By Petty Officer Josiah Rowell, USNR
This holiday season there are only two things on my mind: family and friends.
In April of this year I returned home from my first Navy reserve deployment. This was my third overall deployment and my first time in Afghanistan.
I spent all of my time in Eastern Afghanistan in the Bagram/Kabul area.
I arrived in September of 2012 and I remember how odd it felt to be so far away from home and in such a strange place where everything was uncertain.
By the time I departed Afghanistan in March of 2013, much had changed due to the increasing troop draw down and everything that was once uncertain was all too familiar.
I cannot help but recall memories from Christmas Day last year.
On Christmas morning I awoke to base alarms sounding “incoming, incoming, incoming.” We always expected some type of attack on a holiday — this time it was rockets and mortars.
Forcing us into concrete bunkers in full battle rattle was the Taliban’s attempt at lowering morale on Christmas.
The first rocket attack I experienced was on the day I arrival at Bagram Airfield, and I experienced many attacks after that, including a large Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) earlier that November.
Aside from incoming rockets, Christmas day was pretty good.
Our team returned from their forward operating bases to spend the day together at Bagram Airfield. Christmas dinner was carried out in true Army fashion.
At the DFAC or dining facility, they served steak, lobster, sweet potatoes, every kind of dessert you could imagine and a full ice cream bar.
As I sat there eating Christmas dinner, I knew that we were all missing our loved ones, and I felt a tremendous amount of compassion and strong camaraderie towards the people who were on my left and right and across the table from me.
A Christmas meal with my team was as good as it was going to get and all we really needed.
Back home, with my friends and family this Christmas, I cannot help but think about all of the amazing people I have met on my deployments.
Through all of my years in the service and all my deployments, the most valuable thing I have learned is that people and the relationships that you nurture are the most important part of life.
More than anything, I am so grateful to be home with my loved ones this year.
As I enjoy this holiday season with my friends and family, I will continue to pray for our men and women who are spending their holidays forward deployed.
We welcome all veterans to share a memory of their service with us. Email stories to lkelly@soundpublishing.com.