Last Week

A week ago an Engineer working with the Corps of Engineers here in Kabul was murdered. It was a pretty quiet story as there was/is an active investigation going on to try to determine what happened...most of the major news outlets carried the story, but it was a short story as there were very few details. Most people don't even know that it happened. I don't know many details, and can't really talk about what I do know, but I know that his death was totally senseless. We had a memorial service here on Friday. It was both somber and sobering. Sobering because some forget that we are in a combat zone and seen as unwelcome occupiers to many people in this country.

Today is 9/11. To commemorate this anniversary, the soldiers are holding flag flying ceremonies all day long. They say that the greatest honor that can even bestowed onto a flag is to have that flag flown over a U.S. base in a foreign land. Today about 200 flags will get this honor. They won't be flying over the base for a long time as the color guard has 200 flags to push through...but the color guard raises the flag, salutes, and then lowers it, folds it, and presents it to the person that requested to have the flag flown. The flags can be flown in honor of someone else...or for someone else...and the Commander signs a certificate for each flag. As it is an honor for the flag, it is also an honor for those involved in the ceremony. Most of the military members on this base will rotate through flag duties today. Until I got here, I never really thought about the flag, what it means, and all the people that have died serving under it. It is a bit different now because of my experiences here.