Journey to the Land of Free

Well tomorrow 10 December after 4pm local time here in Afghanistan I will board an aircraft and do something I haven't done in over 288 days… Leave my base here and begin a journey that started 298 days to return to my family. Right now I just feel like I'm leaving. When you've been away so long it just doesn't feel real until it really happens. I will leave my base here and go to a much larger one. There I will catch a military flight to Kuwait. Once I get to Kuwait I catch a civilian flight from there to Atlanta before ended at my final destination of Savannah Georgia where my beautiful bride will meet me. I've been here so long that there is no one on the entire base that has been here longer than I have. Most have rotated home. I'm going to enjoy this holiday like no other…. I know that we are going to take my son to Orlando for a surprise visit to Disney World.   He will find out when he unwraps me from the box my wife has set up for me the day after I get back at his Grandparents. I'm looking forward to doing the simple things….. Playing catch with my son…. Holding my daughter…..cuddling with my favorite cuddle bunny Shayla! If I get to do these things then my trip will me more than I could ever hope for. I know that the 2 weeks will eventually end and I will return here, but that time to me is invaluable to me. I can't put a price on it. I hope this December you will do me a favor and if able spend time with your family, tell them you love and appreciate them. Because when your away far away like I am, they will be the only ones that will be there for you. Friends most will talk a big game that they plan to write, email you or send you care packages. As the time goes on those letters, emails and packages will never come. The ones that do will be from those of your family or complete strangers that will appreciate you and your service. Well I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I pray for peace in the New Year.

Exit

Its feel so cold here. I'm so close to leaving this place to visit with my family for 2 weeks. Yes its that time this Saturday I should be boarding a flight. I go to another military base which I wait for a flight to a civilian airport. Once I arrive at this civilian airport I should be staring my wife in the eyes in less than 48 hours. The thought of it excites me like the thought of doing something for the first time. This place has really made me appreciate what I have in my life. I'm tired of hearing of Marines lose their lives amongst other things. I'm tired of seeing our country poor everything we have into this country… our sweat…our blood…. And the millions and billions of dollars. I hope in the end we get it right but my gut is it wont be right in our eyes because this region of the world will never fully accept the idea of what we represent because we are that country in the west that is everything they don't like. I hope I'm wrong but only time will tell.

Be Thankful

It's the 2 ½ hours from Thanksgiving here. I'm so Thankful for my family.  I miss them dearly. Life here has been the same. Its really pretty much the same day in and day out for the most part with different variations of change.  My boss just finished up his 2 weeks of vacation and is on his way back which means I'm even closer to going on mine. I've never looked so forward to December my entire life. My son knows I'm coming home in December but not when. I cant wait to see my wife at the airport, to pop out of that wrapped box to surprise my son and telling him were going to Disney. To hold my daughter who was 2 months old when I left and will be over a year old when I return.  If your reading this wherever you are I hope you will find some time to spend with your family. I'm not really looking forward to Thanksgiving here, but I'm hoping they at least have some pumpkin pie. If so I can be happy. If not then so be it maybe one of you will have some for me.

Lost

Well it's been sometime since I updated you all. Well it's been a rough 60 days for some family and friends.  We lost a young man here that was about 26 not married, no kids. The reason I bring that up is I feel for his family that he was never able to experience some of the greatest things that makes life so wonderful. I didn't know him personally but I know a lot of people that did and I know they took it very hard. His memorial was attended by many. The next young man I did know. We had talked on a several occasions and I even got him a flag that I had bought an extra one of. He told me that he was getting ready to leave to go back; his wife was due any day to have a baby. I remember giving his flag to his buddy and him telling me how excited that he was going to be getting it.  Shortly after returning he lost his life, leaving a new mother and child behind. His section and mine worked closely together and a lot of his Marines took it hard.  Left with so many questions, of why? All we can do is pray for the families left behind and hope they get through this challenging time.  I remember growing up and always hearing about the problem Vietnam Vets had dealing after returning from the war. I would never compare the two in the sense that Vietnam vets endured torture from their fellow Americans on return. However I don't think our country is prepared to deal with all the problems that some of the Vets come back and will develop years later. Some of these young men are 18-28 and they are going to get out after their enlistment and it may be years before we truly see how many of them will come forward for help. I'd like to say that the Marine Corps is going to be able to assist a lot of these young men during their transition. However overall I know how Marines think and it is really hard for them to ask for help as they sometimes think it is a form of weakness. Which it is not. The true cost of this war will never end for those that lived outside the wire on a daily basis and were faced with life and death situation. I just pray that we as a country can be there for them.

 

 

 

Trust. Spending. Ok a little rant

Before I came to Afghanistan I had a completely different view of what was going on here. I thought it was a struggle between us and the people that wanted their freedom against those that want to cause hate and misery not only for the people of this country but ours. That line in my mind prior to coming here was very sharp distinct line….. Well that line is a lot blurry than I could have ever conceived. I recently read an article in which platoon of Marines were going out on a patrol with a bunch of Afghan Army soldiers and one got stuck in the mud shortly after leaving the wire and didn't want to continue on. He refused to continue on with the patrol, this in itself is a slap in the face of all the Marines outside the wire who put their lives on the line everyday. One of the Marines came back looked at the embedded reporter and said "Make sure you write this in your report: The ANA are garbage."

http://www.stripes.com/news/afghans-show-little-progress-as-security-hand-off-draws-near-1.151541

This is my first trip into Afghanistan and I don't know how accurate this Marines perspective of our counterparts is. I will say over all that we as individuals we do not fully trust them and nor do they probably trust us.  I constantly hear Marines talk about how they don't trust them. You would think after 10 years we would be a little farther in our trust amongst each other. From my perspective we are far far from where you would think we are. One thing I do see is I hear politicians and high level DOD civilians speaking of how the Department of Defense needs to tighten down their budget. There are constant emails circulating about how there is a possibility they want to take away our 20 year retirement, or how they want to reduce or cut back certain benefits. Change the Health benefits of retirees. Can the Department of Defense cut back? Yes. I'm not here to argue you that point. However when it comes to those very benefits that were laid before me some 13 years ago to gain my commitment to join and furthermore to continue service and talk of them being changed or taken away. That is a pill I can't swallow. Not when I see before my very eyes the millions and millions of dollars we have spent and continue to spend here in Afghanistan. When WW2 vets came back from fighting no one in their right mind would have considered altering their benefits. How is it ok now after 10 years to speak of such a thing? We don't ask to get sent to conflicts and wars; we get issued orders by those elected officials that authorized it in the first place. Now that it's become too expensive to pay back that investment of time taking, blood, sweat and tears from the individual soldier, sailor, airmen and Marines and families have given we want to speak of cut backs. Insane! I'm not going to argue we need to curb the spending. But let's ensure we do what is right for those that protect the very freedoms…………..

AFG is where u will find me

Well its coming to that point where most of the people that worked with me the first half of the deployment are now returning home. My particular unit is the highest level for Marine Aviation and our Commanding General decided to have all E-6 and above stay a year. It at first was a very tough pill to swallow and honestly it was hard news to break to the wife who has been the everything while I'm away. We have a very amazingly strong marriage that is allowing us to look at the positives and move forward regardless if we agree with this decision. I'm looking forward to September… why? Because October is next. Everyday I'm here I'm one day closer to coming home when I get 2 weeks off in December to spend it with my beautiful wife  and kids. We plan on surprising my son and taking him to Disney World. Its funny if you ever ask my son if he could go anywhere it would be Disney World. Its so enjoyable to hear him speak of it like it's a magical
place. Besides that we are just going to do everything on the fly for my leave. Here things are in for a change at my Forward Operating Base. With all these new people of course there will be all these new rules, and then in about 2 months everyone will stop following them. I've got the lunch and dinner menu pretty much memorized. They always have a line where they have a variation of different meals they serve. They seem to heavily cater to an Indian or Pilipino menu as most of the TCN's (Third Country Nationals) that work on our base. For the most part I get the same thing every day for lunch. 1 Grilled Chicken breast which I go to the sandwich bar for a wrap, 2 pieces of provolone cheese, lettuce and if I'm lucky diced tomatoes.  Then I slide down the line and get Red jello. I don't know what flavor it is, its just red. On really good days its Orange. This is a very good day when they have orange jello. I then get bottled water. That has
been my lunch for the past 2 months, day in day out. For Dinner same thing, a line that serves different variations. And then they have the special. The special has been the same since I got here. Its Mongolian. You get your choice of peppers, lettuce, pineapple sometimes, shrimp, steak, chicken, rice or noodles. You can as much or as little as you want. Then they throw it on the grill. I get 2 spoon full of garlic powder, a little bit of soy sauce and then some sweet and shower. This has pretty much been dinner except for on Wednesday nights when they have Cesar Salad which is amazing.  That's my lunch and dinner! I know most people can't eat the same thing over and over. But me I can, but I'm going to never want monogolian once I leave here ever. Sorry Wifey lol… I've watched my daughter grow before my eyes. She is now crawling. My wife got a video of it, and it is what makes life worth it….. I hope you all are well.

Is it fate? luck? or chance?

It's so crazy how life takes you to different places and seems to purposely put you in places to meet people that have some sort of connection to you. A few months ago I was in my office and I'm responsible for giving airfield driver licenses to anyone one who has a need to drive on our airfield. I have given the class to over a thousand people. So one day 2 civilian contractors show up and they start giving me their information so I can set them up for the class. One looks at me and says… "Are you Jason Deppen Brother"? My brother Jason passed a few years back. I actually looked at him in disbelief and said "What did you say"? And he asked me again. I said yes but he passed a few years back. He said yes I was very good friends with him, we use to hang out and always have a few beers. It was so crazy that here I am thousands of miles away and the chance this guy would walk into my office and happens to know my brother. Then I told him well
I had went to his funeral and I was the only Marine in Dress Blues and he said he remembered seeing me….. Ok I'll chalk it up to chance, 1 time that I would have this personal of a connection to anyone that would walk right into my office in the middle of nowhere Afghanistan. Then yesterday I'm sitting in my office and 3 2ndLt's walked in. 2 male, 1 female. I introduce myself and they are actually awaiting a seat at flight school in Pensacola, FL and volunteered to come out to Afghanistan for 3 months prior to starting. My Major set up their trip here to our Forward Operating Base from the main base to check out the different aviation assets we have. So I'm talking with them and the female 2ndLt looks at me and says "Your Uncle wouldn't be Brian Deppen from New London Ohio would it"? I mean had she said anyone else in the world I wouldn't have been as amazed. But my uncle is a farmer in New London Ohio, has live there his entire life,
runs and operates a farm called "Deppen Farms" that has been in my family for generations. But turns out here father and my uncle have known each other for a very long time. I can't think of a bigger needle in a hay stack then that. That is now 2 of them. It's crazy how fate, chance, luck can take you to the ends of the earth and you run into people that are connected to you. And when I say the ends of the earth, I mean it. I'm so far in the middle of nowhere in a desert, people don't even inhabit anywhere within miles of where I'm at. It makes me laugh. Well now that I'm done with that crazy thought. Let me tell you what my life has been like. My last Corporal that worked for me who looked just like Farva from Super Troopers, so his call sign became Farva has left back to the land of the Big PX. I'm happy this has happened, 1 it is a mile stone in my journey for myself to return to my 1 and only and my 2 mini me's and second his
replacement his full of MOTIVATION! He's so motivated that working with him is like night and day compared to the other guy. He is 23, from the Seattle Washington area. Got married on 1 July, has a baby on the way due March 2012. I had to think of a call sign for him, and with his home area being what it is, the call sign "Tree Hugger" seems to be sticking. His far from it, but it's funny and he likes it. He looks just like the movie actor Jimmy Smits. I will attach a photo of Farva and Tree Huger smoking a nice Cuban cigar celebrating Farva's last night which I'm in each one. I will let you guess which is Farva and which is Tree Hugger (Jimmy Smits stunt double).