Conversations With a Soldier Part Deux

When I first started talking to my brother, Kris, about his experiences as a soldier in Afghanistan I promised him that I would not blog about it. He said that I could blog if I wished, but I could not make the blog political. So here I am, blogging about Afghanistan in a non-political way, trying to be as objective as possible and probably failing because Kris, my brother, is at war. This is part two of a series of discussions with my brother about his time in Afghanistan, part one can be found here.

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Feeling established with Kristofer from part one, this time around the questions and conversation came much easier. I had just watched Restrepo, a documentary about a group of soldiers in Afghanistan, and that helped me come up with some more questions relevant to his activities on the ground. 

So for this part in the series we jump right in. The first question I directed at my brother was how he and his company manage to communicate with the locals. He told me that all of the communication is done through a translator, and informed me that they don't really speak Arabic, and that there are two different tribal languages in the area he is in.  

I asked him if interaction with the locals is frustrating, knowing that it must be due to the cultural and linguistic barriers. Shortly, he answered "Always...they will only tell you what you want to hear." Going on to explain that effective communication is possible as long as you have an interpreter, and that most of the time they do have one. As a side note I mentioned that I thought communication would be damn near impossible without a interpreter, and humorously he responded saying "Everyone speaks .50 Cal."

I then asked him if he ever has to deal with violent locals, clarifying that I was not referring to the ones with guns, obviously those are the people we are fighting, but that I was referring more so to disorderly people, and I found his answer quite surprising. "Not so much. I honestly can't think of one time..." I expressed my surprise and attempted to broach the subject more, attempting to clarify by asking if everyone was amiable, if not cooperative. Kristofer said, "The biggest thing is... You never really know who you are dealing with. You might be talking to a person that is completely cooperative at the time, but little do you know he shot an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) at you last week."

I went on to ask him how his relationship with his fellow soldiers is, curious about how they interacted and on what level. He responded summarily, stating that "These men and women out here are my brothers and sisters...they are all I have." 

In Restrepo they built an Observation Post, alternating between firefights and digging into the mountain, so I decided to ask my brother if he had ever been a part of building such a thing since he has been over there. H responded, "Funny you should ask...yes my platoon did build a COP (Combat Outpost) from ground zero."

  

To this point Kristofer had been surprisingly revealing about their operations over in Afghanistan, so I decided to push the envelope and asked him what his missions usually consist of. He responded much like I imagined he would saying with hesitation, "Uhhh...I can't give you too much on that one. We do a lot of different things...that is all I can give you for now."

Attempting a more general question, I asked him what his days normally consist of, mentioning observing from mountaintops and patrolling villages. He said "Both. Everything I do...I do it a lot."

Recently I had gotten word from my mother, who talks to Kristofer more than I do, that he would be opting out of coming to Louisiana for his last nine months of service so that he could stay over there and finish out his time. Suffice to say, I was upset about this revelation, and the next few questions revolved around that.

I mentioned what mom had told me about his plans, and simply asked why he would volunteer to stay in Afghanistan rather than coming out to Louisiana to finish out his time. My brother responded, "Kameron...there is nothing that will make you feel more alive than death lingering over you with every step you take."

My Brother, Kristofer

Now, this response didn't surprise me, my brother has always been a bit of an adrenaline junky. Enjoying fights and playing football, dangerous activities have always been in the forefront of his day to day life. So I mentioned that, asking if it was like a high for him. I didn't mean to oversimplify or devalue it, but I couldn't understand. 

"Its more than adrenaline...it's... hard to explain. It's momentarily losing total control and then picking your nuts up off of the ground and, for lack of better words, embracing the chaos...Its like this... I know that the people around me are better off because I am around. I am completely confident (not cocky) that there is nobody that can do my job as well as me. Knowing this, I would stay because I am the best man for the job."

Curious about what would lead him to believe that he is the best man for the job, I asked him about the amount of praise he receives from his superiors. He told me about how he is in the running for solider of the month. This was news to me, I was not aware that the military had any such thing, so I inquired further about that. Kris responded, . I'm also going to a promotion board next month (your leaders have to submit you for both of these things)...so I would say that they trust in all of my abilities."

Curious about my brother's interactions with his superiors, I asked him if they get inspirational speeches a lot or something (in Restrepo there were a surprising amount). He said, "If there are I don't notice them. When we get new soldiers (we have gotten 4 since I have been out here) I try to instill them with fear. Fear will keep you alive. Fear is an emotion that will give men wings. Men have done absolutely incredible things, not because they were brave, but because they were scared shitless." 

To wrap up this series of questions, I decided to ask what his favorite part of being in the Army is. He said "Without question its the camaraderie."

And, finally, I asked you guys to submit questions for me to ask my brother. Sadly, I only got one, and at first I wasn't going to ask him but I decided it would be fair to see if he would like to respond. 

Anonymous asked "Does he feel we should be over there?"

Kristofer wanted to avoid a political discussion, and he wanted me to make it clear that he would only answer a question like this one time. 

He said, "I feel like most Americans suffer from ADD. How can people so easily just discredit the fact that our country was attacked by terrorists? When you where a kid and someone said that your mother was a whore didn't you punch them in the mouth? If not you should have. True Americans are fighters, we are bred that way. We fight for our rights, we fight for our loved ones, we fight for our country, and, hell, we even fight for fun. Our country was founded by people willing to bleed for the freedoms that people now hide behind freedom of press and freedom of speech being two big ones. Now, at this point it is imperative that we fight to reform Afghanistan to prevent further attacks on American soil. Just in case the anyone feels like I didn't answer the question already...yes I feel like it is of utmost importance that we are over here.

...I will never answer a question like that again."

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If any of you guys have a question for my brother, PLEASE feel free to post it in the comments or e-mail me at thecynicalreport@gmail.com and I would love to ask him for you the next time I get a chance, and it may be used in a post like this one.

As always I fully encourage any criticism, advice, suggestions, or general discussion in the comment area.
If you wish you can contact me at thecynicalreport@gmail.com, and please like/share my blog on Facebook and Twitter using the links on the side!

Conversations With a Soldier

When I first started talking to my brother, Kris, about his experiences as a soldier in Afghanistan I promised him that I would not blog about it. He said that I could blog if I wished, but I could not make the blog political. So here I am, blogging about Afghanistan in a non-political way, trying to be as objective as possible and probably failing because Kris, my brother, is at war.

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Initially, I felt timid and very hesitant to broach any of the many serious subjects one can inquire about when talking to a soldier, so I started simple. I asked him if it is hot or cold over in Afghanistan. Now, this is a stupid question, but I give him credit for answering it without being too much of a smart ass. Kris responded as wryly as he could muster using text by saying "It's hot during the summer and cold in the winter... but always cold at night." 

Seeing that I would have to step up my game to keep us both engaged in this conversation, I  decided to pick it up and ask some real questions. With a slight bit more confidence I followed up by asking what the atmosphere around camp was like when they are not on a mission. This was only the second time Kristofer and I had spoken since he shipped to Afghanistan so I didn't really expect much from him in this conversation, but he gave a more detailed response than I had bargained for. "You have to constantly be on your toes... even if you are in a 'safe' place there's always the chance that they will try to overrun you... or mortar you. But you are able to joke around a little during that time, too. You have to have a pretty morbid sense of humor."

My next question was about the atmosphere when on a mission, and whether or not they run day and night, because I only think of things happening during the day. I informed him that every time I imagine him in a fight out there I always see it as a movie. "We run missions day and night," he wrote. "It doesn't matter. Sometimes we step light and sometimes we don't (mission depending). I suppose it would be like a movie if you were on the outside looking in, but when you're in a firefight there is nothing Hollywood about it."

Kristofer Wedekind

 Really feeling my oats now I asked him how often shots are fired. This is a question that I only partly wanted to hear the answer to, and being ever so intuitive I think he got a sense of that, telling me all I need to know in his answer by responding "Often...once a week maybe, give or take. Wanting only to cautiously prod this topic, I asked if every firefight has a fatality, or if there are more surrenders than I imagine. "It ends when one side is dead, they surrender, or they run away. Someone always gets fucked up in a firefight, them or us."

A few moments later Kris asked, "Do you know what its like to be in a firefight?"

Feeling I may have hit a nerve, I wrote that I had no idea what it is like. In an attempt to relate to me the unrelatable, Kristofer wrote "Its Hell... Imagine the most terrified you have ever been and times that by a million. Imagine watching your friend die. Then imagine digging deep, pushing forward, and killing ones that would harm you and others you love."

Sensing that it would probably be a good idea to switch to a more pedestrian question, I asked how often he gets to sleep, and if he has ever hallucinated due to sleep deprivation. He responded, "I've been up for days at a time...no hallucinations here. There is a saying in the army 'Stay alert, stay alive'. You have to live by it! The second you let your guard down you die. My brother next to me depends on me staying alert and not being complacent. If I let him down he could die."

My last question was how often he got to partake in any type of entertainment. Television, movies, boardgames, sports, music, etc. "Lol," he wrote, "every chance I get... not often...I watched a little bit of tombstone on my buddies laptop earlier...with no sound. no games really... uh ping pong sometimes...cards blackjack poker dominoes spades...that's about it."

After answering this question Kris informed me that he had to go get some sleep before his next day, and presumably, mission. Disappointed that our talk was over for now, I accepted that he had to go to sleep so that he would be better prepared for the next day, and we said our goodbyes for the evening.

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Depending on reader response, I hope that Conversations With a Soldier becomes part of a series. Given the nature of Kris' and I's correspondence the chances of that happening are very hit or miss, so we will see. If any of you guys have a question for my brother, feel free to post it in the comments and I would love to ask him for you the next time I get a chance, and it may be used in a post like this one.

I hope you had a happy Memorial Day, and God bless our troops, past and present.

As always I fully encourage any criticism, advice, suggestions, or general discussion in the comment area.
If you wish you can contact me at thecynicalreport@gmail.com, and please like/share my blog on Facebook and Twitter using the links on the side!