"...tell everyone I am good and my soldiers are good on hygiene products..."
I asked him how it's going over there and he said:
"go, go, go, go, go...just a little bit worn out...nothing coffee can't take care of...I wish we were on the balcony drinking coffee and talking...just a little homesick...it would probably drive you crazy how much (coffee) I drink...good lord I am growing grey hair...I am going to look like Anderson Cooper...."
(I told him that he was MUCH more handsome than Anderson Cooper, in my opinion.)
TS posted this picture a few days ago of himself with an Afghani national. He captioned the picture with these words: "making buddies"
(photo removed due to security concerns)
TS received responses in reference to the picture and its caption that could very well lead him to withhold similar snapshots in the future. I hope not, but given the conversation I had with him in the aftermath, I wouldn't be surprised. Here is my two cents on that, for what it's worth...
TS is now in his fourth deployment to the Middle East. As of this writing, he has spent 41 months...going on three-and-a-half years...of the past eight years in that part of the world. He has spent at least some portion of each of the following years over there: 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012. In a few days, we can add 2013 to that list, as well. When this tour is over, he will have spent almost as much time in "the sandbox" as he has spent on American soil over a cumulative nine year period. Each deployment is preceded by roughly six to eight weeks of training in the fieldon post. Each deployment is also preceded by approximately one month of field training away from post in a very realistic mock-up of the combat theatre. In between those times of field training, there are hours upon hours/days/weeks of required reading, lecture, video, and death-by-powerpoint, all aimed at preparing him and his brothers- and sisters-in-arms for the mission to which they have been called. The bottom line here, and the point I want to make abundantly clear, is that Thomas is an EXPERT at what he is doing over there. Giving him advice about how to go about interacting with the local population in which he is immersed is...well...it's insulting.
HEAR ME OUT....please....
I am not talking about generic expressions of love and care, like "Please be careful," or "Keep your head down, but watch were you're going at the same time." We all say those or similar things to each other every day out of love and concern. I tell my boys, each and every time they commence to ride their bicycles, to wear their helmets, obey traffic laws, and be careful. See, I can do that and not feel bad about it because a) I am their mother and they are my minor children, b) I have seen first-hand what happens to people who don't wear bicycle helmets, and c) at this point in time, I have MANY more years of experience on a bicycle than they do. If I ever find one of my children riding in the Tour-de-France in adulthood, I will likely still say "Be careful," but I can assure you I won't be conducting a pre-race safety briefing or any other such lecture.
My father is an expert meat cutter. He has worked with extremely sharp knives and industrial meat preparation equipment since before I was born. He knows more than a few folks who have lost fingers and copious amounts of blood from meat market mishaps. My mom might say to him, as he leaves for work, "Hey, be careful today," but she doesn't advise him on the finer points of meat market safety measures. (My dad's father, on the other hand, tends to be a bit of a know-it-all in that department, but then again, his did retire from meat-cutting after 45 years in the business.) Along those same lines, I very frequently tell Tom to be careful. With my dry, twisted sense of humor, it usually goes something like this: "Hey, you be careful and get back home to me in one piece. I need you in good working order for all those "honey-do" things that I can't stand to fool with, but get stuck doing anyway while you're away saving the world." Tom has never responded to my cautionary words with anything more or less than the following: "Thanks, babe! You know I will!" I wish I could say he responded so affirmatively to the advice he received upon sharing that photo above. Instead his response was the following:
"I felt like-Really? (Do they) think I am new to war? I basically have been in this same position now four times in a row. I appreciate the concern but this is not something they have ever experienced."
