My sister-in-law Jacqui (my hero!) sent me email at 0500 hours today containing this photo of her. She'd been up since 0415—something my dad used to call "Oh-dark-thirty." I don't know how she does it.
As you can see from the photo, at the Carolina base where she's preparing for deployment to Afghanistan, it was "Weapons Day" yesterday. She was issued a pistol and an M-16. She is supposed to carry the M-16 with her everywhere she goes throughout training. And, at some point soon, she'll learn how to use it.
I'm sure this isn't what Jacqui had in mind when she went to medical school!
She still doesn't know too much about her future living quarters, although rumor has it that she has to share a tent with about 10 other people. That's something else I'd have trouble doing. I have so much respect for the military. It's not just that they are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and that many get killed or maimed in the process. It's the daily sacrifices they make—leaving their families behind and giving up their lifestyle and the comforts of home to live in a tent in the hot, dry, dusty desert or in the miserable, steamy, mosquito-infested jungle.
They don't get to "go home" every night after work—work that never really ends. There's no private shower or big screen TV with cable. No Simmons Beauty Rest mattress and Egyption cotton sheets to sink into at night. No air conditioning (god forbid). They don't get to eat whatever they want whenever they want it. There's no Starbucks or Barnes & Noble, no movie theater, no picnics in the park. The list goes on.
When most of us travel away from home we stay in a motel or B&B or other "home away from home." Imagine going camping in a foreign country thousands of miles away for nine or eighteen months straight. In the middle of a war, no less. It's the epitome of selflessness. It's takes a special kind of person to do that. Thanks, Jacqui. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment