...I am in the middle of a war. From a distance at least. Living here in Germany amongst the happy village fests, the gorgeous countryside, and family, it is easy--almost too easy-- to escape this reality. I just finished watching a segment of Ken Burns' WWII documentary The War and it donned on me how lucky I am. Luckily, I wasn't an Airman in a B-17 or civilian in our village of Bann. According to a small website that describes the history of Bann, this place was nearly destroyed by Allied bombers during their advance on the Western Front. Before that it was smashed by the French during the Napoleon era campaigns. Unlike the GIs from WWII or today's service members who are currently in some ditch in Afghanistan, I'm not dodging bullets and carry on much like everyone else does back in the US.
From time to time, however, the realities of war come home. It hits when I review the requests for movement which, at first blush, look like any other piece of paper. Dig deeper and you get a running commentary of the those who were not so fortunate. Hits even harder when I have the honor of going out to the aircraft that is bound for the US and seeing these guys who I've read about moments before. Thankfully, most of these guys sport huge grins as the ascend the ramp to their litter onboard...their lives spared by other heroes up the hill at Landstuhl Med Ctr.
It hit when Jen's brother left for Iraq. Seven months later, it hit when I took a call from him telling me that we was on his way home without a scratch. To this day, I can remember exactly where I was, what I was wearing, what Julia was doing, etc when I took that call.
It also hits when I read in the Stars and Stripes about the heroic service member who saved his buddies while engaged in a firefight. Sometimes the guy is from LA, or ,California or has been at a base I was once stationed. It hits...hurts... knowing this news will likely never reach the average American. Why? Not because the feed gets lost somewhere in cyberspace but because the average American isn't at war. If Jay Leno did one of his famous street interviews and asked people on the streets of the Burbank Media Center to name the countries where we're engaged overseas or to name someone they know who is serving in the military, he probably would get the typical dumbfounded stare. Ask them what's new with the Olsen twins and they could probably rattle off the name of their Wilshire Blvd lawyer, the designer of their red carpet attire, and what they had for dinner last night (wait, do they even eat anymore?). The Navy SEAL who's being awarded a Metal of Honor...posthumously? They'll tell you how inhumane it is for the military to be exploiting our innocent sea life. Is this true in all cases? I don't know. Jay Leno comes on way too early for me to watch :)
Like yin and yang, these moments range from triumphant, funny, disappointing, tragic, etc. I just wish the former would be told back home more often. Regardless of what is going on back home, I'm enormously proud to go to work each morning to do my small part in this campaign. Most of the jobs I've had both in and outside of the military haven't even come close to replicating this feeling. It's super motivating.
I promise this will be my only posting about this subject. Is it travel related? Not exactly. It's just something that struck me. After reading my previous posts, I realized I exclusively focus on the positive travel experiences...almost as if I am bragging. Reality check: being stationed here at this time in our history involves a lot of that yin and yang I described earlier.
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