by Bonnie Koppell

Created on: January 27, 2009

"I was hungry for this. I didn't realize how hungry I was to connect to my people." It is comments like this one which made the enormous journey to Afghanistan, with all its attendant frustration, beyond meaningful. During this past Khanukka season, I had the incredible privilege of traveling to Afghanistan to celebrate the holiday with deployed service members. Having served in the United States Army Reserve for 30 years, this was my 4th trip to the current combat theatre. I spent Pesakh in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, and a previous Khanukka in Kuwait and Afghanistan.

Military chaplains are not only not required to carry weapons, we are not allowed to bear arms, and, in fact, do not even participate in weapons training. It is essential, therefore, that we travel with a Chaplain Assistant, who serves as our bodyguard: our own, personal Force Protection. I was especially blessed on this trip by the presence of the outstanding SFC Fred Cohen, who joined me at Ft. Benning, GA to begin this tour of duty. This was the first time that I had a Jewish chaplain assistant, and it certainly made the experience extra special to have a companion who understood the holiday we were bringing to the troops, and who shared their cultural reference.
The CRC, or CONUS (Continental U.S.) Replacement Center is the first step for anyone who is venturing into the combat theatre as an individual replacement. (i.e.- not as part of a unit) We spent almost a week there, receiving LOTS of great equipment (loved the cold weather gear!) and lots of unnecessary equipment (I drew the line at the "entrenching tool"). We reviewed the contemporary threat and were reminded of basic first aid procedures. SFC Cohen was well aware of his responsibilities to take care of me- he commented that if anything happened to me he'd be "in big trouble" and that, therefore, if I got so much as a paper cut, he was putting a tourniquet on it!
Soldiers joke about the country of Kuwait- take away the letter "K" and- "u-wait." Kuwait exceeded this expectation both coming and going. Unbeknownst to us, Pres. Bush was visiting Bagram, Afghanistan, so the airfield there was shut down for days on end. All we knew was that we dutifully reported in twice daily to be told that there were no flights. Finally we despaired of getting to Bagram, and took a flight to Kandahar instead- at least we'd be in the right country! This was fortuitous, as we were able to create an impromptu Khanukka gathering for folks who would not have been

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>