Catching Creation

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On my first mission in Iraq, I did what’s called a right seat ride with the Iowa National Guard unit we were replacing. This was so they could show us the routes and what to expect in country. The Iowa guys I rode with on that mission brought a bag of soccer balls for the Iraqi kids. A school in their hometown donated them for the children in an attempt to win hearts and minds. As the gunner, I had the best vantage to throw the balls to the kids. That moment created a significant amount of dissonance for me. I was both scared to death of being in a combat zone while simultaneously having a moment of pure confusing joy. To see the happiness on the faces of these children juxtaposed against the war-torn landscape was emotionally jarring.

The children were mostly barefoot and in colorful, threadbare clothing. They were all smiling as big as can be. The moment was broken as we rolled away when the beautiful Iraqi girl who caught the soccer ball was chased down and beaten mercilessly with sticks and fists by the surrounding boys so they could get the ball from her.

I immediately went from a sacred moment of shared joy to complete rage. I was powerless to do a thing about it. The convoy rolled away with me as the rear convoy gunner. All I could do was watch the shocking melee as we ambled down the road in hand me down equipment to complete our mission.

Read the whole story at : https://open.substack.com/pub/stanlake/p/memories-of-war-always-forward?r=1pdpz0&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

This weeks post is about a salamander larvae, a new faith, and a dude freezing in shin deep water with a huge smile…

Amphibious Faith A little over a decade ago I found myself up to my shins in water that was barely above freezing. To most people this spot was just a swamp, or a glorified mud puddle at best. To me it was heaven. Cold, but divine. I’ve been fascinated with the mystery of nature for as long as I can remember. It s...