Afghanistan Through My Eyes - Frank Buckles

Do you know why the flag is being flown at half mast today?

Do you know who Frank  Buckles is?

He was the last surviving American veteran of WWI.

Frank W. Buckles
Picture of Buckles in 1917 (age 16) and his signature in 2000
Born	February 1, 1901 Bethany, Missouri, U.S.
Died	February 27, 2011 (aged 110 years, 26 days) Charles Town, West Virginia, U.S.

During WWI he drove ambulances and motorcycles neat the front lines.
In WWII he was captured by Japanese forces while working in the shipping business and spent three years in the Philippines as a civilian prisoner.
Buckles was awarded the WWI Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal as well as the French Legion of Honor. He was buried at Arlington Cemetery with full honors.

But the reason the flag is being flown today is in remembrance of Pearl Harbor. Today is the 71st Anniversary of Pearl Harbor!

Pearl Harbor dead remembered on 71st anniversary

FILE - In this U.S. Navy file photo, a small boat rescues a USS West Virginia crew member from the water after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 during World War II. Two men can be seen on the superstructure, upper center. The mast of the USS Tennessee is beyond the burning West Virginia. On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese Imperial Navy navigator Takeshi Maeda guided his Kate bomber to Pearl Harbor and fired a torpedo that helped sink the USS West Virginia. President Barack Obama on Thursday Dec. 6, 2012 issued a proclamation declaring Dec. 7 a day of remembrance in honor of the 2,400 Americans who died at Pearl Harbor. He urged federal agencies, organizations and others to fly their flags at half-staff. (AP Photo, File)

Afghanistan Through My Eyes:

Today on NPR I heard of the deaths of troops and civilians from two suicide bombers trying to gain entrance to the base at Jalalabad. The Taliban did not gain entrance.

My heart goes out to the men and women deployed in Afghanistan. It is questionable. The thought of extending our mission there turns my stomach. It is a fight for government control of nightmare proportions. Why are we doing the brunt of the fighting when the only country to gain from our victory is Russia?

But right now the men and women serving our country are fulfilling their contracts. They are fighting and dying everyday. The holidays are arriving soon and they will be there physically, but their hearts and minds with their loved ones.

Do not forsake them. They are our warriors.