There is not a lot in Afghanistan to remind us that today is a holiday. I’m sure the dining facility will make some special meal that will make most realize today is Thanksgiving, but for most it will be the only reminder of what today is. For the majority of deployed military personnel, myself included, today is just Thursday and there is plenty of work to do.
So before I head over to the Battalion Aid Station for the day I thought I would take few minutes to think about and share what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Despite the fact that I am nowhere near the shores of my home country I am profoundly thankful to be an American citizen. Everyday I see the contrast between countries like Afghanistan and the USA quite distinctly. Today I will make sure I remember where I am and think about just what makes my home amazing.
I am thankful for being alive. All limbs intact. All my blood in my veins.
I’m thankful for having a job. On top of that I am thankful to be a member of a profession that I love and that provides a good life for my family. I’m also thankful for the job security that being in the military affords.
I am thankful for my family. For my beautiful wife and son who I am so far away from. And also for the extended family I have who has stepped up to the challenge of taking care of them while I am gone. For that I am eternally grateful and indebted.
And then there are the small things. The things that we as Americans take for granted every day. The things that despite my current situation, I still have. I’m thankful for indoor plumbing, health and healthcare, hot food and hot showers, the coffee I’m drinking as I write this, the internet, my plywood room, safety….
All of these things are distinct to the fact that I am an American citizen. I spent my life taking for granted the small things (and the big things) simply because they were plentiful in my land. It took this deployment to Afghanistan to remind me that the majority of the world does not have even the simplest of comforts that even the poorest of Americans have access to.
So I hope all those back in the Land of the Free take a moment today to give thanks for something. Despite your situation you are still an American and you still have it better and are safer than so many in this world.
Happy Thanksgiving America.
Now I have to go to work…
Army Dentistry 
Memories of that Thanksgiving so long ago with a profoundly quiet boy whose gifted intellect shone in his stillness. The supreme friendship he has given both our sons. His ability to share his beautiful wife and child. His incredible parents who harbor wisdom and strength from which others are free to draw. His adorable brother, sister, and new sister in law who have created a place in their lives for my children of equal merit. The family near and far whose shared and individual vision supported this boy and his parents. The God given wisdom born of natural maturation growing in that boy, all these thing with my undying gratitude for all his scrafice, courage, insight and that one joyful Thanksgiving, for all this I am grateful. Bless you, that boy. We miss you and pray the day we see your face beside those two faces you love best in our faces.