Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy birthday to me
1 NovWhat a way to turn 40... thousands of miles from your family under the constant threat of the Taliban!!! Actually, it was a great day. My team here surprised me with a pizza, cake and a movie.
I have to admit, I woke up this morning amazed that I was actually 40... but that's cool. For 40-years old, I think I'm sitting pretty. I have a beautiful wife, great kids, a fun job, a kick ass car and a body that can still run a half-marathon.
I've anchored the news, won an Emmy, broke the sound barrier in an F-16, worked in the White House, served my country, taught at the university level and backpacked across Europe. I've been to nearly two dozen different countries. I've walked the beaches of Normandy and sat for hours in the Louve and Notre Dame. I've spent time in a Mexican prison, got hammered on a pub crawl in Dublin and drunk with Navy SEALs in San Diego. I've landed on and taken off from a carrier at sea. I've been a bachelor on The Dating Games and sat in the audience of The Price is Right six times. I've shaken hands with a President and met the man who piloted the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb.
I have attempted to squeeze every experience I can out of life... and I think I've gotten the most out of the past 40 years. But this is only the halfway point. Susan, Kathryn and Charlie can look forward to many adventures ahead.
I say bring it on. I can only image what the list will look like when I'm 50!
Christmas in October
10/31
I now what it feels like to be Santa Claus. Actually, Santa Claus is a gross understatement based on the experience I had today.
In the desert surrounding Kabul at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains, thousands of people live in poor, depressing refugee camps. The camp I visited today is home to more than 500 families, all scrapping to get by. They have little food, no running water and their cloths are ripped and dirty. Malaria is a huge problem. So is the oncoming winter weather. Last year, this camp lost six children to the freezing cold temperatures.
Our convoy of ten vehicles and two trucks delivered cloths, blankets, toys and food to the camp. If you’ve ever seen sharks swarm a fresh kill, it was sort of like that. Each member of the military had backpacks stuffed with goodies, and as each pack was opened, the children attacked. There was no orderly distribution. They grabbed anything and everything they could get their hands on. They’d even fight over a pair of shoes, usually with one pair being split between two people. But one shoe apiece is more than what they had before we arrived.
One of them even made off with my expensive Blackhawk backpack. But can you blame them? These people have nothing.
What saddens my heart the most are the children who are the same age as my own kids; 3 and 5 years old. The children here have so little and Kathryn and Charlie have everything. They’re royalty compared to these refugees. One little boy (pictured above) was so small he was trampled by the mob, walking away empty handed. I picked him up, wiped away his tears and carried him to my secret stash. All I could give him was a stuffed Pooh Bear and a candy bar, but it made him happy. If I was given the opportunity to adopt the kid on the spot, I would have done it.
Sadly, we were only allowed to stay 45 minutes for security reason.
I despise Angelina Jolie and Madonna because I think they've only adopted refuee children for publicity reasons. But after experiencing this refugee camp today, any home, even Madonna's, is better than this place.
I now what it feels like to be Santa Claus. Actually, Santa Claus is a gross understatement based on the experience I had today.
In the desert surrounding Kabul at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains, thousands of people live in poor, depressing refugee camps. The camp I visited today is home to more than 500 families, all scrapping to get by. They have little food, no running water and their cloths are ripped and dirty. Malaria is a huge problem. So is the oncoming winter weather. Last year, this camp lost six children to the freezing cold temperatures.
Our convoy of ten vehicles and two trucks delivered cloths, blankets, toys and food to the camp. If you’ve ever seen sharks swarm a fresh kill, it was sort of like that. Each member of the military had backpacks stuffed with goodies, and as each pack was opened, the children attacked. There was no orderly distribution. They grabbed anything and everything they could get their hands on. They’d even fight over a pair of shoes, usually with one pair being split between two people. But one shoe apiece is more than what they had before we arrived.
One of them even made off with my expensive Blackhawk backpack. But can you blame them? These people have nothing.
What saddens my heart the most are the children who are the same age as my own kids; 3 and 5 years old. The children here have so little and Kathryn and Charlie have everything. They’re royalty compared to these refugees. One little boy (pictured above) was so small he was trampled by the mob, walking away empty handed. I picked him up, wiped away his tears and carried him to my secret stash. All I could give him was a stuffed Pooh Bear and a candy bar, but it made him happy. If I was given the opportunity to adopt the kid on the spot, I would have done it.
Sadly, we were only allowed to stay 45 minutes for security reason.
I despise Angelina Jolie and Madonna because I think they've only adopted refuee children for publicity reasons. But after experiencing this refugee camp today, any home, even Madonna's, is better than this place.
Monday, October 27, 2008
A day in the life
OCT 27
My department head is a German Colonel. My commanding officer is a Royal Navy Captain. Our commanding general is an American Army four star. Welcome to the world of NATO. I've been on the job for only a couple days and my head is now spinning with dozens of new military acronyms, foreign rank insignias and people's names that contain 14 consonance and one vowel.
Forty-three nations make up the NATO forces in Afghanistan. Obviously, the United States comprises nearly half of the 51,000 troops fighting the Taliban here. It's an interesting lot and amazing to see how different militaries operate. One of the most interested is the Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia. Their soldiers are charged .19 cents for every bullet they fire. Yes, I'm being serious.
Everyday there's a briefing and it's filled with atrocities you never hear about back home. Today, we heard about the Taliban hanging two young children... a 7-and-8 year old. They did this to intimidate the families of voter registration workers. Meantime, right now on CNN.com, you can read about the doughnut-maker who lost 170-pounds.
Getting me through my first turbulent days is LT Jessica Gandy who established my office, the Multi-Purpose Public Affairs Team or MPPAT. Jessica is an amazing Naval Officer and someone who I know will go VERY FAR in the military (if we are able to keep her). She comes from a family with a long and proud tradition of Naval service. She speaks five languages including Arabic and Russian, can multi-task like no one I've ever seen and is known and adored by EVERYONE on this base. I have very big shoes to fill. By the way, she's just 27-years old.
Our job is to document the war by churning out product; video stories, print stories, photos with captions. If this were a newsroom, I would be the news director. It's a job I'm comfortable doing based on my previous life in the media. But my most rewarding day in the civilian newsroom could never come close to the reward of working here and telling our militaries story.
But it can't be all work and no play. There's a pub on base and tonight there's a band. The band's name; The Tali-Band. This is something I have to see.
My department head is a German Colonel. My commanding officer is a Royal Navy Captain. Our commanding general is an American Army four star. Welcome to the world of NATO. I've been on the job for only a couple days and my head is now spinning with dozens of new military acronyms, foreign rank insignias and people's names that contain 14 consonance and one vowel.
Forty-three nations make up the NATO forces in Afghanistan. Obviously, the United States comprises nearly half of the 51,000 troops fighting the Taliban here. It's an interesting lot and amazing to see how different militaries operate. One of the most interested is the Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia. Their soldiers are charged .19 cents for every bullet they fire. Yes, I'm being serious.
Everyday there's a briefing and it's filled with atrocities you never hear about back home. Today, we heard about the Taliban hanging two young children... a 7-and-8 year old. They did this to intimidate the families of voter registration workers. Meantime, right now on CNN.com, you can read about the doughnut-maker who lost 170-pounds.
Getting me through my first turbulent days is LT Jessica Gandy who established my office, the Multi-Purpose Public Affairs Team or MPPAT. Jessica is an amazing Naval Officer and someone who I know will go VERY FAR in the military (if we are able to keep her). She comes from a family with a long and proud tradition of Naval service. She speaks five languages including Arabic and Russian, can multi-task like no one I've ever seen and is known and adored by EVERYONE on this base. I have very big shoes to fill. By the way, she's just 27-years old.
Our job is to document the war by churning out product; video stories, print stories, photos with captions. If this were a newsroom, I would be the news director. It's a job I'm comfortable doing based on my previous life in the media. But my most rewarding day in the civilian newsroom could never come close to the reward of working here and telling our militaries story.
But it can't be all work and no play. There's a pub on base and tonight there's a band. The band's name; The Tali-Band. This is something I have to see.
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