The Last Journey
Article #21 “In Good Company”
Today I am in Bagram. It is August 20th. It is my birthday. It’s been a bit of
an ordeal in the past 24-hours. I knew
that leaving
When I left FOB Boris, on 18
August, I left with the company commander who was headed to 
take place. Now
the problem was that the little guy, (Spiri Freelance) just happened to be in
the same neighborhood as the big boys, CBS News. It was kind of supposed to be an exclusive on
CBS’s part and then here comes this little ole guy with shaggy hair from
When General David Petreaus
walked onto the scene I knew I was in good company. Actually, I had been in good company the
entire journey, but today would be even better.
Captain Watson along with several others were to receive extremely
significant awards for their bravery and performance under severe combat conditions. Among other things, General Petreaus had come
a long way to recognize these soldiers and I happened to be once again, at the
right place at the right time. I felt quite
honored to be present.
Back on August 1st,
I had arrived in
By mid afternoon, the
gathering of soldiers at the designated location had arrived and were in
place. Katie Couric and her little
entourage had assembled and were strutting around the place like 
they owned it.
I introduced myself to her and she basically shrugged me off. I did not give her my autograph. As the soldiers prepared to receive their
guest, General Petreaus, I looked around at everything going on. Here I was in
The General came out. I had followed Gen. David Petreaus for some
time over the years via news reports, etc.
He always seemed to me as a genuine person, a man of good character. I knew recently his health had been in
question. The responsibility that he
shoulders, especially now with the resignation of Gen. McChrystal, is enormous
and the plight of the effort in
As I watched Petreaus come
out I took note of his stature.
He’s not a big man. Not
like Odierno who is one that towers over you.
Petreaus on the other hand is smaller, thinner, and looks a bit frail
compared to the stature of say Ray Odierno.
But when you look at the four stars on his uniform, you know he commands
some authority and respect. From the
beginning, he gathered the soldiers around him as they all took a knee and
listened to his words. He made them all
feel at ease and just talked with them about the war going on and what they,
the Rakkasans are doing and will continue to do. It was more or less, a small, informal
gathering, except for the fact that the CBS News cameraman was constantly at
Petreaus’ back breathing down him like a heat seeking sidewinder missile
on track to eliminate its target. I kept
thinking how I was told to hang back when this idiot is basically got this
gigantic camera at the general’s right ear. It was ridiculous. This was my first sign that some things are
orchestrated for certain audiences. I
don’t like this part.
The general on the other hand
just let it all be. He had been around
plenty of video cameras in his time.
This would just be another time.
I listened to his talk and his words as close as I could. They were genuine. He explained that for sure we are in a fight
now and the heat is on. All these men
present, knew that already. But hearing
it from General Petreaus adds something stronger to the mix. Then, one by one, the General came to each
designated soldier and the inscriptions on each respective award was read aloud
over the simple microphone system that had been set up. Here I listened ever so closely. I cannot detail exactly what was said word
for word because I was listening with every fiber of my being as to what was
being said. I was in awe of the words
being spoken and of the soldiers before me.
Each one looked like very simple and modest men. Most seemed very, very young. As the battle was described for each
soldiers’ award, I could only barely contain myself within. In front of me were soldiers whose lives had
been brought before them all in single and specific events of war. They had survived and performed gallantly with
valor. Valor. This word has strong meaning now in my
vocabulary.
|
Photo and audio by Jim Spiri.
Capt. Watson, (L), Gen. Petreaus (C) and Lt. Lohnert (R) Both men received high awards for
their courageous actions in combat. General David Petreaus came to
forward operating base |
The General came to my friend
Capt. Watson as his award was read aloud.
I wanted to make sure I got this photo right. I listened and snapped as many as I
could. I pressed forward with the PAO
guys’ permission. I was here for
this moment in time for my new friend, Captain Watson. I was honored to take this photograph. I will catalog this one and print it out and
make sure he and his family get these.
The General continued down the line of honored warriors. He came to one and I just watched the
soldier. As the words were read he
relived each moment. He began to tremble
and his eyes welled up. He knew what he
was here for. It was the most moving
part of the day. It is times such as
these that I am so glad I came to this place.
Just to be in the presence of such ones simply sheds some light into my
being from them.
The ceremony soon came to an
end. Afterwards I audio interviewed two
people, Captain Watson and Lt. Lonhert about this day and what it meant to
them. Each just said, “we were
only doing our jobs”. They meant
it. I was glad to be there and have this
time to speak with them. The group
disbanded and people began to go their ways.
I watched as every handler for the General bent over backwards to make
sure Katie Curic and her crew were being treated like royalty. This part did not go down so well in my
stomach. It still makes me ill.
After recent events with the
Rolling Stone reporter and the resignation of General McChrystal, media folks
with “power” are like narco terrorists. They think they have to be accommodated to
the very uttermost. I don’t
understand that part. If I were in
control of a huge Army and was trying to defeat the war on terrorism, well
then, I would not want one thing to do with the likes of them. I would send them out to where I was and make
them stay there and make them carry their own bags of equipment. For some reason, CBS News gets to ride on the
General’s plane at the taxpayers’ expense to report what they think
we should know. They are under the same
orders I am. But with them it’s
different. They have some kind of power,
just ask General McChrystal.
Later that day, I walked down
to my friends at the hospital where they were all sitting outside having a
cigar break. They all got up and greeted
me with big open arms. While we talked,
they got a call that a wounded ANA soldier was being flown in via medevac and
asked if I would like to assist in being a litter carrier. I immediately said yes. While waiting for the patient to arrive I
watched as a Chinook helicopter hovered in front of me in the
twilight sunset between
trees. It was a good site to see.
The patient arrived on time,
we went to the helicopter and downloaded the patient and brought him to the
emergency room that had lots of medical staff awaiting him. This patient had been shot in the chest, but
looked good for the moment. He had been
in trouble they heard over the radio.
They all work fast and without skipping a beat. It felt good to be a part of the crew
again. It brought back memories of the
31st CSH in
I was once again in the
presence of good company this day.
That night I was to go to the
pax terminal and wait for four hours through the middle of the night for a
30-minute flight to Bagram. At this
moment, I am here in Bagram where more CBS News people are. They are right next to me and should be out
of here in the morning. There has been
some confusion of things but I once again got to stay right where I am, even
though CBS might think I should be somewhere else. I’ll be a good boy but I will make it
clear to the world that CBS News doesn’t run my life nor will they
ever. Part of being a
“freelancer” is that I can say such things because I am my own
editor.
It’s been a struggle
these past 48-hours. Yet I am reminded
of the good company I’ve been among during this journey. Nor can I forget the words spoken to the
soldiers that received honors from General David Petreaus. Having to put up with a difficult night or
two while in transit to my next location pales in comparison to what the
soldiers I’ve been among lately have gone through. No doubt, I am in good company and will
continue to be.
Jim Spiri
mailto:jimspiri@yahoo.com?subject=The
Last Journey