Afghanistan Through My Eyes -

By this time next week I will be on my way back to Afghanistan with the 3BCT 25th Division. I am excited and concerned.

Deploying with the troops this time I will be one the ground as our fresh battalions replace other troops who have completed their tours. The question is: With more troops arriving, will they be able to bridge the disconnect between the smaller tactical units, such as the one I was embedded with, with the larger strategic trends?

The feeling in the air is that the US has the manpower and money to hold the ground, but now what? How does this campaign end? Will the handover actually work?

The spring weather will bring the seedlings from the wheat and corn provided by the US and the Taliban...throughout the history of the world, farmers have had difficulty eradicating the weeds because they are able to adapt, they are survivors...

Veteran's Chapter - Dennis E. Hackin

Ho Bo Woods: Although the history of the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment is long and diverse nothing exemplifies the Bobcat’s superior training and expert teamwork quite as well as their actions while operating in the Ho Bo Woods in Vietnam.  During this era the Bobcats conducted so many operations in this area of South Vietnam HHC/1-5 IN came to be known as the “HoBo Hustlers”.  During these years 569 Bobcats paid the ultimate price, including three soldiers who received our nation’s highest honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor. 

SGT. DENNIS E. HACKIN: Vietnam 67-68 Charlie Company 1/5 Mech Infantry 25th Division

"Somehow I made it through that year. I saw things I don't want to remember and I wish I hadn't seen. I survived the "Tet Offensive". When the 'trac' I was driving hit a land mine and was flattened like a pancake, my buddies thought I was dead. One of them wrote 'the' letter home telling them what a swell guy I was.

Terry Jones vs The Taliban

What's happened is tragic. Pastor Terry Jones is Christian zealot inciting violence for his beliefs. He expected retaliation, it's what he was seeking. This is the fight of the Taliban. They are Islamic zealots fighting for their way of life. What's wrong about these factions is that while society tries to be respectful of them and let them live and function as they wish...they do not feel the same about society. If you know the history of Afghanistan, this couldn't come a  worst possible time.

Kill Team

Read this dissection of the Rolling Stone article "Kill Team", by Carl Prine. One of my great frustrations is reading articles written by journalists who are never on the ground in country. They sit in their hotel room and get fed information via two or three stringers.

“Kill Team” wasn’t journalistic poison, like Hastings’ latest story, but it also wasn’t very well written, researched or edited, which is also a shame because unlike the PSYOP flotsam, it was true — and that truth should matter not only to my friends in the Army who have reacted so angrily to it but also to Americans who need to own some of the wars that are being fought in their name.

Read more: http://www.lineofdeparture.com/2011/03/30/rolling-porn/#ixzz1I7aaqnMP

Rolling Porn | Carl Prine

Veteran's Chapter - Adam Burke

Former Sergeant Adam Burke OIF Combat Disabled:

To look at Adam now, he seems the spitting image of perfect health, both mental and physical. But that is because in his words, "You suck it up and tuck it all away and move on." He still suffers from debilitating migraines that require oxygen and last for days and his shrapnel wounds to his head and body can keep him from working plus PTSD and severe depression.

While Adam was recuperating in California from his wounds from a mortar attack he dreamed of his boyhood home, a blueberry farm. The very farm he joined the Army to get away from. Seven years later this dream farm has come to fruition.

Click: Veteran's Farm to find out more about this amazing place. You won't see pictures of the Veteran's themselves because this is a sanctuary for them. A place they can work out their demons while being productive.