好久未查过去的Email帐号，上周一查发现许多老朋友和毕业学生的邮件。其中Michael来自于战场的邮件使我大吃一惊上，怎么又回去了？几年前在伊战最危险的时候，Michael被派往伊拉克，而且还是最危险的地方。当我收到他从前线发来的邮件时，既为他的生命担心，又为美军的开放惊奇，居然还可以从战场的火线上发Email。那一次Michael本应一年就可以回来，但因兵源紧张，结果一呆差不多就是两年。

 

这次我匆忙扫了一眼他的邮件之后，就立即回信问为什么又去伊拉克？并祝他安全。没想到他还在网上，回答说这回是到阿富汗了！

 

Michael由ROTC资助读了亚利桑那大学的系统工程的学士学位，之后跟我读完硕士学位，没学完就买了新房子，可没想到安定日子还没过，毕业不到十年就参加了两场国际战争。

 

Michael希望大家把他邮件发给其他朋友，我说可不可以放到我的blog上与大家分享，他说可以。但愿阿富汗早日和平，更希望外军尽快撤离阿富汗，Michael也可以平安回家。

 

Hello Everyone!

 

Hope everyone had a good 4^th of July holiday break.  We continue to fight the war over and defeat the insurgents while helping the Afghans to secure and develop their own country.  Since my last update, we’ve still continue to experience an increased in the number of insurgent activities.  Our convoys are constantly getting hit with IEDs making it extremely difficult to travel around this country.  In addition, completing our construction projects has become increasingly difficult.  You may have heard in the news last month that about 700 inmates escaped from a prison facility in Kandahar< /st1:place> and 300 of them were Talibans.  So now we have to deal with an additional 300 more insurgents running loose in this country.  Due to the high level of threat and imminent attacks to our FOB, weapons condition is now amber, meaning every soldier’s weapon is loaded.

 

For this update, I want to take this opportunity to write and honor our fallen heroes who were killed last month.  Both were assigned to the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) located in FOB Sharana. A little background of what PRTs do in Afghanistan; the PRT is a special military unit that provides reconstruction support efforts in support of governance, development, and security to unstable nations such as Afghanistan and Iraq.  They are comprised of civilian and military specialists who work to deliver aid, perform reconstruction projects, and work with local host governments to provide them with b asic humanitarian needs or services such as food, shelter, education, water, etc.  PRTs help provide the desired “battlefield effects” to the maneuver commander as it pertains to civil military operations (CMO).   On June 18, members of the PRT went out on a mission when their convoy got attacked by Talibans.  As they fought off the Talibans and attempted to get out of the kill zone (by heading for cover at a nearby provincial district center), insurgents tracked their movements to the PDC and fired multiple rockets to the center. One rocket made a direct hit on the center killing CM1 Toles and HMN Retmeir instantly while wounding 4 others including one civilian engineer.  Three days later in a separate attack, one of our coalition force and Polish soldier, 2LT Mzrczewski was killed when his humvee was hit with an IED.  As you can see, IEDs continue to be the number one killer of U.S. and coalition forces.  These incidents reinforce the nature of hostilities that we are continuing to experience in this country.  These fine soldiers have truly paid the ultimate sacrifice and we are grateful for their services.  They have done their duties and served their countries proudly.  May God bless these fine soldiers wherever they have gone.

 

Below I want to share with you all an email sent from our coalition force member, the Polish Battle Group on 4^th July as we celebrated Independence Day:

_______________________________________________________________________

 

Dear Friends

 

Two hundred and thirty two years ago, when your forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence, they changed the history of the world.  Thanks to their sacrifices the world realized the true meaning of freedom.  Independence and freedom are powerful words in your country as they are in Poland.  When the United States gained independence, Poland was in the process of slowly loosing portions of its borders to its neighbors.  We appreciate your efforts towards a unified and independent United States of America because we know how difficult it is to regain freedom and independence.  Today we can be very happy with living in independent countries.  Today we fight together for freedom for people in other countries, like here in Afghanistan.

 

4th of July and Independence Day are identified in our country with aspiring to freedom and that is why we are so happy that we can celebrate this day with American soldiers signifying our common goals for peace and freedom.

 

Today we wish you and your nation a peaceful and happy day. 

 

Polish Soldiers

Polish Military Contingent Afghanistan

______________________________________________________________________

 

These are powerful and touching words expressed by our Polish friends and prove that together, we can fight for PEACE and FREEDOM.

 

Finally, I have received numerous care packages in the mail sent to me and have shared them with the troops.  On behalf of the men and women of Combined Task Force Castle, my sincere appreciation and much thanks for your best wishes and kind support for all of us. 

 

God bless our troops and great USA!

 

Michael

Ps. Pic 1-  A memorial honoring our Polish hero

      Pic 2- I just got back from a mission, notice I picked up a rug (while transiting at a major airbase) to add some comfort to my living space.

 

 

            

           

          

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