thedrifter
11-10-02, 04:16 PM
Sunday, November 10, 2002
By MIKE ECKEL
Associated Press Writer
BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- For most U.S. military men and women in the dust-bowl sweep and jagged landscape of eastern Afghanistan, Veterans Day is just another day.
But for Army Maj. Richard Patterson at Bagram air base, it's also a family affair.
Three of his five brothers have served as pilots, intelligence officers or engineers. His father was an Army engineer. His uncle was an Army mortarman killed by a sniper in Vietnam in 1967.
"The United States is . . . the best place to grow up in the world; the freedoms you have, the opportunities you have there just aren't found anywhere else," said Patterson, 36, of the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 82nd Airborne Division.
"The reason that is so is all the veterans."
At Bagram on Monday, pilots will fly, motor pool mechanics will change oil and filters, military police will stand guard and engineers will build roads. In the long slog that is the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan, it's hard enough keeping track of the day of the week, never mind holidays. Never mind Veterans Day.
"You don't really have time to think about it," said Cpl. Robert Gleba, 20, who assembles weapons for Marine Corps Harrier attack jets with Attack Squadron 513, based in Yuma, Ariz. "It's all just one continuous day out here."
Officials at Bagram aren't even planning any ceremonies to mark Veterans Day. Officers and enlisted men and women alike will do what they usually do: Work, rest, fight, build, drive and count the days until they go home.
But while the days may all seem the same in Afghanistan, attitudes back home toward the military and veterans are not.
Soldiers say attitudes changed after the Sept. 11 attacks. Many soldiers said people have a renewed respect for the military, and are more likely to show gratitude to veterans.
Patterson said he can't keep track of how often people have come up to him on the street or in airports since Sept. 11 and thanked him.
Veterans Day "has a lot more meaning. It's for the whole country, all the people who have died for the cause, not just soldiers, but the civilians too," said Spc. Felicia White, 26, with the 18th Personnel Service Battalion, out of Fort Bragg.
Army Sgt. Ted Mays, 55, said he returned home after two tours of duty in Vietnam in 1967 to people jeering and calling him "baby-killer" and "conqueror." When he returned from Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, he was hailed as a hero. He expects a similar welcome when he returns this time.
Even though he is again thousands of miles from home, Sept. 11 makes the difference, he says.
"The other two times, it was in someone else's backyard. This time, it was in my backyard. This one's for me. I think a lot of people think that way, which is why they support us," said Mays, with the 769th Engineering Battalion, based in Baton Rouge, La.
Sgt. Jake Witte's father was an enlisted Air Force man who was forced into retirement and denied the chance to fight in Iraq in 1991. He died an alcoholic, broken and embittered by the rejection. Witte said serving in Afghanistan is a tribute to his father, just as Nov. 11 is a tribute to veterans.
"When this is over, the holiday will actually mean something to me. It didn't mean as much to me then as it does now," said Witte, 29, also an engineer with the 769th Battalion.
"Yeah, Veterans Day has a different significance after Sept. 11," said Capt. Brian Savage, a A-10 pilot with the 354th Fighter Squadron, from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz. "Pretty much, everything, everywhere has a different significance after Sept. 11."
Sempers,
Roger
By MIKE ECKEL
Associated Press Writer
BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- For most U.S. military men and women in the dust-bowl sweep and jagged landscape of eastern Afghanistan, Veterans Day is just another day.
But for Army Maj. Richard Patterson at Bagram air base, it's also a family affair.
Three of his five brothers have served as pilots, intelligence officers or engineers. His father was an Army engineer. His uncle was an Army mortarman killed by a sniper in Vietnam in 1967.
"The United States is . . . the best place to grow up in the world; the freedoms you have, the opportunities you have there just aren't found anywhere else," said Patterson, 36, of the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 82nd Airborne Division.
"The reason that is so is all the veterans."
At Bagram on Monday, pilots will fly, motor pool mechanics will change oil and filters, military police will stand guard and engineers will build roads. In the long slog that is the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan, it's hard enough keeping track of the day of the week, never mind holidays. Never mind Veterans Day.
"You don't really have time to think about it," said Cpl. Robert Gleba, 20, who assembles weapons for Marine Corps Harrier attack jets with Attack Squadron 513, based in Yuma, Ariz. "It's all just one continuous day out here."
Officials at Bagram aren't even planning any ceremonies to mark Veterans Day. Officers and enlisted men and women alike will do what they usually do: Work, rest, fight, build, drive and count the days until they go home.
But while the days may all seem the same in Afghanistan, attitudes back home toward the military and veterans are not.
Soldiers say attitudes changed after the Sept. 11 attacks. Many soldiers said people have a renewed respect for the military, and are more likely to show gratitude to veterans.
Patterson said he can't keep track of how often people have come up to him on the street or in airports since Sept. 11 and thanked him.
Veterans Day "has a lot more meaning. It's for the whole country, all the people who have died for the cause, not just soldiers, but the civilians too," said Spc. Felicia White, 26, with the 18th Personnel Service Battalion, out of Fort Bragg.
Army Sgt. Ted Mays, 55, said he returned home after two tours of duty in Vietnam in 1967 to people jeering and calling him "baby-killer" and "conqueror." When he returned from Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, he was hailed as a hero. He expects a similar welcome when he returns this time.
Even though he is again thousands of miles from home, Sept. 11 makes the difference, he says.
"The other two times, it was in someone else's backyard. This time, it was in my backyard. This one's for me. I think a lot of people think that way, which is why they support us," said Mays, with the 769th Engineering Battalion, based in Baton Rouge, La.
Sgt. Jake Witte's father was an enlisted Air Force man who was forced into retirement and denied the chance to fight in Iraq in 1991. He died an alcoholic, broken and embittered by the rejection. Witte said serving in Afghanistan is a tribute to his father, just as Nov. 11 is a tribute to veterans.
"When this is over, the holiday will actually mean something to me. It didn't mean as much to me then as it does now," said Witte, 29, also an engineer with the 769th Battalion.
"Yeah, Veterans Day has a different significance after Sept. 11," said Capt. Brian Savage, a A-10 pilot with the 354th Fighter Squadron, from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz. "Pretty much, everything, everywhere has a different significance after Sept. 11."
Sempers,
Roger