New Year

I hope New Year's eve was great back home.

New Year here was pretty nonexistent. Nothing too different than what we normally do. Considering life in our part of Afghanistan hasn't really changed......there are several hubs before I make it to Dallas: Blessing to Jalalabad air field (JAF); JAF to Bagram air field (BAF); BAF to Kuwait; Kuwait to Atlanta/Dallas. Guys have been making this entire leg in 3-4 days time, including the day they "regain" as they fly back to the States......

From Blessing, LT Alex Pruden also wrote in his blog today:

"... We keep waiting for things to slow down a little bit, but as it turns out in the Pech Valley, the term "fighting season" is kind of a misnomer.  It seems like every season is the fighting season, and Winter no less so....... so much so that we barely even noticed the holidays (except for getting Christmas off to relax).  But we still managed to find a little time to celebrate......"

Merry Christmas

My PSG flew out on leave last night. We have a lot of visitors - combat stress doing their usual run through our AO, physical therapy will be coming and the division psychiatrist......speaking of visitors the Chief of Staff of the Army is coming to one of our remote outposts around Xmas......should be presenting some valorous awards while he's there. Our medic's family who was KIA in november will receive a posthumous silver star. We put our other medics on that operation in for bronze stars w/"v" (valor). We have a group of amazing guys. It's both inspiring and humbling to be a part of this platoon.
 
Lt. Alex Pruden also wrote from Blessing:

 " Whew...made it to Christmas! Honestly, it would be easy to forget about if it wasn't for all of the wonderful support and packages that you all have sent over. Thanks to the deluge of shortbread cookies, candy canes, and Christmas lights we received in the last few mail drops, it's even beginning to look a little bit like Christmas (at least inside our buildings...outside we opted to keep our camouflage netting). The weather is also getting colder...sort of. Lows of about 30 degrees at night give way to highs of 65 degrees during the day. Frankly, those of us from the Southwest don't mind a bit, although some of the guys are definitely missing the white Christmas.

A lot of events have occurred in the last month that I haven't had time to go into detail about. The enemy has continued fighting into the winter months, and we've seen a good share of the fighting here at FOB Blessing......Again, from all of us here at FOB Blessing, we hope you have a merry Christmas......Please keep these men and all of America's servicemembers deployed overseas in your thoughts and prayers during the rest of the season. And most importantly, celebrate and enjoy the holidays!"

Giving

Lt. Alex Pruden wrote today from FOB Blessing:

" Back home, I guess the holiday season is in full swing. Thanksgiving is over, as is Black Friday and "Cyber Monday" (whatever that is). Although I'm glad that I am missing out on the Christmas shopping spectacle, I as well as everyone here will certainly miss the times of celebration with friends and family. But Christmas is about giving, and thanks to the gracious and generous support of Lynn Clark and her family, we were able to embrace the Christmas spirit a little bit by getting to be Santa Claus.

Lynn sent several boxes of toys, which we handed out to about 30 local orphans. Donning Santa hats, we went outside the gate and had the kids line up and cycle through the line, where they could pick a toy of their choice. Despite the overwhelming popularity and name recognition of Jon Cena, surprisingly the hottest item was the toy microphone. I guess they've been piping in the re-runs of "Middle East Idol". Jon Cena statues and action figures took a close second, with the chalk and chalkboards finishing third.

We enjoyed giving back to the community in a tangible way. Because of the amount of fighting that we do, it can be easy to adopt a hardened attitude against the people here. But looking into the eyes of these kids, I saw the future of Afghanistan. Their words, deeds, attitudes, and actions will shape this country long after we're gone and forgotten. In reality, a simple act of gift-giving may be one of the most significant contributions that we've made here so far. And as an added bonus, seeing smiles on all those faces brings a little bit of Christmas cheer to our hearts.

Thanks again to Lynn Clark for her donation and generosity. Without here the above would not have been possible."

Thanksgiving

This part of Afghanistan is getting a bit chillier. in the distant, higher peaks we can see some snow. Nothing too crazy though - right now the weather is nice, not too hot, not too cold.

Thanksgiving was here at Blessing as well. The food was quite good - turkey (of course), prime rib, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, creamed green beans, corn on the cob, stuffing, and lots of pie and ice cream. They brought out the food for lunch and we had the majority of the medics all at one table. it was nice getting the platoon family together, seeing our guys come off missions and welcoming the new medics to the platoon.

Memorial

Yesterday was the memorial ceremony for our recent KIAs - 6 total in one operation, 5 of which occured in the same firefight. The memorial was conducted at a smaller base that the soldiers lived at. For the spartan environment, it was very well conducted. It was good to gain some closure on our medic who was killed. We saw a bunch of our other medics from the other bases - a little mini reunion - but it is unfortunate that it took an incident like this to gather everyone. One of the NCOs (Daniel, you met him) and I flew to the base and on the flight over, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the countryside is. The stunning terrain belies the violence implemented upon it. It is a strange, unfortunate duality of this country. It's crazy to think of how much we've accomplished during our year+ back at Campbell, and how much we've accomplished in our nearly 7 months here.

In FOB Blessing, Lt Alex Pruden also wrote about the cost of war " Just to give you all a quick update, 3rd Platoon and the "Above the Rest" Battalion have been very busy this month. As I've alluded to in the past few posts, we've stepped up our efforts to root out Taliban presence in the Pech and its tributaries...and security has greatly improved for the people of this area. Unfortunately, these victories have borne a price: on the last major operation, 6 soldiers were killed and many more wounded...It was a solemn reminder to all of us of the danger we face and the risks we take every day. Thank you all for your prayers and support, I'll bring you up to speed soon."

Fighting intensifies

Indeed the fighting intensifies. The battalion was engaged in a 4-day battle in what was once one of our quietest valleys. It started as a company air assault, and within 24 hours one platoon became combat ineffective. three of the key leaders were wounded, as well as my medic attached to that platoon, who was killed. The article is at this link:

 http://www.wtxl.com/content/topstories/story/Chihuahua-family-opens-up-about-their-loss/Mglrwyr-Mku5v6fk72KJqQ.cspx


After the first day, the brigade poured in asset after asset - two more companies, a ranger platoon, an Afghan commando unit and two special forces teams, and all the aircraft possible. all medics out there dealt with a mass casualty situation at one point or another.

Operaiton Bulldog Bite, now five days long, has resulted in the deaths of more than 50 enemy fighters and the discovery of two or three "large" weapons caches, but has cost six lives of 101st Airborne Division soldiers and others injured.

The operation is penetrating deep into the Pech River Valley and is involving several nighttime air assaults to root out enemy fighters from the remote mountain villages.

On another note, we've continued to get a lot of care packages, letters, and support from all of you. Again, we want to tell you that we greatly appreciate it. We have reached the halfway point in the tour, and many of us are looking forward to leave over the holidays, and our thoughts reach back to home, family, and friends. So getting a letter or a package does wonders for keeping spirits up.

Challenges

The Pech Valley river is fed from glaciers and snow from the Hindu Kush mountain range to its north. The river rises in central Nuristan Province and proceeds south and southeasternly through the center of Kunar Province, joining the Kunar River at the provincial capital of Asadabad. It is considered one of the most dangerous places for NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Lately, it’s finally cooling off around the valley. Snow has appeared on several distant peaks...I have a feeling it’s a sign of things to come.

From FOB Blessing, Lt. Alex Pruden recently wrote:

 "...Please keep PFC Luis Vasquez in your thoughts and prayers. PFC Vasquez was wounded last week during combat operations, and was evacuated first to Bagram, then to Landstuhl, and ultimately back to the U.S. Fortunately, his surgery was successful and he should recover. Also been meaning to send out thank yous to everyone who has supported us with a care package. I know a blanket "thank you" post on this blog is a sorry excuse for a real thank you note, but rest assured, they are coming. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers...

Let me just start off by saying that this has been our busiest day so far. Prior to election day, the insurgents issued night letters and death threats to citizens, hoping to deter them from voting. Local Taliban commanders were reinforced with fighters from other provinces and districts. The Taliban shadow government threatened spectacular attacks against the various polling centers. The polls opened early, and we were out even earlier. In the Waygul Valley, we had one polling site. As in everything else we do, we worked jointly with our Afghan partners to provide security for it. The Afghan National Army and Police provided local security at the site itself. We roved throughout the area, maintaining a constant presence and attempting to provide a buffer between the enemy and the polling site...

Throughout the battalion, fighting was heavy. Our platoon alone was involved in three different firefights in two different areas. We encountered everything from RPG’s and machine guns to snipers and mortars. At one point during the second fight, the platoon was pinned down by heavy enemy fire, and three soldiers were wounded. After evacuating the casualties back to FOB Blessing, we took enough time to grab a mouthful of food and reload ammo and fuel before it was back out the gate and back into the fray... At the end of an exhausting day, our platoon (as well as our company and battalion) successfully completed our mission. Thanks to our efforts, all of the enemy activity was directed away from the polling centers.

Essentially every Afghan in our district who wanted to vote was able to do so. Over one thousand men and women traveled to the Waygul polling site and voted. People happily exclaimed that they were very happy with the security, that it was even better than during last year’s presidential elections. Although that was our busiest day yet, neither we nor the enemy has sat idle since then. The members of this platoon have proved themselves again and again in the face of the enemy, and will continue to do so until our job is done...

Bottom line: we’ve seen a decent share of challenges lately, and the men of the platoon have showed great courage in the face of them. We’ve learned some important lessons, and gained new respect for the enemy and the difficulties that the terrain of this valley presents....Recently, the enemy took the opportunity to remind us that we do indeed serve in one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan..."