These messages from: Carl H. Isett, CDR, SC, USN, Commander, DLA Distribution Kandahar Afghanistan (DDKA)

23 December 11
This lifted my spirits. I hope it will do the same for you and remind us that we have things to live for beyond ourselves.
http://tinyurl.com/7929h8k

22 December 11
Merry Christmas! I wanted to take an opportunity to tell all of you that I hope that you have a blessed Christmas. It is a good time to reflect on how good and faithful God truly is. I hope that you will each have an opportunity to spend time with those you love. I am attaching my winter observations. It was 26 this morning and the high was low 40's. It's been that way for about a week now. Hard to believe that it is 100 degrees cooler than when I arrived! We haven't seen the sun for four days due to the dust. I'm also including a picture of CGA team that I work with and my Christmas photo (hard to do when you have to take the picture yourself). I had to think of home to find a smile! I've also added the last two observations in case I missed you on the first round. I hope to see you upon my return. Here is a YouTube video that captures some of the things I have written about in song and picture. We spend a lot of time in the bunkers.
http://tinyurl.com/7phrqzg

11 November 11
We had four rocket attacks in a 24 hour period the other day. I guess the Taliban just wanted us to remember that they are out there. The Canadian’s are moving out over the next couple of weeks. Some of you have told me that there is a show highlighting what they have done at the hospital here. They have acquitted themselves with honor and given incredible care to our wounded warriors. When I was in getting my neck worked on last week I met another kid who looked to be about 15 who told me he was from Arizona and stationed in Alaska. He had lacerations on his face, arms and legs. The right side of his face was a little swollen and he was being fitted for crutches but was struggling due to a wrist and hand injury. In the course of our conversation he said that they had taken two IED’s in a one hour period. He went on to say that he and his buddies have been hit four times in three months. He had broken bones in his hand and face along with multiple fractures and sprains. He is going to go back to Alaska and then be given time to go home and get some rest.

I met a kid from upstate New York who is an Army Ranger Scout (“the guys who kick down doors” …his words). He looked only slightly older than the 15 yr old. We talked for several minutes waiting for our coffee. He was polite (of course I out ranked him by 10 pay grades!) and in his eyes you could see maturity far beyond the aspiring whiskers on his face. These young enlisted guys never cease to humble me by their devotion to duty. I sit inside the wire not taking direct fire and feel safe. These guys are out there trying to keep us safe and on convoys making sure that material gets to our troops in the remote Forward Operating Bases (FOB’s). I have purposed in my heart to never forget these guys and what they do.

So many of you have responded to these little observations that I know how truly blessed I am to have each of you as friends. So now, on Veteran’s Day, I want to thank again all of you have served. One of the quotes I recited frequently while elected was by Daniel Webster. He said, “God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.”

Notice that he didn’t believe that you had to wear a uniform to defend liberty. Each of us can do so by understanding what a precious gift God has granted us and be willing to defend it every day in our lives. Thank each of you for what you have done and do to protect Liberty whether in uniform or not.

Happy Veteran’s Day!

13 September 11
I wrote last time how nasty Kandahar is. The stench from the "poop pond" is nearly unbearable at times but it is the dust that is most loathsome, unpleasant, and, at times, depressing. Imagine if Charlie Brown's friend Pigpen ruled the earth and required that everyone and everything had to make as big a cloud of dust as possible. Imagine that the dust cloud formed was a logarithmic function based on mass and velocity so that a large up-armored personnel carrier created on the order of 4,765,224.98 times more dust than a 200 lb. man. Now imagine that the entire earth was covered in 4 in. of sifted flour and that it was a constant 130 degrees. You can add wind for effect if you wish but the dust is so fine that it hangs in the air like fog without any wind. I will attach a photo taken while driving to give you an idea of what the visibility is like. Also attached is the poop pond with a new sign!

I'll wrap this up. It's hard to believe that I've been here for almost 7 weeks. The days go so slowly but the weeks seem to go faster. I meant to write when the helo went down with the Special Forces hero's on it. It was very somber on the base for a long time. We just finished the Muslim holy days of Ramadan followed by Eads, which is a 4 day festival of breaking their fast. They celebrated by launching 15 rocket attacks against us last week. It is by the grace of God that no one was seriously injured. I remain impressed with the young men and women that serve our country. In an all-volunteer force you wouldn't think that there would be so many willing to come. But they do come and they acquit themselves with honor.

24 July 11
The base is quite possibly the nastiest place I've ever been on earth. Everything is covered in what is called "moon dust." Dust as fine as talcum powder or finer. It gets everywhere and hangs in the air. Everything is surrounded by high concrete barriers to protect from missile attacks. The concrete absorbs the heat and makes it unbearable. They say on hot days it approaches 140 in those areas. There is an open sewer about 400 meters up wind from where I live. The stench is really bad. Then there are the missiles. They happen either early in the morning or around midnight. Mostly they are just harassment. Occasionally they actually hit something or someone but that's pretty rare. Mostly they are around the perimeter and not much threat. Then there is the occasional one that isn't. We have to go to a bomb shelter and wait for an "all clear" call before we can leave. They have been taking an hour or two most of the time. If I tell you it rained today and I had to get under my umbrella you'll know what I'm talking about.

I miss all of you. I'll send out notes as time goes on. I'll try to send some pictures. Did I mention this place is nasty?

I will say in closing that there are some extraordinary young men and women here in uniform. When you listen to a 25 year old convoy commander or a 20 year old gunner talk about what they went through that day outside the wire, it makes you appreciate that we live in a country that still raises patriots. Imagine if every day you got up knowing that you were going to go look for IED's so that the soldiers that come behind you will be safe. Amazing.