AfghaniDan

A young man's strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk...and apparently, back again.

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Location: Denver, Colorado, United States

The details of my life are quite inconsequential, really. Summers in Rangoon...luge lessons...

Friday, March 24, 2006

Soldiers and a Marine remembered

Tuesday was another solemn day at Jalalabad Airfield, as a memorial service was held for five service members that recently gave their lives in this region. Remembered were the four Army engineers who were killed by an IED two weeks ago (mentioned in my post "more terrible loss") and a Marine who died in a vehicle rollover that same week. It served as a sobering reminder to many of us that the work that still lies ahead is every bit as dangerous as it was before.

Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, salute their fallen brother. I can't tell you how great it is to be surrounded by fellow jarheads...nothing against the Army, as I made some good friends among them and they're doing a hell of a job out here too. But it's been a long time since I felt like a Devil Dog, and it's sort of like a reunion even though I didn't know any of these guys previously.

Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division, which now comprises the bulk of the U.S. forces in country, bow their heads. The four warriors who died on March 12 were engineers from the 391st Engineer Battalion, a reserve unit based in South Carolina. They cleared routes so that others could safely travel on the roads of this unstable region, and were struck while performing that bold mission.

SgtMaj Berg of 1/3 recognizes the fallen soldiers. In the background is a South Korean engineer platoon, in camp for a short time to help build structures (unlike Salerno, it's almost all tents here).
One thing I really appreciated from this memorial was how much mutual respect there was between Army and Marines in places like this. It's good to see that when the going gets tough, the rivalry dissipates and professionalism takes over.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting, your pictures really help us get a sense of what a time like this is like for you and all those who serve. Thanks so much for your service.

March 25, 2006 at 12:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i started with st. pat's day. rick's oldest sister, nicole is my daughter-in-law and finished her tour of afghanistan last april. she's a flight surgeon with the 25th.my son#3 ben is a naval engineer based at centcomand has done work in afghanistan though more in iraq, horn of africa, and 2 months in kashmir, after the earthquake.i was a pointman in viet nam 68-69 and we didn't do much in the way of services.take care of yourselves. we care about you.

March 25, 2006 at 10:42 PM  
Blogger Julia M. said...

Thank you for all you do... My husband is currently on his 4th tour... I just wanted to show my support to our soldiers... Thank You!

March 29, 2006 at 1:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for the pictures. My son is over there. It helps to look at the photos, hoping to maybe spot Jack in one of them. Thanks to all our soldiers. You are truly an American Hero.

May 7, 2006 at 9:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for these pictures. I am actually one of the soldiers in the service. Those fallen were my friends and my brothers. Thank you so much for your post, it shall help us all to never forget.

October 3, 2006 at 12:09 AM  

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