Memories

On Memorial Day in 2010 I packed up almost everything I owned at the time and met at the company for formation. Our first order of business was to get all of the large bags into a shipping container for movement to the flight line. Once bags were squared away, rifles were issued. I signed out my M249 from the armory and awaited further instructions.

We then had some time to spend with family, but most of us didn’t have anyone there so we hung out with those not leaving quite yet. I spent the time taking photos and wondering where we were headed next.

After that we were rounded up and moved closer to the flight line. We were briefed, weighed, and put on a very large plane with our weapons at our feet.

We had two stops on this journey: Gander, Canada and Leipzig, Germany. It was my first time out of the country and I was very excited to see and try new things.

I’ll never forget the landing in Gander as it was foggy and it seemed like the runway came out of nowhere. This is still the hardest landing I’ve experienced and my worries weren’t helped by finding a memorial to another flight of US soldiers from Ft. Campbell that didn’t survive a flight out of there in 1985

We landed at our final destination of Manas, Kyrgyzstan very early in the morning. It was a mad dash to get us and our gear off the plane and over to a more secure area. They dropped the pallets of gear and simply told us to found ours, luckily we had not only put names but color coded tape on bags. Once everyone found their gear, we put it in a new container for storage.

Then we were moved to a secure holding facility with hangars full of bunks. There were places to eat and buy small stuff, get a haircut, etc. We spent a couple days there before a military flight picked us up and took us to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

In Remembrance

A few months into my deployment, I was introduced to the new Chaplain of the unit we were supporting. He had a 120V audio mixer that had accidentally found itself on a 240V line and died. This was well outside of my expertise but I took a look anyway.

While I tried to see if there was anything I could do, We had a nice conversation sharing what we had experienced out there. I don’t really remember what we talked about but I remember sharing a connection with him. Once I confirmed I was in over my head with the mixer, he was pleased I tried and we shook hands.

I don’t remember if I saw him again before the funeral. I didn’t know who it was for when we formed up, but it was my first and only combat funeral. Somewhere in the middle of the ceremony I finally pieced together what was going on.

Rest in Peace Rev. Captain Dale Goetz. He was the first US Army Chaplain to die in combat since the Vietnam War and someone I will never forget.

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