042712 Mujahideen Victory Day, New Plaza and a Billy Update.

042712 Mujahideen Victory Day, New Plaza and a Billy Update.

Tomorrow is Mujahideen Victory day here in Kabul.  So there will be some festivities in the capital by the Afghan government.  For us on base though we've been told to 'keep our kevlar vest and jacket nearby'.  It's all part of life in Kabul.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mujahideen_Victory_Day

Also the HQ ISAF command here is sprucing up the plaza in front of the headquarters building.  Attached are a few pics of the work the local Afghans are doing to replace the front plaza area.  They're really doing a good job as they have levels out there and string tied between two points to keep things staight.  This seems to be in contrast with a drain the local Afghans built at the parking lot here (see pic).  Before the drain, the parking lot would fill up with 4-6 inches of standing water when it rained.  The problem is that the drain DOESN'T GO ANYWHERE'!  So now...when it rains, the parking lot fills up with 4-6 inches of standing water, but it just takes longer until the 'drain itself is filled up!'  The concept of a 'drain' seems to be lost.    

And some details of Billy's death are now coming out (see blog from a few days earlier.)  Billy didn't come to work one day so someone went to his hooch and found him naked with lots of blood everywhere.  His death has been labeled 'suspicious circumstances' (duh) so there's an investigation.  We also got an email about the trip his body took back to the states.  'His presence' was announced over the PA system on the commercial flight his body took.  The plane's captain said they were 'returning a hero' to the US from Afghanistan and a short poem was even read.  while compliments are always nice (even when you're dead), to me the only heros here are the ones that go outside that wire.  We who stay behind are doing a job over here albeit in tougher than usual circumstances.  And while it's possible to do something heroic while inside the wire, doing one's daily job really doesn't qualify as such.  I'm sure Billy was a great guy, but....

R/Chris