FRiends, this is a great article with first-person accounts of troops who have served in Afghanistan.
Desert Duty
The war on terrorism has been described as a conflict unlike any the United States has ever fought: open-ended, narrowly targeted and largely covert. But to those in North Carolina, some aspects of it have been very familiar.
The Tar Heel state has sent the lion's share of troops, including active-duty Army, Air Force and Marines from Down East and guardsmen and reservists from across the state. About 60 percent of the current fighting force in the war has been dispatched from North Carolina.
Recently, some North Carolina-based units have returned from Afghanistan; they shared stories of America's new war.
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The threat of imminent death was constant to Hamlin, a Marine for seven years who had served on missions in Kosovo, Albania and Africa. At one point, he faced the possibility of a particularly hazardous flight, details of which he could not discuss. He was so sure that he would not return that he wrote to his wife, Rachel, for what he thought would be the last time. "That was the first time I had ever written her and told her where my last will was," he said. "I don't know if it was an overreaction on my part. It's a tough decision because you don't want to scare her or your family."
It's amazing what they have to go through. God bless them!