2009 Pig Roast - Portrait

Sgt. Jack William's Essay

The following essay was written by my good friend Jack Williams.  It has been printed by a few newspapers (mostly armed forces papers, but also a few smaller community newspapers).  It is reproduced here with his permission.  


He and I discussed getting his message out via the internet.  Please link to this post and share it with others.  Jack's perspective is that of the soldier at the tip of the spear.  It is important for folks back here (in the states) to hear how many in Afghanistan feel about their mission.




By STAFF SGT. JACK A. WILLIAMS

U.S. Air Force

As an active duty, Air Force medic, my four years' time in service, serving on the ground with the Army in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, has changed my perspective on combat, military sister services and my role as an Airman.

As my team approaches the halfway point of its deployment, I've been given an opportunity to demonstrate that an Airman on the ground can be a strong asset to the joint expeditionary team.

Here is my story.

The past four months have been both challenging and rewarding. I have learned and applied a lot of skills, leadership and personal restraint. I have performed cricothyroidotomy's (an emergency surgical opening, in the neck, used to establish an airway), needle decompressions, MedEvac'd critical patients following attacks, covered the bodies of my friends and leaders, performed detainee exams on the people who were responsible, pulled security on dismounted patrols, trained on a .50-caliber machine gun, treated both U.S. and Coalition soldiers, all on top of executing the mission of a Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Charlie

I mentioned about a week ago that the long time Director of the ThunderBoomer Girl Scout Camp had passed away.  I wanted to post some pictures of Charlotte.  Or Charlie - that being what most of us called her.

One of the jokes at camp was that you could never get a picture of Charlie.  Usually you would get a picture of her hand in front of her face about 2 inches from the camera lens.  Or you would get her backside -

There are two shots that I have where she manages to partially hide behind other objects.  One is with an inner-tube at the pool - couldn't find it to scan it.  The other was behind two polaroid pictures.  That picture I do have a scan of.  It is on a page in one of the scrapbooks we kept.  It is a large scan, so click on it and it will open up in a much larger frame.  Charlie is the one hiding in the top right.

I did manage to, over the years, get a few decent photos (and some not so good photos).  Here are a few more of Charlie.

Errors and Corrections

Friend Jason Kramer, who happens to be a pharmacist and e-friendly small business owner (two links in there), corrected my error of thinking Adderall was not a C-II drug.  It is.  Good news(?), Zyprexa is not and it costs more than Adderall - making it an even bigger waste of money!  Sweeter.

You may want to go back and re-read the revised post (or not).  Argument is still the same.

Thank you Jason.

You don't know JACK!

Had a decent Father's day today.  My son Dan, one of my foster sons, and Mia went up to my fathers for dinner.  Mia made chicken and shrimp kabobs for the grill, along with macaroni salad and deviled eggs (potentially a stinky situation with all the eggs involved).  At my request, dad made a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing - yummy!  Cathy came over for dinner.  All-in-all a very laid back and pleasant day.

But tonight, as I was finishing reading "Deadline" by Chris Crutcher ( a whole separate trauma) I was IMd by my friend Jack.  He is an Air Force Medic serving with the First Battalion, 110 Infantry Brigade at FOB Bullard.  I often catch him on Facebook in the evening, which is the morning for him.  Once, he hurriedly typed "things are starting off fast today" and "just found an IED have to wait for EOD".  He signed off shortly after that.  He has also described some of the gorier casualties he has had to deal with.  He's even mentioned a few fatalities.  Until June 11th, they had always been Afghan Nationals and, not that it should matter, I felt relief to know that these were not American Soldiers dieing in his unit.

June 11th that changed.  Army Staff Sgt. Bryan Hoover and Army Sgt. First Class Fike were killed by an IED.  Not that you can intuit much emotional context out of a text message, it is obvious that this loss has played heavy on my friend - as it should.  And it should effect us at home more as well.  There have been 35 American fatalities in June (as of the 20th) and I have not heard nearly as much about this disaster as I have heard of the oil spill in the gulf, the silly debate of defending the American Border in Arizona (silly in that there is already Federal precedence to check a suspects immigration status if it is suspect, so who cares if a State wants to in-act their own similar legislation.  Read all three answers.), or Armani Underwear airbrushing out Megan Fox's Abs (worth two seperate links btw).

If you want to see who has died in service to our country, check out --

• http://icasualties.org/OEF/Index.aspx
• http://militarytimes.com/valor/index.php
• http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf
• http://freedomremembered.com/index.php/category/states/pennsylvania/ (this link is just for Pennsylvanians - there are write-ups for both Hoover and Fike)

And there it is!  Not that I will dwell on these thoughts, but I will be more anxious as I wait to see Jack log on to his Facebook account.  Please, keep him, as well as all of the other great Americans who serve on our behalf, in your thoughts and prayers.  And, do not forget those who have fallen.

The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. - General Douglas MacArthur

YMCA Day Camp Training - annual recharge

I really enjoy this time of the year. Not only is school almost over and the weather getting great, but I get to go to the Sunbury YMCA, meet some old friends, make some new ones, and share some of my ideas and knowledge in the annual Day Camp training.

And again, this year was great. I feel like my motivational battery is recharged. What a great program we have in the Greater Susquehanna Valley YMCA!

This year we focused on emergency procedures, child development and effective discipline, and song leading. It all went well. I had fun teaching everyone "singing in the rain" with additional motions added in. The last verse of the song is sung with everyone dancing with their elbows together, their knees together and bent, body bent, and tongue stuck out. I figure, what better time to get out the camera?


I ended the session with a large group team building exercise that involved jig saw puzzles and blindfolds, as well as a devious trick.


Everyone worked well together. Quality staff members. I get the feeling there will be lots of happy campers this summer.

Cross Curriculum

In an attempt to maintain our high rate of cross curriculum activities, Mr. Matt integrated the social studies current events material with the rocket portion of the physics class.

March Madness

I don't really follow NCAA Basketball that closely. Nor do many of my colleagues at work. That hasn't stopped us from playing "The Bracket". We are doing the 10 points for first round, 20 points for second round, thirty points for third round system for scoring. No money. Losers buy winner lunch.

Here are our current scores (first score is 10,20,30,40...second score is based on 10,20,40,80...) --

• Tiff -- 610/760 points
• Carrie -- 680/990 points
  
• Karen -- 670/750 points
  
• Michelle -- 810/1130 points
  
• Kurt -- 940/1680 points

updated 2:18pm on April 1

One of the first Egg Bros Inc vids

This is one of the first Egg Bros Inc Videos. I made it about a year ago after I attended a friends baby shower. It is, as always, a little rough.

I have posted it at the request of some of my coworkers.

The Pig Roast Video or Worst Music Video Ever!

It took a while, but I finally put together a short video from the pig roast. I didn't have a lot of video to work with and I decided to use Michael singing. Most of you won't get it, but I do; and that is all that matters.

Trace's First Christmas

A quick video I made off of a friends video. Her husband is stationed out of the country. I'm posting it here so that he can view it, but you can watch it too.

Cooking With Courtland

Junior's boys are in for a week or so. As promised, we filmed Courtland cooking. We stayed simple - spaghetti, meatballs, veggies dip, rice krispie treats. The whole video is a bit long, so it is in two parts. Here is part one of Cooking With Courtland --

Paintball Warriors

Mia and her gang all bought paintball guns. We decided to take them out for a test game on some of Frank's family property. Pretty exciting. No serious casualties. And I can still hold my own with my Tippman Pump Gun.

Dan and I worked real well together and managed to flank our opponents fairly regularly. Jerry - no surprise here - was a super athlete. He was a one man paintball killing machine.

Hopefully everyone will want to continue playing and we can get out again soon.

Picnic and mini-graduation

Thanks to Nicole Bingaman, we managed to pull together a summer picnic for the Milton Program Center. We also had a short but meaningful graduation ceremony for Jerry (who passed his GED this Spring). We had a great turn-out and I thank everyone for showing their support for Jerry.

Mr. Jim and Ms. Nicole both said a few words of recognition. Mr. Jim recalled Jerry's academic efforts. Ms. Nicole commented on how much Jerry has grown in his heart. She also gave him a 'HOPE' hoody.

Jerry impressed everyone with his comments. He thanked everyone for their help in getting him to where he is in his life right now. He spoke very well and with sincere emotion. He even remembered to thank Mia and I.

Egg Bros Inc

Todd and I spent most of the day working on a project for one of his friends. There is a wedding for their daughter next week and the family wanted to do something special. The parents wrote lyrics for a song. My brother helped compose the music and the mom, Martha, sang the lyrics. My brother played the guitar and mixed the music. I received lots of pictures and some VHS dubs to make the video. It is the first Egg Bros Inc project outside of the family.

Downside. It took all day and part of the night.

Upside. We know it was a success. Martha was crying after she watched the video. I'm so proud of our project. Todd and I work well together.

Deputy Sheriff Eck and Baby Sam

Stayed at my brother's last night. We all slept in. The baby kept my brother and sister-in-law awake. Janine made a wonderful breakfast. Then Todd, Jerry, and I went off to Todd's office and then the rifle range. Todd wanted to practice some.

It was a good opportunity to give Jerry a taste of what he might get to do if he joins the military. Jerry is talking about the Marines. I would be just as happy if he went into the Army or Navy.

Janine grilled some steaks and burgers for dinner. And again, it was wonderful.


Jerry spent some time with his 'cousin' Sam. Sam liked Jerry a lot. I think Jerry will make a great father someday. He did really well with Sam.

Ruggle's Mine

Jerry talked me into taking him to the Ruggle's Mine. It was a bit pricey ($20 each) to get into the quarry. We did get a bucket of rocks with some small gems in them.


That little speck in the middle of the above picture is Jerry.

Now we need to find a tumbler.

Sculpted Rocks Swimming Hole

Second Day of New Hampshire Trip

Went to a swimming spot called Sculpted Rocks. Turned out to be a great day to go swimming. The weather was the best we would experience on the trip. Made a video. You get to watch it.

Leaving for New Hampshire

Took off this morning for New Hampshire for a short vacation.

Saw a car wreck just in front of us on the way up. We were in New York and a car zipped across both lanes from left to right and into the grass. Jerry and I stopped to help. The car that went off the road backed up onto the road and took off. Before we could merge back into traffic, a State Police Officer pulled in behind us. A few minutes of explanation later and we were back on the road.

We stayed near Dartmouth College. After a dinner of steak (and for Jerry that means 'just steak'), we walked around the campus. Jerry found a Hookah bar and thought it was funny that they actually advertised that they smoked tobacco in the Hookah. A group of summer students was out front dancing to the beat of some bongo drums being beatin' on by some other students. Jerry also bought a huge Grateful Dead poster.

'Tis never boring

So Jerry and I are waiting for Junior to call. We were going to go out for dinner at Greshee's (I know I screwed up the spelling). I take a shower. Paige comes up stairs. I get into a compromising position. Jerry trots up the steps. Oh my.

Then Junior calls. Mia is on her way to the hospital. She is in an ambulance. Loss of feeling in one of her arms. Off Jerry and I go to the ER at Giesinger. Lots of other people hanging out in the waiting room. Dan is there. He was with Mia when she had her problem. Mia is to wired for visitors (according to her hubby), so I take Dan and Junior's two boys home with Jerry and I where we get into 3 hours of head-to-head Halo 2.

Did I mention that X-Boxes are down to $80 and Dan, Jerry, and I bought two just so we can play against each other on separate TVs. Way Cool!

So Junior's two boys are sleeping in the big bedroom. Jerry finally went to sleep. Dan went home. I'm sitting here typing this crap. Yippppeeee!