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...

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Rough going in the East

First, my thanks to all still following this very interrupted page...we've had extremely poor internet connectivity lately, often just a few minutes over the course of a day or none at all, making it nearly impossible to catch up on past happenings and photos. Even now, this posting has been in progress for the past couple of hours, as I try to send it out.

I will post photos from my recent R&R trip soon, but first I ask that you remember the seven brave souls who lost their lives in this region over the past two weeks in five separate incidents. Four of them died in Kunar, where I took these two months ago during the operation there. As always, there have been and continue to be memorial services for each fallen soldier. May they rest in peace.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great photos, spent some months in Afganistan in the early 1970's, beautiful country - wonderful people, but at least I wasn't getting shot at (not much anyway, the Afganis have never taken kindly to strangers).
Yes, twenty or thirty kilometers on a map could take a couple of days to walk, most of it up (or down) 60deg slopes - not easy, but then we were hippies and too stoned to notice!!
And Afghan bread, both the flat and UFO shapes, bought from the baker hot and stuffed down your clothes to keep it that way and give a bit of warmth to the body (I was there in winter and it was cold!).
Not a great supporter of involvement in Afgani affairs, to be honest (when I was there girls got an education, mini-skirts were not uncommon in Kabul - there were even night-clubs there, but the government was nominally 'communist' and so the west armed the warlords who were nasty (nailing shut the doors of a school, pouring gasoline throught the windows and setting it alight, with the kids and teacher inside).
But someone needs to help that poor, benighted country and I admire you for being in the thick of it.
Good blog, will try and check it out, if only for those memory evoking photographs.
Anthony

June 17, 2006 at 1:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anthony – the whole situation was slightly more complicated that you say :-) It's interesting that you omit the fact that Afghanistan was invaded by Soviets in 1979 (stayed there till 1989). And not only US government assisted the mujahideen groups, but China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were involved as well.
History can be paradoxical sometimes – Germans supported the Bolshevik movement and were friends with Russians at the beginning of the World War 2 after all.

I’ll keep all the fallen in and their families in my thoughts and prayers. Kunar province claimed many in the last year that I still mourn.

June 17, 2006 at 4:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dan,
My sympathy and sorrow in the loss of these seven of the finest our country produces. I hold them in high honor and send prayers for their families.

Let me take the opportunity to thank-you for your service too, Dan. It is an inhospitable place to be trying to fight a war, and my appreciation and thanks is unending. Have been hearing about this largest push since the original following 9/11 and hold you all in my thoughts for success. You guys are the best in the world. Get them!!

June 17, 2006 at 6:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a fantastic blog, thankyou Captain Dan. The photos are amazing.
I am sorry about our losses over there and our family prays for all of you. We are angry that we don't get more news of all of the great work that is going on over there, it drives us crazy. Today we actually saw some great footage on FOX of some young soldiers in action in the field (in Operation Mountain Thrust). They looked so well trained and proficient, we were so proud-and we aren't even parents!
It drives us crazy that the media call it "the forgotten war", they are such hypocrites! The only people who have forgotten it are the Leftist mainstream media!
Stay safe Captain Dan, and thankyou.

June 17, 2006 at 6:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for taking the time for posting!! I check in here as often as I can because as Diana says - we don't get much coverage here at home.
You all are always in my prayers and we mourn with over the lose of the soldiers. You do us PROUD - always!

June 18, 2006 at 10:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dan, Just got the Fox report Diana referred to with video and yes it was fantastic to get the pictorial aspect of the story. My knowledge of the onset of Mountain Thrust came from Fox. Have all our brave service people in our prayers as this goes forward. Many blessings to you and all with whom you service. Thank-you for the personal reporting of your war. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the coverage because were it not for the usually spotty Fox reports, elevated now due to Mountain Thrust, there is so little. Sorry you are having touble uploading - others reporting similar problems, but I am grateful you persevere. The news means a great deal. I concur with Yankeemom - you guys are the best in the world and are doing us So Proud!!!

June 18, 2006 at 11:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Skipper,

Those are some great pics of the Korengal. Hope that FOB Salerno hasn't broken your spirit yet. Not one honorable mention to your only Marine compatriot in the land of the dogfaces?

Lt K

July 29, 2006 at 11:22 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love how you set up your blog and admire how much time it must have taken to type all that. Your friend mac 5th grade

December 12, 2006 at 6:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for your photos & comments.
My son is currently out east somewhere and there is precious little info in the major media about Afghanistan.

February 28, 2007 at 10:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Major:

Did you meet my son while at the KOP in the Korengal Valley in Kunar Province? He is Mil. Intell. and heads the intell cyrpto-linquist team at the KOP. He has been there since March, 2006 and will hopefully head home in early July, 2007. He says it's getting hairy up there with a mortar attack last Sunday. His name is John Lewis McAfee. Just wondered if you met him?

Proud and worried Dad

March 2, 2007 at 7:00 PM  
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July 19, 2007 at 2:10 AM  

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