Posted July 31st, 2009 by Mike
Here are a couple stories from the Chicago Tribune about our security force company returning home. One has a short video of their homecoming, the other tells the story of the March 15th IED. Reading that story brought back a lot of feelings. Near he end it tells about how SFC Burleson reacted when he found out the other 2 guys didn’t make it. I remember exactly how I felt when I heard that, just crushed. Everybody expected to see SGT Abeyta and SPC Weinger again.
Not Everyone Comes Home
Celebration, Sorrow As Illinois National Guard Troops Return From Afghanistan
Posted July 18th, 2009 by Mike
I’m in Manas now on my way home, should be there in less than a week!
The team that replaced us is interested in keeping this blog going. Once they get settled in and rolling they’ll start posting here. It’ll be nice to keep up with what’s going on in the province and I know some of you still have family there in JBad. So just because I’m coming home don’t delete this site from your favorites!
Posted July 13th, 2009 by Mike
I’ve posted links to a lot of articles reporting positively about the PRTs and what we’re doing here. I came across one today that wasn’t so positive. The author makes a lot of good points and there’s really nothing in the article I can argue against based on my experience here. I don’t really have a solution.
http://photomaniacal.com/blog/humvees-in-a-china-shop-anna-husarska
Posted July 5th, 2009 by Mike
We have a couple Chicago Tribune reporters embedding with us for a while and they did a story about our 4th of July celebration here.
4th of July in Nangarhar
Everything’s going fine here. If everything goes the way it should I’ll be back in San Antonio before August!
Posted June 25th, 2009 by Mike
A while back I received an email from a film maker about an upcoming documentary on Afghanistan. The film is almost completed and there’s a trailer up for it. Below is a short blurb about the film from Anthony Hornus, the man behind the project:
…in Feb. and March of 2008 I traveled with a cameraman to Afghanistan to film the first in our series of “Outside the Wire” documentaries. It is entitled “Outside the Wire: The Forgotten Children of Afghanistan.” Certainly crushing poverty, years of war and oppression and lack of basic human needs (water, sanitary conditions) makes Afghanistan a land of despair.
But, as my modernist-thinking Afghan friends believe, there is now at least a strong new sense of hope. I got sick and tired of hearing about the “Bad Americans,” blah, blah, blah by the far left. We’re not doing an infomercial for the military, but with the grace of God we’re going to balance the story of good vs. evil, and helping those who can’t help themselves.
The entire key to the success in Afghanistan-Pakistan region is education of the young toward tolerance, understanding and respect for all faiths and cultures and empowering them with basic aid, school supplies and economic opportunities, while providing security from the bad guys.
I’m excited to see the end result which should be out this fall or winter. Keep an eye on the project as there will be other films to come in the Outside the Wire series.
Watch the trailer here!
Alternate site for the trailer.
Collective Development Incorporated
Dennis Therrian
Subscribe