ch1873857
11-02-2011, 12:51 PM
I normally don't do this but I felt as if these people deserved a moment of silence from someone other than the ones who are here in Afghanistan. It burns me up to read the news about these attacks. There are no stories about the actual victims, just numbers. Which I will never blatantly state.
On October 29, 2011 a suicide bomber ran his Land Cruiser packed with over 1,500 pounds of explosives into one of our "Rhino Bus" full of US, Coalition, and US Government Contractors. These buses run everyday transporting people from FOB to FOB all over the city. Essentially and armored Taxi bus. I never liked riding them because they weren't anything compared to the MRAPs I'm used to driving. Needless to say, you do what you have to do to do your job and these folks paid the ultimate sacrifice.
I'm not a very sensitive guy but this hit too close to home. Everyone was from my FOB and everyone knows everyone. To lose that many people affects everyone. We were on Comms blackout for 2 days and those 2 days were spent checking on everyone to make sure everyone was alright, realising that sometimes they weren't there. It could've been anyone. We watched it all happen but no one knew who was all on the bus. The manifests were even wrong.. It was mind numbing up until today when we had the memorial service and all the names had been released. This was a huge blow to our team and they will be sorely missed.
The news will be quick to spit out numbers but none of them tell the heartbreaking stories..
Canadian Master Corporal Byron Greff: Just returned from much deserved R&R where he held his newborn baby.
Army Sergeant Carlo Eugenio: iirc, the bus driver from the California National Guard. He and his unit had been in the country for a month before he was taken. Just learning the ropes. He didn't even get a chance..
Some of the others ran the Combat Stress Clinic. Ironically, those who needed help went to the clinic and found that there was no more clinic. They took Lucy our beloved Labrador that would visit soldiers around the fob just to say hi and play fetch. She was a true sweetheart and as you can probably tell I do have a soft spot for dogs. She was truly an asset to us. She could make anyone smile.
Here are some pictures from the memorial today. They did an outstanding job with this. It was powerful and served them right. The rain started at the exact time the bag pipes started.
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1497/photo12kq.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/492/photo7ci.jpg
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7664/photo1ey.jpg
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8859/photo6gz.jpg
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/8666/photo4nzn.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3066/photo3hsw.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2522/photo2jf.jpg
http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/393/photo5df.jpg
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/1210/photo10x.jpg
If you take the time to read this. Thank you. I'm not one to express religion but I hope a greater power is looking over these families. Sorry if this was out of place or uncalled for, just thought they deserved it. May these 14 R.I.P
On October 29, 2011 a suicide bomber ran his Land Cruiser packed with over 1,500 pounds of explosives into one of our "Rhino Bus" full of US, Coalition, and US Government Contractors. These buses run everyday transporting people from FOB to FOB all over the city. Essentially and armored Taxi bus. I never liked riding them because they weren't anything compared to the MRAPs I'm used to driving. Needless to say, you do what you have to do to do your job and these folks paid the ultimate sacrifice.
I'm not a very sensitive guy but this hit too close to home. Everyone was from my FOB and everyone knows everyone. To lose that many people affects everyone. We were on Comms blackout for 2 days and those 2 days were spent checking on everyone to make sure everyone was alright, realising that sometimes they weren't there. It could've been anyone. We watched it all happen but no one knew who was all on the bus. The manifests were even wrong.. It was mind numbing up until today when we had the memorial service and all the names had been released. This was a huge blow to our team and they will be sorely missed.
The news will be quick to spit out numbers but none of them tell the heartbreaking stories..
Canadian Master Corporal Byron Greff: Just returned from much deserved R&R where he held his newborn baby.
Army Sergeant Carlo Eugenio: iirc, the bus driver from the California National Guard. He and his unit had been in the country for a month before he was taken. Just learning the ropes. He didn't even get a chance..
Some of the others ran the Combat Stress Clinic. Ironically, those who needed help went to the clinic and found that there was no more clinic. They took Lucy our beloved Labrador that would visit soldiers around the fob just to say hi and play fetch. She was a true sweetheart and as you can probably tell I do have a soft spot for dogs. She was truly an asset to us. She could make anyone smile.
Here are some pictures from the memorial today. They did an outstanding job with this. It was powerful and served them right. The rain started at the exact time the bag pipes started.
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1497/photo12kq.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/492/photo7ci.jpg
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7664/photo1ey.jpg
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8859/photo6gz.jpg
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/8666/photo4nzn.jpg
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3066/photo3hsw.jpg
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2522/photo2jf.jpg
http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/393/photo5df.jpg
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/1210/photo10x.jpg
If you take the time to read this. Thank you. I'm not one to express religion but I hope a greater power is looking over these families. Sorry if this was out of place or uncalled for, just thought they deserved it. May these 14 R.I.P