The reason

Like the man said, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Many have asked, " Why are we in Afghanistan ???  Why would we want to be there ??? What good could come from being there??"

The enclosed picture answers those questions and a hundred like it.
 
These two kids were on the street area between our villa and the office area. They were playing in the street like kids their age do everywhere.  I gave them cold bottles of water as it was very hot today in Kandahar, reaching 106 degrees.

My heart went out to these two kids - two young lives in a country where the news is usually bad and life is taken for granted.

In March 2012, Sgt. Dennis Weichel Jr, 29-year-old Providence National Guardsman was struck and killed by an armored vehicle on March 22 in Laghman Province after moving an Afghan boy to safety who was trying to retrieve something underneath the vehicle.  He knew the reason why we are here....He freely gave his life for that same reason. He was remembered by his fellow soldiers for having the "courage of a warrior" and the "heart of a father."

These children are the reason why we are here as they (and thousands like them) are Afghanistan's future.