Finally on board!

So we're on day seven now in country. I finally get to post, but have way too much to catch up on all that has happened so far. Suffice to say that this will be a very busy year. That's a good thing, as time will fly. Among all the things I've done, I've had to sleep on the floor of a C-17 in flight (24 hours of flying time), walk EVERYWHERE on post, which makes me feel like the humans on Wall-E, and actually getting up daily at 0500 for physical training, not because I'm so disciplined, but because I just can't get more than a few hours of sleep each night, yet. But let me share the most poignant moment of the trip thus far...

A "Fallen Comrade" ceremony is at least a weekly, sometimes daily, tradition here. When a service member dies in our area, they fly through our base. No matter what is going on at the moment they are being transferred to the plane, everything here stops. Everyone on base - soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, civilians - all line the main drive as the soldier is carried to the flight line. Salutes are rendered as he or she passes. Literally thousands render these honors to the fallen. At the flight line, a "ramp ceremony" is performed and includes the colors, honor guard, chaplains, dignitaries and unit members. The ceremony is brief on the plane, but poignant, and is the same for all, from the lowest private to the generals themselves. The hero is then flown back to the States with an escort, where another ramp ceremony will be performed wherever they are to disembark. It is a beautiful tribute to those who have paid the highest price to defend us from the absolute evil that persists here and would, if given the chance, harm us.

Never forget. Men and women here are still laying down their lives for us. Live your lives as if they were paid for at a high cost. And remember that Jesus paid the price that the lives you now live may continue into eternity.