Incredible Soldier, returns to duty in Afghanistan

Dan Luckett was a LT and a platoon leader in Iraq when his Humvee was hit with a shaped charge. The slug of molten copper took off his left leg and part of his right foot. For the past two years he has been working hard to build his strength and learn how to use prosthetics. Now he is a CAPT back on duty in Afghanistan.

Read about it here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39356718/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

Homes for our Troops / Kids for our Troops (28, 29)

Found a good article in the 11 SEP issue of American Profile about:

Homes for our Troops

http://www.homesforourtroops.com/

a nonprofit started by John Gonsalves to build homes for injured troops that let them lead a normal life even with disabilities. This is especially true for young troops who have come home from the war with permanent loss of function, and need to continue their lives without letting that disability get in the way of family and fun.

Associated with the site is:

Kids for our Troops

http://www.kidsforourtroops.org/

a site dedicated to giving kids ideas on how they can show their support for troops and start projects in their own hometowns.

Civilian injuries rise in Afghanistan

I was recently referred to this AP article, which I read on Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/10/afghanistan-civilian-casu_n_676596.html

The article describes how during the course of this year a greater number of civilians are being hurt and killed in the war in Afghanistan.

Troops on the ground note that insurgents are beginning to directly target groups of civilians, often with IED's. This sounds very similar to the difference I saw between my two deployments to Iraq. The second time around, in 2007, there were many more injured civilians, including women and children. They were injured in insurgent attacks designed to kill the most civilians, such as suicide bombers in busy markets, IED's in city streets, and attacks where vehicles carrying civilians were sprayed with automatic gunfire.

This targeting of civilians is a strategy of desperation. Some troops have found the restrictive rules of engagement that protect civilians frustrating, but in the long term, that respect of life is something we can be proud of.