HOMECOMING FROM AFGHANISTAN

Well, we're back up in good ole' Watertown, NY again. Except this time we're here to welcome home the soldiers of the 10th Mtn Div from their 15 month tour in Afghanistan.

Earlier tonight, the soldiers flew in from Germany, marched into a large gymnasium on Fort Drum to a roaring crowd of friends and family - waving flags and signs - , stood for a short and sweet ceremony, and then were released back to life in the states.

The event hit us both quite differently. For one of us, it was a time to feel the gravity of what it means to have gone to war - to endure a deployment that steals the lives of friends, constantly puts your own in jeopardy, and rips you away from your home and your family - and then to have FINALLY made it back. Safe. Duty done. Makes home seem like paradise. 

For another one of us it was a time to watch the return of fellow soldiers, and to consider what life would have been like had we gone with them to Afghanistan. 

What both of us noticed is how intense of a deployment this one in Afghanistan must have been. We all hear about Iraq everyday on the news, but the stories that come back from Afghanistan are of a much different nature. It's a war fought in the mud, rocks, caves, and mountains, against insurgents who have been fighting constantly for decades. The unit we welcomed home lost far more men on their depoyment to Afghanistan than they did in Iraq the year before. There was a weight around the men - outside of their happiness to be home - that clearly said they had been somewhere that truly tested them as soldiers.

So, to close this post, our first hope is that what our soldiers our doing over in Afghanistan does not go unnoticed. The news from over there doesn't travel like it does from Iraq, but the struggles soldiers endure are equally as intense. We welcome feedback from anyone regarding their thoughts on this...

Last, we saw the reunion of a couple of close friends tonight - a husband who returned with his unit, and his wife who has been a participant of our project making videos for our forthcoming site. It was an amazing moment to witness. If ANYONE HAS ANY GREAT HOMECOMING STORIES OR VIDEOS TO SHARE, WE'D LOVE TO HEAR THEM.

Until next time.

- UnR