Happy Memorial Day!

To each and every person reading this I hope that you have a wonderful Memorial Day. Today was a real good day for us here in Aghanistan...we began by running the Afghan version of the Cotton Row 5k run that is held annually in Huntsville. I must say that I won't be nearly as willing to say "yes" to the next request to participate in a 5k, it really whipped me. All four guys in the 1960th ran and I think we did pretty good considering the conditions!

The main reason today was so good is because we actually had a pretty fun day, mandatory fun if you understand the Army. Two people in the unit were promoted so we had a ceremony for them followed by a cookout. We reserved the grill and volleyball court for the event. We've had quite a bit of planning go into this cookout and we wound up eating steaks, lobster, and corn...it was good! After eating we played probably 10 games of volleyball and now I look like a lobster...and yes(Loni & Mom), I was wearing sunscreen. I must say that my favorite part of the day is that the commander gave us the rest of the day off after the cookout, it's not that I dislike the work because I don't, but even a half-day off is always welcome.

My final thoughts for the day are for all of the thank-you's and well wishes that we've received over the past few days. Memorial Day and Veteran's Day afford us the time to remember the fallen and honor them in some small way. I truly don't feel old enough to fit into the Veteran's group, but I guess I fit nonetheless. Growing up all the veterans I knew were old, or at least that's what I thought. The current wars have changed all that and now there are thousands of veterans yet to reach the ripe old age of 20.

If you have the opportunity today and see a veteran please tell them thanks for their service and sacrifice. I complain from time to time about the fact that I'll be here for a full year, but then I remember that many WWII vets spend upwards of 2-3years overseas at one time.

"DUTY. HONOR. COUNTRY." ~GEN Douglas MacArthur