about the effects that such a grave injury would have on the soldier, his family and his life. The Captain said over and over how indebted he was to our soldiers, how much he admired them and how they are giving up so much. He didn't seem to realize that taking a helicopter into hostile territory and putting his life on the line to rescue his comrades was courageous on his part.
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While I was getting set up there were some guys laying carpet tiles. It turned out that they had to trim one of the tiles about 1/4" to fit. How many armed forces does it take to trim one carpet tile? Three Marine enlisted with scissors, two Army officers using a knife and one Air Force NCO to supervise. At least the carpet fits flat.
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We had three (3) rocket attacks within a 24-hour period. It gets boring and stuffy hanging out in the bunkers.
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I love my job.
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