LTG Samuel T. Helland's Visit

Life in combat is never slow. This week was definitely fast paced, which makes the time past so much faster. We had a visit by LTG Samuel T. Helland, the Commanding General for Marine Forces Central Command. His visit was to check on the progress made in preparation of his forces arrival to Southern Afghanistan, our area of operation. It was truly an honor to brief him on the communications status of his forces. Pictured above with ARSIC-S Commander COL Thomas L. McGrath and yours truly below.... I am elated that the Marines/additional troops are coming. This is a large region, and we can definitely use the help...

We recently conducted a Humanitarian Mission at a local village near Kandahar City. It is so rewarding going on these missions and really seeing the needs of the community being met. It may seem trivial, but any help is better than no help. Notice the joy on the kids faces.


Before we could pass anything out, we had to obtain the approval of the village elder, some may call him the village chief... turns out this elder is the cousin of Afghanistan's President Harmid Karzai. The British forces were the lead on this mission, and we tagged along with our supplies. As you can see we had plenty to give out... The village population was somewhere between 500 - 1000 people. Obviously, we did not see that amount on this mission.


It is amazing to me how primitive they remain. Women here are second class citizens, they have no say or privilege to basic human/civil rights here. Only a few brave widows came, but sat at a distance until the elder permitted them to participate.


It will surely take quite awhile to change this culture, only God can. We generally only are able to interact with the men and the children.

This day began quite chilly, notice the kids without shoes, socks and the baby out there like this. Many of the little girls are tasked with the responsibility to take care of the babies.... WOW.....

They can't even take care of themselves yet.......... The below picture is of the local elder, whom happens to be related to President Karzai.



After some convincing we were able to talk him into allowing a few of the women to come and get some of the supplies... Our fear was that the supplies would go to only a few of the people and not spread throughout the village. He did allow two of the village widows to come.



The Afghans have a long way to go..... What was particularly heart-wrenching was our stop at a local Kuchi camp. The Kuchis live in tents, twenty or so to a tent, they are nomads, they roam the country side and set up camp where ever they stop. The conditions of this camp was really terrible. Kids/families without basic health care necessities, the women had to walk some distance for water. Education is non-existent, they simply struggle to survive. This is the life they know, they seem content, but we know so much more can be done..



I want to personally thank Gateway Elementary School (Mrs Cindy Howard) the school counselor and Mrs Loretta Blakely and her golf group for providing clothing, gloves and other items to these kids.






When you see these Kuchi villages all over, you know that so many are in need.... many animals live better than some of these people. They have lived this way for generations and know of no other way to live. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have experienced this, and so appreciative for the life that God has blessed me with.....