November | 2017 | Chasing Life and Finding Dreams

For Veterans’ Day weekend, I look back to some of my deployments. Each has been different: Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. There was good and bad in each one. But the one thing that was consistent with them all has been the bonds that were built with my fellow Soldiers, many who are still my friends today.

Here is a glimpse at my Iraq deployment and my fellow public affairs Soldiers. I took some of the pictures in the video and am in a few too. And, the broadcaster who put the video together, is still my friend today. I am so glad she produced this video so I can look back on the experiences we all had during the first Iraqi election in 2005-2006.

So enjoy this behind the scenes look at our lives then, our mission and some of the wacky things we did to remain sane.

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For all those veterans out there.

I believe words mean something. They have power. Words are what give us connection, empathy, passion and power. They help us understand one another.

In my efforts to start back on a blogging schedule and search the vast corners of the earth for more words that move me, I am going to start a Wednesday Word.

I will post a word, quote, phrase or who knows what else that moves me, inspires me, enrages me or more. I may comment on it. Or perhaps I will not. Feel free to share your thoughts on the topic too.

So here goes, the Wednesday Word is: service

As Veterans Day approaches, I think of service. I think of all the time I spent away from my family and friends in other countries. I think of the dusty landscapes, lonely months and endless hard work.

I had it easy for the most part. Yeah, there were some occasional mortars landing here and there, and a few scary convoys/patrols, but a majority of the time, I had “good” deployments. Of course, I contribute my experiences to my job. I LOVED it.

I traveled around the war zones telling stories about what other service members were doing. I wrote stories and took pictures that detailed these service members’ experiences and missions. I remember on my first deployment (Bosnia 2002), I was passing out the magazine we had created. It had one of my photographs on the cover, and I happened to run into the Soldier I had photographed while distributing the magazine around the compound. He smiled so big to see himself on the cover. He grabbed up a few copies and excitedly said he could not wait to show his family.

In that moment, I fell in love with my job. I had made at least one person, and presumably his family, happy and proud of of his service. I validated his time away. I made him realize his contribution had value.

Everyone wants to feel important and noticed. And everyone wants to feel like their work matters. So that has been, and continues to be my goal: share the stories of America’s sons and daughters who volunteer to serve. They are from all cultures, races, religions and sexes. They do everything from engineering to medicine. They are active duty, National Guard and Reserve. They are America’s fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters.

From the past to the present, Soldiers are citizens who chose the Army as their profession. And even once they retire, they will always be a Soldier at heart. I just hope the ones who I have had the pleasure of covering over the years, never forget that they made a difference.

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