Soldier's Home

A Final Post

2008-12-15T13:45:57Z

Photo: David Botti

As WWII entered its final days, the French writer Marguerite Duras, then a member of the resistance in Paris, waited to see if her husband had survived the German concentration camps and would be coming home. The notes she took of that time were subsequently published as The War: A Memoir, in which she relays her observations of a once occupied city expecting what seemed an immanent liberation and start of a new era. As she watched the quotidian life of Paris resume once again, Duras wrote:

"Peace is visible already. It's like a great darkness falling, it's the beginning of forgetting."

Her words have always struck me in the way they apply to a vast number of aftermaths throughout my own lifetime and history; with peace does come forgetting, at least on a larger scale.

In our nation's current wars abroad peace certainly has not been totally achieved, but in some ways it seems the forgetting has already begun. I've noticed that among fellow veterans and vets of other wars there is a common theme often invoked: nobody out there really cares about what the troops went through, or, Americans just want to forget their messy wars. It's almost a natural instinct: to fuel a perpetual candle in the face of America so that it remembers what some Americans did far beyond the country's borders.

But there is also the view of those Americans unaffiliated with the military to consider. In those early days when I first came back from Iraq I was frustrated people weren't paying as close attention to the war as I expected them too. I thought them apathetic, lazy, and selfish. It took time for me to step back, calm my emotions, and realize some of my expectations were too critical and colored by the shock of coming home. In truth, there was certainly a very fertile middle ground.

It's this balance that I've tried to achieve with this blog: highlighting veterans and military issues that are important to understand, not because they are just important to veterans, but because they're important for every American. The enormous influx of war veterans back into American society since September 11 means a new and unique demographic is now firmly in place.

This is my last blog post here at Soldier's Home. When I began the blog last October I decided to name it after a semi-autobiographical Ernest Hemingway short story written about a WWI veteran returning to the quiet life of a Midwestern suburb. Nearly everything he wrote rang true almost a century later: the drifting, loneliness, and brooding. Using his story as a guide I hope I've been able to highlight both the daily news events in veterans affairs, while also taking note of those experiences that can transcend generations.

After writing this blog for more than year I can say that the most crucial stories are not those affecting just veterans, but the stories that reflect the country as a whole through its veterans. Marguerite Duras saw a new generation coming of age at the end of WWII on the cusp of forgetting the recent past. And even now, it's easy to see dialogue about the wars we fight diminishing as the years pass by. It used to be that it was largely up to America's veterans to carry on the memory of their fallen comrades. But if we can learn anything from history, it's that in order not forget we have to collectively want to remember.

I don't know if this is possible. We're still in the thick of it. But I hope the stories I've posted here helped bring the veteran experience to the civilian consciousness, and I thank you for letting me try.

Video: First Gurkha to Die in Afghanistan

2008-11-24T17:21:30Z

A new video posted yesterday features footage from a battle in which the first Gurkha to die in Afghanistan was killed. Gurkha's are Nepalese soldiers recruited to serve with the British army which they've done since 1815, fighting throughout all the major wars including Iraq and Afghanistan. The UK Guardian provided this account of the battle in which the fallen Gurkha, 28-year-old Yubraj Rai, was killed:

Braving withering fire from fortified Taliban positions, men from the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Gurkha Rifles, located the body of Rifleman Yubraj Rai and then carried it more than 100m across open ground.
In previous years the fighting in Helmand has subsided in November, but the latest dispatches from the region reveal concerted resistance from the Taliban forces. Rai, who had been in Afghanistan for only two weeks, was shot during an operation to clear the southern districts of Musa Qala after intelligence revealed that the Taliban had consolidated their forces almost a year after British troops seized control of the town.
During the operation earlier this month, a Gurkha platoon was ambushed on a stretch of open ground. Amid the chaos, Rai was hit almost immediately.
Colleagues initially believed that the 28-year-old was just diving for cover. But after he realised Rai had been hit, Lieutenant Oli Cochrane began planning to rescue his body, but suddenly lost all radio contact as a bullet hit his radio. Further rounds then pierced his rucksack.
As Taliban fighters found their range, Captain Gajendera Angdembe, Rifleman Dhan Gurung and Rifleman Manju Gurung ran 100m across open ground to retrieve Rai's body.

Here's the video via ITN:

A second Gurkha was later killed in Afghanistan when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.

New Ad Tells Vets They're Not Alone, Offers Social Networking

2008-11-24T16:52:42Z

Sometimes one needs to restate the obvious to point out what's right in front of us. That's what New York Times columnist Bob Herbert did recently when he wrote these words:

With so much attention understandably focused on the economy and the incoming administration, the struggles being faced by G.I.’s coming home from combat overseas are receding even further from the public’s consciousness.

If you’re in your late teens or early 20s and your energies have been directed for a year or more toward dodging roadside bombs and ambushes, caring for horribly wounded comrades and, in general, killing before being killed, it can be difficult to readjust to a world of shopping malls, speed limits and polite conversation.

Herbert was discussing the launch of a major new ad campaign by the advocacy group, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, that aims to send a message to returning vets: you are not alone. The ad touts an online social networking Website called communityofveterans.org which not only provides useful information (such as how to navigate the VA), but also gives vets a chance to correspond with each other. Because the site was designed by veterans, attention is paid to aspects of veteran life the general public may not be aware of, such as an excellent portion that deals with homecoming. Put simply, the site got it absolutely right:

It’s good to be home. Or is it?

That day you dreamed about the past few months – it’s finally here. Sure, it’s great to be back, but after a while something sinks in. “It’s not as sweet as you think it is,” one vet recalls of his return.

After riding high those first few days or weeks, the honeymoon period can end abruptly. It doesn’t take long before everything that used to be familiar feels unfamiliar. You might feel like a stranger in your own town. You may feel you’ve changed, but nothing else has.

On top of that, after living on alert for so long, life at home can feel like living “with the volume turned down,” in one Iraq vet’s words. Disappointment and disorientation can mount early.

It helps to find an outlet, something you’re passionate about. “Everybody needs something to focus their energy on other than what’s going on,” one vet says. “You need something to get your mind off everything else.”

The new ad campaign (below) features a young vet returning to a desolate New York City, where only the handshake from another veteran makes the scene come alive again. Herbert talked with the returning veteran in the video ad, Bryan Adams, and relayed his experiences:

Bryan, now 24, was an Army sniper in Iraq from February 2004 to February 2005. At an age when many youngsters go to college or line up that first significant job, he and his squad-mates were prowling Tikrit with high-powered weapons, looking for bad guys.

He was shot in the leg and hand during a firefight, and he saw and did things that he was less than anxious to talk about when he came home.

“I wanted to go to college,” he told me. “I had all these plans, but I couldn’t seem to make them happen. I couldn’t focus. I would get, like, depressive thoughts.”

He said that he would party a lot. “Party” was a euphemism for drinking.

The drinking made him more depressed, and then he would get angry that he was “partying but not having a good time.”

Bryan said he would “flip out,” and friends began to shun him. “I just didn’t care what I did or who I affected with my actions. I would break stuff. I’d break, like appliances. It was bad.”

Writing on Veterans Day, Paul Rieckhoff founder of IAVA, explained the intentions behind this Public Service Announcement (PSA) [via Talking Points Memo]. The title of the piece was aptly named Veterans Day 2.0.

These PSAs, which will soon be running nationwide, were created in partnership with the Ad Council. You might not know the organization, but you definitely know their campaigns - these are the folks responsible for "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk" and "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste." This new campaign will be just as iconic and just as effective.

Sure, it's a powerful ad. But what is this PSA going to do to help vets?

It will bring them together and connect them with the veteran's hall of the future. Veterans coming home have told us again and again, the thing they need most of all is to reconnect with other vets. So this innovative campaign links veterans to a new private social network, exclusively for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans...

Vets can sign up for the Website here.

From LIFE Photo Archive: Soldiers in Action Through the Decades

2008-11-21T18:41:48Z

Recently Google announced it had digitized and uploaded images from the LIFE magazine photo archive, many of which have never been published before. At present Google says only 20 percent of LIFE's archive is online, but the end goal is to have 10 million images available. To do your own searches visit here.

U.S. Troops Attacked in Philippines

2008-11-20T17:23:10Z

The details are sketchy, but the Associated Press is reporting American troops riding in a convoy were fired upon by suspected Muslim militants in the Philippines earlier this week. Here's the report in full [via AP]:

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines says American troops traveling in a Philippine army convoy came under fire earlier this week from suspected Muslim militants, but there were no casualties.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson says the incident happened on Tuesday and that the U.S. military vehicle was part of the logistics mission.
Philippine police said a militant believed to be from the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group was killed in the clash on southern Jolo island. Police say six Abu Sayyaf militants ambushed the convoy in Indanan town.
Several dozens U.S. troops are stationed on Jolo to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians as well as counterterrorism support to Filipino forces battling the militants.

Afghanistan Watch: A Story Compilation

2008-11-20T17:18:24Z

Though it's often cited as where the U.S. has to now focus its military, there's still little substantive news stories on the war in Afghanistan. To keep tabs on the latest developments involving U.S. and coalition troops in that conflict, here's the first installment in of an occasional series highlighting the latest about Afghanistan.

First we have a video from the BBC which offers a concise and disturbing account of U.S. Army soldiers in Afghanistan (warning: the video features partial footage of dead soldiers). The BBC cameraman was recently awarded a journalism prize for what he filmed.

Also from the BBC is this video following British soldiers as they pursue a group of Taliban fighters, an act likened to "chasing ghosts" by the British commander. Also, during the mission a faulty mortar round injuries a Briton forcing a tactical retreat as his comrades carry him to safety. As the BBC reporter remarks, it was a regular day "gaining ground, loosing ground -- and there have been many days much worse than this."

Last week in the New York Times embedded reporter C.J. Chivers provided a detailed "foxhole" account of a joint American and Afghani outpost where Taliban attacks are frequent and one soldier referred to their mission as acting like a "bullet sponge." This is the kind of story that really illustrates the nature of fighting in Afghanistan from the troop level. Excerpt:

In roughly four months, Apache Troop has taken fire on at least 70 days. The attacks have come by rocket, mortar, machine gun and rifle fire. The troop’s patrols have been ambushed. Its observation posts have been hit by rocket fire.

On one day alone, the outpost was attacked four times.

The fighting is so frequent, and the terrain so rugged and heavily populated by insurgent spotters, that the outpost’s patrols dare not venture far.

On Saturday, insurgents fired on Apache Troop for an hour in the morning with a mix of mortar shells, rockets and large-caliber sniper fire. The soldiers fought back until they thought the attack had ended. Then the Taliban opened fire again.

Fighting broke out again at 1 p.m. During the exchange, a mortar round landed at the base of the castle’s southern wall and exploded with a thunderous crack, shaking the compound. About 15 long seconds later, a radio operator called to the other bunkers over the two-way radios. “Everyone’s O.K.,” he said.

UK Guardian journalist John D. McHugh has spent many months chronicling the fighting in Afghanistan where he's provided a number of multimedia presentations. The stories he's produced have ranged from following medical flights, to American foot patrols, to coalition interactions with the civilian populace. You can take a look at his Afghanistan photography portfolio here, as well as videos and audio slide shows here.

And lastly, if you didn't catch NBC News correspondent Richard Engel reporting from Afghanistan last month, watch this video piece about a platoon of Army soldiers on the hunt for Taliban fighters. The mission turns tragic when the soldiers accidentally call in mortar fire on their own men -- killing one and wounding others. Again the theme from many Afghanistan reports is present: that soldiers are living in isolated Spartan outposts where Taliban attacks come everyday and where nerves and morale are constantly ground down.

An Environmental Addendum

2008-11-20T14:01:09Z

Yesterday we took a look at a batch of new electric cars members of the Army, Air Force, and Navy will soon find ferrying them around bases. Environmental magazine Plenty recently gave a quick rundown on the good and the bad of military policies as they pertain to the environment. As one might expect, the piece notes the further away a particular environmental initiative is to accomplishing a tactical mission, the less the military is probably interested in it. Still, it looks like there are some good things (and not so good) going on according to Plenty [excerpts]:

The good

* At North Carolina's Fort Bragg, troops train in mock villages built from recycled shipping containers. The container construction cuts waste and energy use, while reducing the price tag from $400,000 per village to just $25,000.

* At forward operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, 85 percent of energy goes to power AC units that keep troops and equipment cool. Spraying foam insulation directly onto tents has cut energy losses by 45 percent, reducing the amount of diesel trucked to the front line and decreasing convoys’ exposure to attacks.

The bad
* The armed forces rely heavily on domestic fuel, using 1.5 percent of America’s oil. That’s spurred investment in coal-to-liquid technologies, which release huge quantities of greenhouse gases, and the Department of Defense wants to start drilling for oil on military bases.

* Forget hybrid Humvees. Efforts to build battery-powered tactical vehicles have fallen flat — the military will be using conventional gas-guzzlers for the foreseeable future.

The ugly
* The Pentagon claims that depleted uranium munitions, widely used by US troops in Iraq, are harmless. Scientists aren’t so sure: The Royal Society, Britain’s national academy of science, says the radioactive metal can poison soil and water, and raises risks of kidney damage and lung cancer.

* Under the Bush Administration, the military won exemptions from environmental regulations protecting endangered species, migratory birds, and marine mammals. Now the DoD hopes to sidestep rules governing Superfund sites and air pollution, skipping costly clean-ups on 129 heavily-polluted sites and redefining “hazardous materials” to exclude unexploded munitions.

The Army's New Electric Cars

2008-11-19T18:36:05Z

Starting in mid-December this year new electric cars purchased by the Army will start arriving at U.S. bases for on-site use, the Military Times reports. Joined by the Air Force and Navy, the Army is planning to receive 800 of these vehicles by next year with an ultimate goal of 10,000 overall. Paul Bollinger, deputy assistant Army secretary for energy and partnerships, told the paper:

The Army is moving quickly; the purchase plans were unveiled in October as part of the service’s ambitious new energy strategy, which also calls for the construction of solar and geothermal facilities.
Bollinger, citing General Services Administration figures, said each electric car would use an average of about $400 in electricity per year, compared with the roughly $2,400 in fuel needed to run a gas-powered car. Moreover, the 4,000 electric cars will save 11.5 million gallons of fuel per year, he said.

And on whether Bollinger expects the purchase of so many electric cars by all three military branches will affect the industry, he remarked:

“We are not going to buy enough to be a market maker, but we can be a market initiator,” Bollinger said. “If we buy 10,000 of these vehicles, piggyback that with perhaps 10,000 by the Air Force and 10,000 for the Navy, that is 30,000 vehicles. Automobile manufacturers can then decide if there is a market for these. We have at least created the market to get something started.”

Bollinger is part of the recently created Army Energy and Partnership Office which, in part, looks to make military energy self-sufficient while also cutting down on the overall consumption of energy. According to a recent article published by the Army's own news service, Bollinger layed out the tactical need for removing the military's dependence on the civilian power-grid:

"If we were attacked, or there was a terrible act of nature -- and our Soldiers were called out into the community to either defend or protect -- they need their installation operating," Bollinger said. "You also have critical infrastructure there, hospitals, communications, you may have munitions, and you may need electricity to pump fuel."

Energy security means that an Army installation can still provide power to its most critical operations, even if the civilian power grid is completely down. For the Army to accomplish that, it first needs to know the total energy consumption of each installation as a baseline, Bollinger said. It must determine the most important parts of the mission that need to be powered. Those two pieces of information, coupled with an effort to reduce energy usage through improved efficiency, is how he said the Army plans to gain energy security on its installations.

The article added:

Reducing energy usage and increasing energy efficiency on Army posts are not enough to provide energy security, however. Army bases must also be able to generate their own power for their most critical missions, if called on to do so.

Developing facilities that can power the needs of the Army and at the same time draw on renewable resources is something the Army isn't going to tackle alone.

"This is a partnership with the private sector," Bollinger said. "We are inviting them to come in and assist us in reaching our goal of energy security. The Army is taking a leadership role and is committed to making our installations energy secure and reducing greenhouse gas emissions -- we call that smart energy."

For more on military environmental initiatives, read this post from early October, where we took a look at environmental concerns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the News: Economy Hits Vets; 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'; and Obama's Promises

2008-11-18T17:51:56Z

Today's New York Times took a look at how some veterans (particularly wounded veterans) are faring in these troubled economic times. The life of a service member is somewhat prone to upheaval: there is the prospect of deployment; extended absences; transfers among bases; and, in some cases, living with injury. As the Times finds, such factors when combined with the economy, are making it difficult for veterans and active duty members to pay mortgages--or pay any bills at all:

But the short-term measures do little to address the underlying economic difficulties that new veterans face, beginning with the job hunt. Veterans, particularly those in their 20s, have faced higher unemployment rates in recent years than those who never served in the military, though the gap has shrunk as the economy has worsened. (Veterans traditionally have lower unemployment rates than nonveterans.)
Recently discharged veterans, though, fared worst of all. A 2007 survey for the Veterans Affairs Department of 1,941 combat veterans who left the military mostly in 2005 showed nearly 18 percent were unemployed as of last year. The average national jobless rate in October was 6.5 percent.
A quarter of those who found jobs failed to make a living wage, earning less than $21,840 a year.

“You fill out a job application and you can’t write ‘long-range reconnaissance and sniper skills,’ ” said Mr. Spurlock, who searched a year for a better-paying job than delivering pizza, finally finding one as a construction supervisor.

For those still serving in the military, the article found, some are finding themselves having to sell homes at a loss when they receive orders to transfer to another stateside base.

The Associated Press reported this morning that more than 100 former high-ranking U.S. military commanders have called for a repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gay service members. A statement from this group read in part:

"As is the case with Great Britain, Israel, and other nations that allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, our service members are professionals who are able to work together effectively despite differences in race, gender, religion, and sexuality."

This is expected to pose a difficult issue for president-elect Obama, who said in his campaign that he would support such a move but wouldn't make a decision on his own. Retired Admiral Charles Larson told the AP:

Larson, who has a gay daughter he says has broadened his thinking on the subject, believes a generational shift in attitudes toward homosexuality has created a climate where a repeal is not only workable, but also an important step for keeping talented personnel in the military.
"I know a lot of young people now — even people in the area of having commands of ships and squadrons — and they are much more tolerant, and they believe, as I do, that we have enough regulations on the books to enforce proper standards of human behavior," Larson said.

In the wake of president-elect Obama's campaign victory, the UK's Guardian newspaper profiled U.S. Army veteran Tammy Duckworth who lost her legs in Iraq and is now active in American politics. She also stood next to Obama last week as he laid a memorial wreath on Veterans Day. The paper charted her rise in political involvement:

Changing things is now Duckworth's focus. She ran for Congress in Illinois, eventually losing a nail-bitingly close race in a previously solid Republican seat. Then she became director of Illinois's Department of Veterans' Affairs, where she has raised the profile of veterans' needs, especially the problems they face getting jobs when they return from duty. She has testified before Congress regarding medical care and employment for returning veterans and spoke at this August's Democratic party convention.
In 2006 she delivered an official Democratic response to one of President Bush's weekly radio addresses to the nation. In it she lambasted his policies on Iraq and the path the White House took in going to war. 'Instead of a plan or a strategy, we get shallow slogans like "mission accomplished" and "stay the course",' she said in the broadcast. Now political office in Washington may be beckoning her.
Duckworth said she was flattered that her name was being bandied about, but insisted that she has had no talks with anyone about either a Senate seat or cabinet post. However, she does say she is willing to serve if asked.

Finally, the Military Times provides a lengthy look at how likely Obama's campaign promises to better the military will be enacted as he assumes the presidency. A list of these promises includes:

-Obama promised “pay parity” for service members without really defining what that means.

-Obama promised to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office, if conditions allow. That would make it possible to keep a second promise to “establish regularity” in deployments for active-duty members and limit deployments for National Guard and reserve members to no longer than two years, with no more than one deployment every six years.

-Rebuilding the armed forces with a view toward the future is another Obama pledge. In some ways, he’s talking about following trends already underway: Moving toward a military that has more special operations forces, civil affairs, foreign area officers and linguists. Obama has talked of creating a specialized military adviser corps of experts who can help address mutual threats.

-While Obama can have any advisers he wants, he proposed creating a military family advisory panel, which would require legislation if it were to be a formal group with the same kind of support as other advisory committees. The idea, Obama said, is to have a formal process in which military families provide input to senior military leaders about issues involving health care, education, relocation and spouse employment.

New Online Videos Attempt to Show Soldiers' Iraq

2008-11-13T19:54:33Z

There have been two developments recently in the world of online video that aim to convey U.S. military life in Iraq back to the home front -- though for much different purposes. On Monday the New York Times ran a short feature on the redesign of the U.S. Army Website, where potential recruits can now view pared-down, YouTube-esque videos of soldiers in Iraq talking about life there. As the Times reports, the "Straight From Iraq Series," is intended to target the 17-24-year-old demographic using this more current technology. From the paper:

The goal is to provide those considering the Army — along with parents and others who influence their decisions — with “verifiable information about what being a soldier is really like, what combat is really like,” said Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commanding general of the Army Accessions Command in Fort Monroe, Va., which is overseeing recruitment.

The changes in the “Army strong” campaign place more emphasis on the Internet, event marketing and other methods that connect with young Americans on a closer, more personal level...

...In addition to the new content on goarmy.com, there will be new TV commercials, meant to help drive traffic to the Web site. The first ones compare the Army to a company, a team and a school by showing young men and women in settings like an office building, a gym and a campus. The scenes shift into scenes of soldiers performing military tasks like marching and saluting the flag.

A screen shot from goarmy.com.

Oh, and for those of you rodeo fans out there, here's some bad news:

To help pay for the new media features, cutbacks are being made in areas like the Army’s sponsorships of professional rodeos.

Elsewhere on the Internet, a new Website called TroopTube is up and running allowing military members and family/friends to share videos. It may seem along the same lines as YouTube's functionality, but in May 2007 the Defense Department blocked soldiers from accessing that Website for, according to the Associated Press, "security and bandwidth issues." TroopTube's homepage states that it is a Website authorized by the Defense Department. The AP even highlights some interesting technology built into the site:

But the 4-month-old startup's real forte is making sure site searches turn up the best video results. Delve's system turns a video's sound into a text transcript. It pares unimportant words like "this" and "that," then compares what's left against a massive database of words commonly uttered in proximity to each other, collected from crawling hundreds of millions of Web pages.

The result: Even if speech recognition software trips on the one word someone is searching for, there's a good chance Delve can still deliver relevant results.

The Nuances of Celebrating Veterans Day

2008-11-11T16:37:20Z

American soldiers operating out of Joint Security Station Babil in Baghdad's Karadah neighborhood this summer lived a pretty good life for living at an outpost. The port-a-johns were a 30 second walk away, telephones and Internet accessible computers, and a steady stream of electricity flowing from generators on the outpost grounds.

Inside the sleeping quarters of second platoon you'd find surge protectors, video game consoles, and laptop computers to occupy their downtime when not on patrol in the relatively calm neighborhood. The room was crammed with bunk beds – bunk beds with actual mattresses no less. Refrigerators stocked with energy drinks, snacks, and popsicles, hummed along with the various air conditioning units poking out of the walls.

As a reporter embedded with the unit, I had the luxury of charging my Blackberry, digital camera, and computer. I wrote about the soldiers seated at a large rectangular table with an industrial fan blowing on me, and a fluorescent tube light illuminating my keyboard.

Just over five years earlier I was also in Iraq, as a Marine reservist entering the country on the tail end of the initial invasion force. I was living in a hole in the ground.

Of course, the dangers were different then too. There were no roadside bombs. The enemy was not a well-organized network of insurgents, but remnants of the Baath party and Saddam Hussein's paramilitary force, the Fedayeen. We carried suits to protect against a chemical attack. We rode around in open-topped humveees, and our body armor lacked side plates.

Talking to the soldiers last summer about my own experiences in the war, I felt like an old man boring a younger generation with stories of "way back when." Some of these soldiers were still in high school when the war started. A 24-year-old lieutenant, whose platoon had recently lost two vehicles to roadside bombs, told me of watching the war start in his grandparent's living room as a college sophomore. In the end, I left Iraq in August not feeling as though I'd revisited a war I'd been there for the beginning of, but one that was in essence an entirely different conflict.

Those soldiers of JSS Babil I met this summer not only face a different war than I did five years ago but they will come home to a different country. And this is important to remember as we observe Veterans Day today. It is important to remember that while the country celebrates its veterans, Americans should also recognize how much the dialogue has increased over what it means to be a veteran – a dialogue that had remained largely silent in the absence of sustained wars over the past few decades.

When the first Iraq veterans began coming home in the late summer of 2003, both the media and the American public had a new demographic to start getting used too. It had been a while since a mass of young veterans reintegrated into American society, along with issues such as PTSD, employment hardships, and medical care that came with their return.

Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, a veteran to me was always one of those old men at Memorial Day parades wearing VFW hats and marching proudly with medals and ribbons pinned to their aged uniforms. Members of my generation hadn’t grown up with war as part of their daily lives, and in the relative security of that time it seemed impossible this would ever change.

Of course it did, but by the time I came home from Iraq in August 2003 it seemed as though the country still wasn’t quite sure how to approach the fact that a new generation of young veterans were gradually re-entering society. The war was covered around the clock in those opening months, and while it still dominated news headlines, the first waves of veterans were quietly coming home and the challenges they would face – and which are now well documented – were just beginning.

I remember the various exchanges I had with people back then, when there was often a look of disbelief and intense curiosity after they learned I was a veteran. These sometime awkward conversations were part of the reason I decided to keep my mouth shout about my recent past.

When I started graduate school almost five years later, there was another Iraq veteran in my class and countless other students whose friends or family were also veterans. For an average American to know a veteran, it seemed, was increasingly becoming the norm. And as the years have passed, and countless news stories have addressed veterans issues, it’s clear America has gotten a substantive education on this once again emerging demographic.

As I learned from those Army soldiers this summer, they face a war far different from soldiers who slogged their way through the intense fighting of 2005 and 2006 when the country had descended into near chaos. For soldiers in Iraq today, the fighting has been replaced with more emphasis on what the military often refers to as “non-kinetic” operations. They will bring home memories of the war that may focus more on the Iraqis they worked with, rather than the Iraqis they fought.

The way these varied experiences translate into life upon homecoming is as much the story of Veterans Day, as is this image of WWI veterans honoring the end of that war today. It used to be that I would only equate the term ‘veteran’ with such men. And it can be overwhelming to think a 19-year-old Army private sitting in a guard shack in Baghdad, shares today’s headlines with these aged veterans and may someday take their place: the few remaining soldiers of a long forgotten war.

In Lighter News...A Veteran as Soap Star

2008-11-07T16:28:17Z

It's been a long exhausting week, and now that Friday's finally here we present a veteran's story of lighter fare. J.R. Martinez, a 25-year-old Iraq veteran who was severely injured when a 2003 landmine explosion trapped him inside a burning Humvee, will join the cast of the ABC soap All My Children in the role of an Iraq vet. The show actually put out a nation-wide casting call for Iraq veterans to play the part, citing a need to bring true-life accuracy to the performance. Here's a summary of the character, Brot Monroe, whom Martinez will play [via soapdom]:

In story, the character Brot Monroe served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and was injured in combat. While serving, he fell in love with Lt. Taylor Thompson (Beth Ehlers). Due to the extent of his injuries, Brot made the decision to allow Taylor to believe he had died, not wanting to subject her to the reality of his injuries. The character's injury was determined by Mr. Martinez’s personal injuries. After many surgeries and recovery, Brot returns to find his fiancé, who has been grieving her loss, not knowing Brot is actually still alive.

Back in 2004 the Washington Post profiled Martinez as he worked with the Coalition to Support America's Heroes, which helped vets find jobs and transition to living life with their wounds. According to the profile, Martinez's first days with his injuries from the bomb blast were dark and infused with a feeling of hopelessness.

The 21-year-old U.S. Army corporal was so horrified the first time he looked at himself in a mirror that he stopped eating, refused to speak to anyone and seriously considered killing himself.
He has undergone 27 surgeries -- the longest lasted 11 hours -- in the 18 months since a land mine planted in Kabala, Iraq, turned him into a human fireball and trapped him inside the Humvee he was driving. His buddies finally pulled him out, and his sergeant cradled his head in his hands like he was a baby, rocking him back and forth, back and forth, telling him that he was going to be all right. All Martinez could do was scream: "My face! My face! My face!" And each time he would try to touch his face, his sergeant would swat his arm away. When they loaded him onto a Black Hawk helicopter, Martinez passed out. He woke up three weeks later.

Five years later he said this about his new acting role to ABC News:

"For me to portray this role as Brot on the show, I think it's easy, because I can just take myself back to a place when it was painful, when I did want to be with someone, but I felt that it was better for them to move on with their life and not be a part of mine because of my appearance," he said.

Martinez isn't the first Iraq veteran to play, well, an Iraq veteran on television. Rudy Reyes, a former Marine, actually played himself in HBO's miniseries Generation Kill which followed recon Marines during the first weeks of the war in 2003.

Soldiers, Meet Your New Commander

2008-11-05T19:01:31Z

So, the presidential election is over. Headlines continue to thunder out the history president-elect Obama made, and thoughts are turning to the task of assembling a staff and facing a difficult future. In our homes and offices we watch TV, surf the Internet, and listen to the radio, but perhaps the president-elect summed up reality for the U.S. military last night during his victory speech:

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

In some form or another, Obama will spend a considerable amount of time dealing with members of the military, active-duty or veterans. There are commanders in two combat zones to consult with, a veterans administration that's come a long way but still needs some work, and the rank-and-file soldiers whose lives at war and at home depend on the government to ensure proper care and attention. As speculation begins on what a new Obama administration's policies may be, let me add one more aspect to watch: how will Obama and the military cultivate their relationship?

A recent poll conducted by the Military Times of more senior service members favored Sen. McCain 63 to 28 percent over president-elect Obama. Other polls have also seen the military voting along those same lines. From the Military Times:

Officers and enlisted troops, active-duty members and reservists, those who have served in combat and those who haven’t, all backed McCain by large margins, to about the same extent they supported President Bush four years ago.

About 69 percent of respondents said they voted for Bush in 2004, while about 16 percent voted for the Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry.

McCain’s majority wanes among women and disappears altogether among black respondents.

For many of the soldiers who've spent the last year deployed, the campaign has not nearly been as high-profile as it's been for those of us on the home front. Soldiers I spoke to in Iraq this summer cited their long work hours and sometimes spotty Internet access as hampering their abilities to follow politics. If those of us at home now have some idea of who the real Barack Obama is, they may not -- but their lives may depend his actions as president.

Consider this New York Times dispatch from a Baghdad Army base as election results came in:

For the young soldiers, there was a feeling of distance from both candidates. Senator John McCain is 72; one soldier described him as being “like your grandfather, set in his ways.” And Mr. Obama is a newcomer to the military world, a rare visitor to Iraq, an unknown in many respects.

“We’ll support and defend him and support his wishes,” said Second Lieutenant Hunter Wakeland, Brigade Staff 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry. “President Bush listened to the generals, the joint chiefs, they have a lot of experience; with President-elect Obama’s lack of military experience, hopefully he listens to them, too.”

In Mosul the Associated Press talked to soldiers who spoke in similar ways; not quite sure what to think of Obama, or uninterested in the election as a whole citing nothing changing about the war in the short run.

While Americans were voting back home, Lightning Troop, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry went to Badoush, a town on the northern outskirts of Mosul, to observe and help Iraqis recruit 200 new members of the National Police.

"Some soldiers are concerned about the election, but we really don't talk politics very much," said platoon leader 1st Lt. Conrad Brown, a West Point graduate from Bangor, Maine, speaking at the site where recruits were stripped, searched, given health checks and tested for literacy.

Troop commander Capt. Hunter Bowers of Hendersonville, Tenn., said he didn't get to vote because his absentee ballot was sent to the wrong address.

"Things won't change here between now and the time we go home. We'll be getting back about the time the new president is inaugurated," Bowers said.

Another officer, Capt. Jared Just, said he believed that no matter who wins, "it won't really change the course of things in Iraq that much."

The UK's Times reported from a U.S. base in Baghdad where some soldiers showed signs of enthusiasm, while others were dismayed -- including one who said Obama's victory was just another reason to get out of the army:

At an outdoor eating area on the sprawling base, Specialist Tavaris James, 21, was also relishing the historic Democratic victory. “I think it is a great thing,” he said, sitting at a wooden picnic table.

“He will be the first African American president,” said the soldier from North Carolina, adding, however, that he did not think the change at the top would affect the military.

Others had a different idea. “The army is going to go to Hell,” said Specialist Megan Sanderson, 25, also from North Carolina, perched at a nearby table with her husband, Specialist Adam Sanderson.

He was also feeling glum about the outcome. “I am not happy. McCain got my vote,” the 23-year-old from Pennsylvania said.

The pair had already been planning to get out of the army because they said it was a difficult way of life for a married couple. The Obama win “is just another” reason to move on, said Specialist Megan Sanderson.

The initial relationship between Obama and the general military-at-large may be strained at first. The new president's lack of military experience, coupled with the military's traditional Republican voting-bloc, may make for some harsh growing pains. But, in the end, both are working with the same goals in mind: to minimize the risks to soldiers' lives, and to take care of them when they come home. Obama will need to find military advisers who can communicate his policy decisions to generals and privates, while also introducing President Obama to how things get done in the armed forces.

11/11/1918, 10:59 A.M.: Henry Gunther is the Last Soldier Killed in WWI

2008-10-30T12:19:50Z

The BBC's Timewatch program provides a fascinating history lesson on the last moments of WWI, where new research has pinpointed who the last soldiers to die in combat were -- even though the armistice had already been signed by the higher-ups. The document was signed around 5 a.m. on the morning of November 11, 1918, but didn't go into effect until 11 a.m.. In fact, the BBC tells us that on the graves of French soldiers killed after the war's end, earlier dates were inscribed out of embarrassment for their avoidable deaths. And then there's these facts about the last day's casualties:

The respected American author Joseph E Persico has calculated a shocking figure that the final day of WWI would produce nearly 11,000 casualties, more than those killed, wounded or missing on D-Day, when Allied forces landed en masse on the shores of occupied France almost 27 years later.

On that last day one American general's decision to capture a town so that his dirty soldiers could wash up resulted in around 300 casualties. The last British soldier to die was 40-year-old Private George Edwin Ellison, who survived almost the entire four years of that bloodiest of wars (almost a million British soldiers had been killed). Among his experiences, historians note that Ellison survived the first gas attack and witnessed the first use of tanks at the front. It is believed he may have even been a veteran of the earlier Boer War. He was shot almost an hour before the 11:00 a.m. cease fire took affect.

Fifteen minutes before the cease fire a French soldier was killed delivering a message that soup would be served once the armistice began. And then there is the story of the two remaining soldiers whose lives would end in the war's final moments:

Just minutes before 11am, to the north around Mons, the 25-year-old Canadian Private George Lawrence Price was on the trail of retreating German soldiers.

It was street fighting. Pte Price had just entered a cottage as the Germans left through the back. On emerging into the street he was struck by the bullet which killed him.

But Pte Price's death at 10.58 was not the last. Further south in the Argonne region of France, US soldier Henry Gunther was involved in a final charge against astonished German troops who knew the Armistice was about to occur. What could they do? He too was shot.

The Baltimore Private - ironically of German descent - was dead. It was 10.59 and Henry Gunther is now recognised as the last soldier to be killed in action in WWI.

Here's a short video by the BBC taking us through PVT Ellison's war records.

How You Could Spend Your Summer Vacation

2008-10-29T11:35:30Z

Violence in Iraq is down. U.S. and Iraqi officials are hammering out a security pact. And while U.S. commanders are expressing concern about recent attacks in the city of Mosul, you'll find a fair share of "how Iraq is getting better" stories out there in the news. But recently the New York Times travel section had a surprise of its own: a brief guide to visiting Iraq's Kurdish region in the north.

A $2000 roundtrip flight from New York's JFK airport via Austrian Airlines will take you to the city of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan (tourist visas are available at the airport). Once there a California-based company offers 12-day cultural tours of the area starting at around $5,860 a person. According to U.S. troops I talked to in Iraq this summer, you might even run into American soldiers in the town of Dohuk where they sometimes make supply runs to local stores. Kurdish forces guard the soldiers' humvees as they mingle through the town and even get hotel rooms for the night. That's the kind of place Kurdistan is.

From the Times:

While much of Iraq remains mired in war, the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq has enjoyed relative safety and prosperity, thanks to a no-fly-zone imposed by the United States in 1991 after the first gulf war. So instead of repairing oil fields and burying their dead, Iraqi Kurds have been erecting shiny hotels, opening amusement parks and trying to figure out how to lure tourists.
There is even a Ministry of Tourism, with a staff of more than 400 and a bare-bones Web site (www.tourismkurdistan.com) with color pictures and links to the region’s thin infrastructure. And to show that it means business, it has broadcast a series of television commercials in the United States called “The Other Iraq” that depicts high-tech factories and happy children greeting American soldiers as liberators.

But still:

The larger issue, of course, is the continuing violence. As recently as last March, a bomb went off in Sulaimaniya, the second-biggest city in Iraqi Kurdistan, killing a security guard. A truck bomb in May 2007 outside a government office in Erbil left over a dozen dead and several more wounded. And earlier this month, the long-simmering tensions between Turkey and Kurdish separatist rebels erupted again when Turkish warplanes entered northern Iraq and bombed remote rebel bases, killing at least 15 Kurds.

The Times article certainly could spark an interest in more adventurous types of travelers. As an Iraq veteran, I've sometimes wondered if I'd ever be able to bring my future children back to Iraq, as many Vietnam and WWII vets have done with their respective wars. I thought it would take decades to get the answer. At this point it looks like all it would take is about eight thousand dollars -- if you opt for the guided tour.