I spent this Memorial Day as my day off for the month of May. Odd because I’m in Afghanistan and you
usually don’t get a day off in a warzone.
My boss instituted a department policy that we get one day off a
month. It is a rest and relax day—from the
15-18 hours we put in. This generally
doesn’t happen for every unit here. But
we’re in Kabul and have a little more freedom than other places.
The reason I choose this day is because it was the best day
for May that I had. Early in the month
wouldn’t work because of other commitments.
My plan for the day was simple: take my EWS test, PT, and
talk to my wife. I don’t think I
realized fully that today was Memorial Day until a couple of days ago when I
received an email as a reminder for the service at 1030.
Every week we have a memorial service for the past week’s
fallen. Each country to lose someone
will read out the name and unit of the fallen.
I attend every week. It is the
least I can do. I’m not on the front
line like they are. It is a way to
ensure that we, at HQ, do not forget the human loss extracted from our
countries.
Today, we recognized an American day of remembrance and
invited any and all of our coalition members to attend. It was fairly well attended. No names were read off, but General Allen
gave the number of the fallen Americans, Coalition members, and Afghans who
have died in this war since he took command last year.
My usual Memorial Day plan is to enjoy the day off, have a
good time, live life, and general not acknowledge the cost of war. Not the way I have since arriving in
Kabul. I don’t doubt that I’ll revert
back to my normal behavior when I get back, but I’d like to think I’ll always
keep these weekly services in my mind and that when Memorial Day does come
around I’ll do something in remembrance.
