Dateline:the mountains of east Afghanistan
The past week we've read accounts of the loss of sixteen of our troops riding on a rescue mission into the mountains of east Afghanistan. Their helicopter was shot down in the forbidding terrain and all aboard died. The story continues that they were responding to calls for help from at Navy SEAL team of four who were engaged in a running gunbattle with Taliban fighters. The SEALs were apparently seriously outnumbered but were holding on waiting for their relief to arrive. Only the chopper made a vulnerable target and was taken out. The trapped SEALs died in the battle as well. Except for one guy. And there's the story I'd lke to know more about. This soldier, badly injured and bleeding, apparently dragged himself away from the skirmish site. A person from a nearby village apparently saw the trail of blood and, though we don't know how, got the wounded American to his village where the wound was bandaged, he was fed, and the villager went for help! I think this story is worthy of our fuller attention! The villager was probably taking his life in his hands by helping our wounded soldier. This is an area, obviously, where the Taliban fighters exert some control. Yet, this person was willing to stand up and help our guy at great personal risk. And the risk continues. I am sure that, when word gets out about his action, the Taliban will feel they should make an example of him. Perhaps of his family too.
This story has elements of great tragedy in it for the soldiers who lost their lives and for their families. But they were doing what they signed on to do and apparently doing it well against great odds. The heart of the story, though, is the villager who took a risk to help a wounded American. We owe him and his village our thanks. And at least enough acknowledgement to perhaps reduce the risks he may face. I don't know how. I do know that our response or lack of a response will also 'set an example' to the people in that part of the world. I'm watching with interest to see if anyone picks this up or if there's further information out there.
In a side note, I found myself emotionally grimacing because the movie the kids picked to watch was "The Pacifier". It's not a bad movie. Kinda sweet. But I found myself thinking of the SEAL teams in the craggy and frozen darkness in the high plateaus of the borderlands and it was hard to watch Vin Diesel babysit. Maybe it's a good thing when we, Americans, don't take ourselves too seriously. But perhaps we should also not take things too lightly. This war we're in has cost precious little to those of us who aren't in the service or don't have loved ones in the service. The burden has been disproportionate.
I think that's one of the reasons the Bush team managed to get the ball rolling- the personal cost to most of us was going to be $ 1.99 for a "support our troops" car magnet. To play an old record, the Roman Empire declined for many reasons, but among them was the lack of personal commitment to its survival among classes of people who were distracted by luxury, big villas, socializing, and other trivia.
This story has elements of great tragedy in it for the soldiers who lost their lives and for their families. But they were doing what they signed on to do and apparently doing it well against great odds. The heart of the story, though, is the villager who took a risk to help a wounded American. We owe him and his village our thanks. And at least enough acknowledgement to perhaps reduce the risks he may face. I don't know how. I do know that our response or lack of a response will also 'set an example' to the people in that part of the world. I'm watching with interest to see if anyone picks this up or if there's further information out there.
In a side note, I found myself emotionally grimacing because the movie the kids picked to watch was "The Pacifier". It's not a bad movie. Kinda sweet. But I found myself thinking of the SEAL teams in the craggy and frozen darkness in the high plateaus of the borderlands and it was hard to watch Vin Diesel babysit. Maybe it's a good thing when we, Americans, don't take ourselves too seriously. But perhaps we should also not take things too lightly. This war we're in has cost precious little to those of us who aren't in the service or don't have loved ones in the service. The burden has been disproportionate.
I think that's one of the reasons the Bush team managed to get the ball rolling- the personal cost to most of us was going to be $ 1.99 for a "support our troops" car magnet. To play an old record, the Roman Empire declined for many reasons, but among them was the lack of personal commitment to its survival among classes of people who were distracted by luxury, big villas, socializing, and other trivia.
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