HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home. I got to celebrate eleven and a half hours earlier than all of you. Today we should be thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives, that we often take for granted. Looking around where I am right now, we all have much to be grateful for!

Shelter- a real roof over our heads, a solid floor, running water, and indoor plumbing.

Food- turkey and all the trimmings today, and not worrying if we will have some tomorrow, too.

Freedom- in too many ways to list.

Safety- that we don't have to worry while going about our daily lives.

Opportunity- to succeed as well as to fail, but opportunity nevertheless.

Health and healthcare-we enjoy the best system in the world to help us when we need it most.

Family- the most important of all, and what I am most thankful for!

On this Thanksgiving in Kandahar, it was a beautiful day at the Boardwalk. In many ways similar to home. People off work, enjoying themselves before a turkey feast. Playing volleyball and flag football (on our new artificial turf field that you can see in the background!). Spending time with friends. Our hospital group (spearheaded by my two corpsmen), decided to give back by organizing a "Turkey Day Tire Flip" to raise money and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Program, which helps take care of our wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines after they transition out of the hospital, both here as well as back in the US. We flipped a 275lb MRAP tire a total of 3500 times, or over 5km! We raised almost $2,000 to donate to the program. It was an awesome time to give back as we realize all too well here just how lucky we are. I was happy just to "flip it" more times than my age (I did 50 flips, or one "lap.") My corpsman HM2 Maher did it over 300 times! (However, he is going to Marine Recon (special forces) training after this deployment and is just barely over half my age). As is the norm here, my trauma team got called in to the hospital just a little over halfway through the event. Our job here is never done, even on Thanksgiving........

Love, hugs, and kisses to all back home! I miss you all!