AF MSgt carrying medical supplies.
Two days ago, we were supposed to visit this village, but didn’t and had to reschedule for today. Only a handful of my teammates would accompany me on this visit as we joined forces with the camp medical personnel. Even though the village was friendly and the camp has been supplying clothing, food, hygiene items, etc., we still traveled with an armed convoy along with some ANA soldiers. Today’s mission was to deliver some badly needed medical supplies to the village medical clinic. I was responsible for taking pictures and also served as a gunner with a mounted M-240 machine gun. I really don’t like to be a gunner, but you get a different perspective when you are elevated up in the turret.
ANA soldier providing security.
The dirt road was extremely dusty and our HMMVWs stirred up the dust making limited visibility for me as a gunner. As the tail vehicle, I was responsible for the 6 o’clock position and faced backward. But the dust cloud still caused me to cough as I inhaled it.
As we drove up to the village medical clinic, we
Afghan girl in coat and flip flops.
attracted quite a crowd. Despite the blanket of dust we created, the children followed our vehicles. They were wearing some of the donated clothing the camp previously supplied. Fashion doesn’t apply here, but practicality and staying warm does. However, note that almost everyone is still wearing flip-flops. This observation continues to amaze me. Since they are too poor to purchase shoes, I wonder what they wear in the snow. It will be interesting to see as winter is quickly approaching.
Our group off-loaded the medical supplies and carried the boxes into the medical clinic. In comparison to other clinics I visited, this one was rather nice and well-staffed. The clinic is responsible for treating this village of
AF MSgt demonstrates neck brace.
300-400 families. The doctor along with his 2 assistants was happy to see the stockpile of medical items we brought. Some of our medics demonstrated how to use a folding litter along with the proper way of applying a neck brace. Our female medic described the multiple uses of a SAM splint.
After the demonstrations were over, we were
AF MSgt sips chai.
treated to some chai and some cookies. For some of the group, this was the first time they ever drank chai and requested sugar to accompany their tea. For me this was my third cup of tea for the day because I mentored my ANA counterparts earlier in the morning. I had a philosophical and religious conversation with the Mullah and Religious Education officer. Because it’s late here, I will have to save that for a separate entry.
After drinking tea, we went back outside and more children had gathered. We purposely did not bring any school supplies to hand out. Instead, we wanted to make a quick visit quick and return to camp. It was rather humorous to watch herds of
Herd of sheep walking through village.
sheep wandering through the village. I thought they were going to run over my teammate…lol. We got back into our vehicles and departed the village. Once again we stirred up the dust and once again the children ran after our convoy. The smiles on the children’s faces are still etched in my mind. These types of missions are so rewarding and
Our group poses for picture.
worthwhile. It’s a shame we have to wear our protective gear and be armed just to visit a village or to hand out ballpoint pens. It’s just one of the realities of being in a combat zone.
From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: Rex took 105 pictures on this mission. Here are some more in a slide show.
