Afghanistan camel spiders

America's fighting men and women sacrifice much to ensure that our great nation stays free. We owe a debt of gratitude to the soldiers that have paid the ultimate price for this cause, as well as for those who are blessed enough to return from the battlefield unscathed.
Allen Boyd – U.S. House of Representatives

 

The smile:

I am a veteran and a patriot. I realize the sacrifice our men that put boots on the ground make. Occasionally I get to thank them.

A few months ago I was visiting St Paul. It is a beautiful city and I enjoy not just the food of the Twin Cities, I always seem to meet someone interesting. Near my hotel is a popular sport themed chain restaurant, which has been the place to meet  the locals more than once.

I walked into the brightly painted, well lit establishment.  I found a seat at the semi-crowded bar. I noticed one of the men to my left was disabled. He had a prosthetic arm and a patch over one eye. The patch had the U.S. Army Special Forces emblem on it. I turned on my barstool and asked him “Did you serve in group? “

The young man turned and focused on me with his good eye. He blinked and without smiling answered “Tenth in Afghanistan. “

I grinned  as I told him , “I’m a vet myself. Airbourne a hundred years ago. Mind if I buy you a beer?”

He immediately visibly loosened up and pointed his thumb at the guy to his left, “This is Stevens. He served with me. I’m Daniels”

“Drinks for all’” I signaled the bartender as we all three laughed good heartedly.

Stevens knocked on his lower leg to reveal it was artificial and replied “Be careful what you offer. I have extra storage space.”

As we drank I asked Daniels about his injuries. He tapped his metal appendage on the bar and said, “I lost my arm to an IED.”

“I’m sorry to hear it.” I earnestly told him. “How about your eye?”

Daniels and Stevens glanced at each other as he answered me “Afghanistan camel spider landed on my face.”

Taken back I asked “Are they poisonous?”

Daniels glanced down at his beer and replied “No, it was my first day with the hook”

 

The ponder:

Under what conditions should we go to war? Should we have a greater or less military presence on the world stage?

 

The physical challenge:

Today I did 100 Olympic style sit-ups , 100 squats and 100 push-ups.

Tomorrow I will not exercise as Tuesday will begin the Fudoshin Challenge…where I am a student, it is this dojo’s version of the Ultimate Black Belt Challenge.  In the 8 weeks in addition to my regular martial arts classes will complete AT LEAST the following:

250 each every week

Olympic style sit-ups

Knuckle push-ups

Straight punches

Front kicks

Side kicks

Back kicks

Squat kicks

Upward blocks

Downward blocks

Inward blocks

Outward blocks

 

I will keep a running total on my blog of all the of the above exercises in the following format (0/2,000) The first number is the cumulative total to that day and the second number is the 8 week goal for that exercise. Thank you for following me. Thank you for the support. Please let me know how you are doing with your own fitness goals.