It's the little things ...

It’s been a bittersweet few days here at Bagram. Had the opportunity to escort a Belgian documentary film crew around the base, had one of my pictures make the Air Force “Week in Photos” (www.af.mil/photos/slideshow.asp?id={0B79E04A-1AFB-4339-B660-F0A349E38BB9) and Jennifer and I have made strides in staying better in synch with one another. I’ve taken almost 2,400 pictures here and have four stories done. Professionally, I haven’t felt this fulfilled in almost a year – what I’ve been doing here has been noticed and appreciated and I know I’m contributing in a place that needs me to be here. But throughout all of this, in the quiet moments of the night when I can’t sleep, things get a little more somber. And it’s not just because of the lousy year the Mets are having …

This much closer to the war, the realities of what happens out here become a little more apparent. I’ve talked to a surgeon and a pararescueman about the emergencies to which they’ve responded. I’ve listened to Marines talk about their combat patrols. I’ve spoken to F-15E Strike Eagle aircrews about what they’ve done to provide air support as they’ve listened to the fight on the ground over their radios. And I’ve even heard the stories from a couple of reporters about the firefight they were in just a couple hours from here. But good storytelling is my job and passion – I love a well-told tale. Besides, it gives me more stuff to tell my son, Zachary, who always wants to hear me spin a yarn. And I really think he’s getting sick of my own war stories …

I’ve mentioned the Pat Tillman Memorial USO at Bagram. It’s a great little lodge-looking building where people can go and relax. Like every USO, the people who volunteer there are happy to support the troops. It’s built on the same ground where the passenger terminal used to be – where I was when that afternoon we found out about Pat while watching CNN. But before there was a building for the USO, there was a small closet that USO volunteers used to pass out drinks, treats, magazines, etc., while people waited for flights to parts unknown. Someone’s grandmother was here running it and I’ll never forget how she took my hand in both hers and just said “thank you” as tears welled in her eyes. She was there, in a war-torn country by choice and she was thanking me?! It was then that I decided I’d start actively supporting the USO whenever I could …

My other favorite charity is AnyAirman.com. Like the USO, I’ve also written about AnyAirman (www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123030909). Essentially, I’m a point of contact for them while I’m deployed, so when people want to send cards, letters or care packages to just anyone who’s out here, they send them to me and I get them to an Airman who could use the pick-me-up. So if anyone just wants to support deployed Airmen, the USO and AnyAirman.com are the charities I usually advocate. Although these days I usually find myself supporting the efforts against J-BAMS, but JenniferBreaksAllMyStuff is a force that can’t be stopped. My father-in-law tried to warn me, but she’s a really good cook …

Operation Shoebox (http://www.operationshoebox.com/) is another great organization to support deployed troops. They sent about a thousand boxes out here this week for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines at Bagram. We got candy, magazines, crossword puzzles (woo-hoo!), comics pages, cards, letters, flags, gum, Q-tips (which I *just* ran out of), tissues, wet wipes and just a whole host of other things. What they sent us truly made a difference this week for all the folks out here. You’d see people sitting and reading the letters or looking for their favorite candies. The notes inside downplayed their efforts to get us the creature comforts, but really, those “small tokens of appreciation” went a long way here. It reminded me that it’s the little things that really count. And that made me think of 1st Lt. Molly Cook …

Molly Cook was stationed at Seymour Johnson while I was there. It was the week of Thanksgiving 2003 and our office was pushing to get the base newspaper done. I decided to do a “Man on the Street” section and asked “For what are you most thankful?” to a bunch of people. But I refused to accept “My family” or “my kids” or “my wife” as an answer. It took some teeth-pulling, but I finally got some great answers (The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, pumpkin pie) and Lieutenant Molly Cook said, “Chocolate. Doesn’t matter what kind – white, milk, dark – just any kind of chocolate.” When the paper came out, she was embarrassed about her answer in print for all to see. But for the next several days, people kept bringing her chocolates and leaving little treats on her desk. Those little kindnesses from people made her smile the whole week. They told that story at her funeral a few months later …

So in those quiet, somber, insomnia-ridden nights, I think of Molly Cook. I try to remember that small efforts like a piece of chocolate were enough to make her smile. I think of the communities in Florida who got together in a high school gym to put together care packages of candies, cards and sundries for thousands of people they’d never met. I think of the grandmothers who volunteered to go to third-world countries just to make sure an Airman had a crossword puzzle while he waited for a flight to Uzbekistan. I think of these things and I remember it’s the little things in life that can make such a big difference …