Signposts to Afghanistan - 2011

A former Afghanistan intelligence analyst looks back at his military years, and at dreams gone by.

Although I created this piece in January of 2007, I am surprised at how well it stands and reads today, how germane it remains in the harsh light of current events. I once served in Military Intelligence as an Afghanistan Analyst with the US Army (1970-71) and I can't help but compare those years with the situation today. This story is part history, memoir, essay, and personal lament. It also voices my heartfelt and public concern over the opportunities and quality of life issues that face all of our current and future veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These have been tough years for soldiers. How does a young family survive, financially and emotionally, through tours of duty with numerous combat deployments? What dreams do these veterans harbor for themselves and their families in the life that follows after military service?

Read Signposts to Afghanistan at the link below

Signposts

Laudizen

Signposts to Afghanistan, two years on....

Today, December 31 of 2008, is the second anniversary of the genesis of my story, 'Signposts to Afghanistan', written in early 2007. That story meant a lot to me at the time, and it still does today. It was the first time I had put down into words my motivations for joining the Army in the time of the Vietnam War, how I recalled my experiences gained during those service years, and how I came to follow the path I did after I was discharged from the Army.

Today, one year after writing that story, I am every bit as distressed over our presence in Iraq, and at the horror we have allowed to continue in Afghanistan, as I was then. After having served a year in Vietnam, I was an Afghanistan Analyst for Military Intelligence at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. I fell in love with the country of Afghanistan, and I dreamed of visiting it one day. But life didn't work out that way.

What is going to happen to the current war veterans and their families of today, what with the stresses of multiple deployments and separation, the interruption of careers. I fear that America is going to pay a fierce price for this war and their service. In this day of the assault on the middle class, and CEOs making billions in bonuses by shipping work off to foreign shores, what opportunities await the foot soldier here in America after three tours in Iraq?

To read the entire story follow the link below.

Signposts to Afghanistan

Laudizen King