All photo’s and Website © 2012 JimSpiri.com, All Rights Reserved
Ten Years Later
#18 Change
March 24, 2012…Forward Operating
Base Edinburgh, Helmand province,
Afghanistan. One thing that always
happens is change. Those causing
change tend to always say, "change is
good". Those being changed may not
always agree. No matter what, change is
going to happen, except when I go to
the store these days. I don't get any
change back from my dollar like I did in
the old days. Then there was this phrase
four years ago during the presidential
election that said, "hope and change".
Wow. Usually I hope that nothing
changes.
Then again, I don't know so much.
That's something that never changes.
Since the 19th, there have been several
missions. From time to time, things just
begin to run together and I have found
myself writing down on a notepad which
mission is what and when it happened. I
will recap briefly what has gone on to
catch up the readers just to let them
know I've been busy.
On the 19th, there was a Marine that was
shot in the leg. He was medevaced and
brought here. He had what is called a
"through and through" where the bullet
went into his calf and straight out. He is
fine, now. On the following morning, he
was transported to the larger facility. On
the way back, there was a call to pick up
a local national that managed to pretty
much blow himself up while planting an
IED. He too was brought here. His arm
was a disaster and I had yet to see what
it looks like to have an arm separated at
the shoulder due to some catastrophic
event. I must confess I did not feel
much empathy towards this guy. But
then again, I'm not a doctor and I am not
a local living here while war is going on.
Still, there was no empathy in me for this
guy.
On the 21st, there was a little local boy
that was burned. The medevac was
dispatched to pick him up and take him
to the facility that handles such things. I
learned that this is not an uncommon
thing here among kids. They seemed to
get mysteriously burned by their
parents. It happens a lot and the guys
here have seen it all the time. What
happens is they (the kids) seem to be
dipped in some scalding liquid for an
extended length of time. A lot of times
this is a tactic used by the bad guys to
observe things like reaction times, etc.
The bad guys know that we Westerners
have a different regard for life than they
do. This child was medevaced to the
large facility and an escort came along.
Supposedly the escort is his father. My
observation was that the "escort" did not
look very upset about his son being
burned. Back home, the guy would be
chatting with CYFD folks and being
investigated. Here, I have no idea what
happens.
War brings out the dark side in people.
Later on the 21st, an Afghan National
Police person fell off some wall and
banged himself up pretty good. The
ANP are a kind of security force just
above something akin to the Wal Mart
greeters back home that check your bags
in and out of the store. I have been on
patrols with them in years past and I am
generally more comfortable with ANA
rather than the ANP. I guess there are
just levels of professionalism
everywhere. Here in Afghanistan it may
just be a little more noticeable.
This guy was taken to a place in the town
of Lashkar Ga. It is a big city, kind of.
From the air it reminded me of Juarez,
Mexico or some streets I've been on in
Fallujah, Iraq in the industrial area. It was
interesting to see this place and I had
been near that area back in 2010 when in
the Marjah district with the Marines. It
looks not so inviting from the air.
On the 22nd, another young local Afghan
boy was medevaced from an area near us.
He had severe head wounds. The story
goes he was chopping wood, (which by the
way there are no trees here) and hit a
mortar round. That is just one of a whole
host of stories that people come up with
when they bring their kids to the FOB's
and outposts across this Helmand river
valley. It is more likely that the real story
is the child was blown up because he was
planting an IED. It is common that little
kids are taken away by the bad guys and
taught how to make crude IED's and then
plant them. This child is not the first to
have been blown up mysteriously.
It just happens that way in 2012 in
Afghanistan. As was said to Dorothy's
dog in the Wizard of Oz, "This ain't
Kansas."
Yesterday, Friday the 23rd, there was a
medevac call to pick up three injured from
an IED blast. Turns out this mission would
be to pick one Marine, one Navy
corpsman, and one ANA soldier who was
with them. They were all on patrol and
got hit. The helicopter was launched and
as usual, I was on board. At the LZ, the
injured were brought into the bird by
other Marines with Sgt. Menzie our medic,
assisting. In short order, the helicopter
had three injured in it as we rapidly
departed the POI. Immediately, Menzie
and Sgt. Espinosa, the crew chief, began
assessing the injured. The Navy corpsman
had a neck wound that looked bandaged
and bleeding. He was almost stoic and
obviously in pain, but sat in a seat. The
ANA, who looked more Asian in
appearance, was also in pain with a wound
to his right leg. He was quiet, but
grimaced in pain as he stretched out on a
litter in the helicopter. The third person, a
Marine, looked banged up a bit and had
blood on his face. He was for sure quite
dazed and is more than likely to have
received a banged up concussion. Those
type of things can turn into TBI, traumatic
brain injury. He too looked in pain as he
was encouraged to lay on another
stretcher in the helicopter. All would be
ok, but all had just been on the recipient
end of an IED blast.
Lest one forgets, there is a war going on
here.
In the afternoon on the 23rd, there was
another mission to pick up a dog and his
handler. The dog was not in bad shape,
just had his nose messed up a bit from
apparently another dog, believe it or not.
When dogs get messed up, they too have
to have medical attention and that
attention is at the larger facility we fly to.
I was wondering when dogs fight, if they
get article fifteens…?
That brings us to now, today, March 24th,
a Saturday. It is kind of one of those days
where the clouds are high in the sky.
Maybe there is a change in the weather
coming. I'm not sure of my schedule in
the days ahead or how and when I will get
to where I need to be going. But, for this
moment, I am still here at Edi and may be
here until I leave. That's about as definite
as things get in my world. One thing for
sure is at some point in time, it will
change.
Whether change is good or not, is of no
concern to me right now. My experience
tells me that the more things change, the
more they tend to stay the same. There
was a time change last week. Time will
tell what changes will come.
Jim Spiri
jimspiri@yahoo.com
Base Edinburgh, Helmand province,
Afghanistan. One thing that always
happens is change. Those causing
change tend to always say, "change is
good". Those being changed may not
always agree. No matter what, change is
going to happen, except when I go to
the store these days. I don't get any
change back from my dollar like I did in
the old days. Then there was this phrase
four years ago during the presidential
election that said, "hope and change".
Wow. Usually I hope that nothing
changes.
Then again, I don't know so much.
That's something that never changes.
Since the 19th, there have been several
missions. From time to time, things just
begin to run together and I have found
myself writing down on a notepad which
mission is what and when it happened. I
will recap briefly what has gone on to
catch up the readers just to let them
know I've been busy.
On the 19th, there was a Marine that was
shot in the leg. He was medevaced and
brought here. He had what is called a
"through and through" where the bullet
went into his calf and straight out. He is
fine, now. On the following morning, he
was transported to the larger facility. On
the way back, there was a call to pick up
a local national that managed to pretty
much blow himself up while planting an
IED. He too was brought here. His arm
was a disaster and I had yet to see what
it looks like to have an arm separated at
the shoulder due to some catastrophic
event. I must confess I did not feel
much empathy towards this guy. But
then again, I'm not a doctor and I am not
a local living here while war is going on.
Still, there was no empathy in me for this
guy.
On the 21st, there was a little local boy
that was burned. The medevac was
dispatched to pick him up and take him
to the facility that handles such things. I
learned that this is not an uncommon
thing here among kids. They seemed to
get mysteriously burned by their
parents. It happens a lot and the guys
here have seen it all the time. What
happens is they (the kids) seem to be
dipped in some scalding liquid for an
extended length of time. A lot of times
this is a tactic used by the bad guys to
observe things like reaction times, etc.
The bad guys know that we Westerners
have a different regard for life than they
do. This child was medevaced to the
large facility and an escort came along.
Supposedly the escort is his father. My
observation was that the "escort" did not
look very upset about his son being
burned. Back home, the guy would be
chatting with CYFD folks and being
investigated. Here, I have no idea what
happens.
War brings out the dark side in people.
Later on the 21st, an Afghan National
Police person fell off some wall and
banged himself up pretty good. The
ANP are a kind of security force just
above something akin to the Wal Mart
greeters back home that check your bags
in and out of the store. I have been on
patrols with them in years past and I am
generally more comfortable with ANA
rather than the ANP. I guess there are
just levels of professionalism
everywhere. Here in Afghanistan it may
just be a little more noticeable.
This guy was taken to a place in the town
of Lashkar Ga. It is a big city, kind of.
From the air it reminded me of Juarez,
Mexico or some streets I've been on in
Fallujah, Iraq in the industrial area. It was
interesting to see this place and I had
been near that area back in 2010 when in
the Marjah district with the Marines. It
looks not so inviting from the air.
On the 22nd, another young local Afghan
boy was medevaced from an area near us.
He had severe head wounds. The story
goes he was chopping wood, (which by the
way there are no trees here) and hit a
mortar round. That is just one of a whole
host of stories that people come up with
when they bring their kids to the FOB's
and outposts across this Helmand river
valley. It is more likely that the real story
is the child was blown up because he was
planting an IED. It is common that little
kids are taken away by the bad guys and
taught how to make crude IED's and then
plant them. This child is not the first to
have been blown up mysteriously.
It just happens that way in 2012 in
Afghanistan. As was said to Dorothy's
dog in the Wizard of Oz, "This ain't
Kansas."
Yesterday, Friday the 23rd, there was a
medevac call to pick up three injured from
an IED blast. Turns out this mission would
be to pick one Marine, one Navy
corpsman, and one ANA soldier who was
with them. They were all on patrol and
got hit. The helicopter was launched and
as usual, I was on board. At the LZ, the
injured were brought into the bird by
other Marines with Sgt. Menzie our medic,
assisting. In short order, the helicopter
had three injured in it as we rapidly
departed the POI. Immediately, Menzie
and Sgt. Espinosa, the crew chief, began
assessing the injured. The Navy corpsman
had a neck wound that looked bandaged
and bleeding. He was almost stoic and
obviously in pain, but sat in a seat. The
ANA, who looked more Asian in
appearance, was also in pain with a wound
to his right leg. He was quiet, but
grimaced in pain as he stretched out on a
litter in the helicopter. The third person, a
Marine, looked banged up a bit and had
blood on his face. He was for sure quite
dazed and is more than likely to have
received a banged up concussion. Those
type of things can turn into TBI, traumatic
brain injury. He too looked in pain as he
was encouraged to lay on another
stretcher in the helicopter. All would be
ok, but all had just been on the recipient
end of an IED blast.
Lest one forgets, there is a war going on
here.
In the afternoon on the 23rd, there was
another mission to pick up a dog and his
handler. The dog was not in bad shape,
just had his nose messed up a bit from
apparently another dog, believe it or not.
When dogs get messed up, they too have
to have medical attention and that
attention is at the larger facility we fly to.
I was wondering when dogs fight, if they
get article fifteens…?
That brings us to now, today, March 24th,
a Saturday. It is kind of one of those days
where the clouds are high in the sky.
Maybe there is a change in the weather
coming. I'm not sure of my schedule in
the days ahead or how and when I will get
to where I need to be going. But, for this
moment, I am still here at Edi and may be
here until I leave. That's about as definite
as things get in my world. One thing for
sure is at some point in time, it will
change.
Whether change is good or not, is of no
concern to me right now. My experience
tells me that the more things change, the
more they tend to stay the same. There
was a time change last week. Time will
tell what changes will come.
Jim Spiri
jimspiri@yahoo.com
Marine that was shot in leg
Same Marine being worked on at STP at FOB Edinburgh
Little boy who was burned mysteriously with father in background.
Injured Afghan National Police person being carried to helicopter
ANP being treated by Sgt. Zach Menzie
ANP being treated by Sgt. Zach Menzie
Little Afghan boy that supposedly got blown up chopping wood.
That is what his father said.
Sgt. Espinosa with military
working dog being taken to
medical attention.
Injured local that blew up planting an IED being saved.
Caution These Next Pictures are Graphic:
Local who blew himself up planting an IED
STP folks working on saving bad guys life
Local who blew himself up planting an IED
STP folks working on saving bad guys life