June 9, 2008

Sorry it's been a couple of days since my last blog - we got stuck in `J-bad' for awhile. As we were waiting to head to our next stop, soldiers were telling us stories of what happened before we arrived. They told us that a soldier was caught in a road bomb, he was only 19 years old. His body and the person he was with was melted together. After hearing their stories, it made it realize how mentally and emotionally tough they must be to go through what they go through everyday. It has to be difficult for them. If we lose a game, we can go back and have a rematch later in the year. Soldiers aren't as lucky. They have one shot to get the job done.

I met a man named Dennis Hamm, who is one of the head medical personnel. He told me that he trains Afghanistan people to take care of our soldiers. How crazy is that? Also, gas over here is 79 cents and the Afghanistan people that take care of our soldiers are making $5 an hour. Everyday I write about how thankful I am for living in America and after hearing how much people get paid an hour down here, I'm even more thankful. Last time I checked the minimum wage was $6.45 an hour. Can you imagine living off of five dollars an hour and feeding your family? Another lesson, don't take things for granted, just be thankful for what you have in life.

Another highlight from my day was learning about the EOD - Explosive Ordinance Disposal. The EOD is a body machine the soldiers use to find bombs in the fields before they send troops out. They showed me pictures of soldiers being hurt in the field. Once again, I am very blessed for the life I live and the people I have in my life. I can't express that enough. I also got to see the weapons they've gotten from the enemy. I got to shoot an M4! Can you believe it? Forget the handguns, we went right for the big guns! I shot a couple of rounds and then had to sit down. I was feeling sick from the 145-degree weather outside. Not too sure how the soldiers do it with all the stuff they wear. So for the rest of the time I just sat and watched everyone else practice shooting.

Couple more days and then it is back home for me. I can't wait to see my family, friends and the team. I hope people can still recognize me from my tan. I've gotten a couple of shades darker! For everyone out there that love pictures, you will have plenty to look at! The tour put a disk together of all our pictures, there are over 1,000!

See you in a couple of days,
Coach Randall