Once Was a Man: Christmas 2008

Well, Christmas has come and now we are looking at the new year. I am writing this because it is December 28th in Afghanistan and Bobby will fly his last mission over there today! The 101st Airborne Division year tour in Afghanistan has ended...all but a few have returned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky for Christmas...but Bobby is one of the last few to remain there and train the replacements. Tough break! Bobby has had quite a year over there. His unit is being put in for Army Aviation Unit of the Year! And Bobby is told that the Unit should get it hands down. Bobby has been put in for the Army Aviation Soldier of the Year and is told that he might just very well receive that honor. What an accomplishment to go with his medal of valor along with the other medals he has be awarded. The 29th of December he will fly to Bahgram, Afghanistan and wait for a flight out of Afghanistan to a place he can catch the military charter flight that brings him home to Fort Campbell. There, many of us will wait for him to land and greet him in the hanger with the other families greeting their loved ones...the last to arrive home. Bobby is planning on getting out of the Army in the next couple of months and moving to Colorado. We are so excited to have him home. I don't think I can ever express enough thanks for the support I have receieved from Sharon and the support Sharon and I have received from family and friends. It was a tough year for me and I was just sitting around feeling sorry for myself...while Bobby was the one taking the risks and working day in and day out doing the job this country has asked him to do to protect Freedom's Frontiers. So it has been quite a tough year for Bobby I am sure...he will have to process the experiences he has lived and place those awful war sights and sounds where they let him live his future life knowing he has made a difference for many! I know this family is proud of him.

He has flown with his Chopper ....

In the flat lands of the the USA