Buddy,

Additional Picts and an e-mail from Captain Markham.
--John

14 April 2002, Bagram, Afghanistan 0545 L, 0115 Z

Well it's time again to let you know what's going on here in Cold and Hot Afghanistan. I must put my disclaimer in again about my terrible grammar. Being tired and typing at the same time and translating from brain to fingers is a disaster waiting to happen. Oh welläjust forgive and hope I make some sort of sense. Like I said hot & cold here. It truly amazes me the nights are so cold and the days are so hot. At night we huddle around whatever we can find that's warm and shed clothes when the big heat tab pops up. Several of the soldiers have gotten sick from the change in temperatures to include myself. The medical guys constantly tell us to keep good personal hygiene. Just washing your hands helps so much. The mountain chain that surrounds us is absolutely beautiful. Once you look over all the wreckage from the Soviet & Afghan war the mountains are breath taking. The first couple of days it was somewhat hard to catch at lungful of air. We are at a 6000-foot altitude. I've decided to contact Bill Gates and make him a proposal. Build a ski resort here and hire the Special Forces Soldiers to provide security. This would stimulate the economy here with jobs for the locals. I could ski all day long. Nice dreams. Huh? I have gotten several letters and packages in the mail since our last email. Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to drop me a line or an email. Really means a lot to me. When I found out I had mail I could have eaten a banana sideways. That's right, a smile from ear to ear. So keep'em comin'! Greta sent several books, cards, a sleep mask and miscellaneous items. Greta's father sent me some deer jerky and I was the hit of the compound. Friends were coming out of the woodworks. I had 3 bags and now down to 1 already. I'm going to put it under lock and key and post guards. Jeff (Moore) made it here and that certainly helps to have a close friend in distance land. Jeff & I work together back in Florida. He and others were working at a logistical hub pushing supplies forward. We've minimized our staff at that location and Jeff was able to come here. He's working the night shift with me. I will eventually rotate to day shift and he will stay on the night shift. We may be traveling throughout country to procure for the coalition. Our warrants were approved and now the big wigs are fighting over who gets us. It's nice to feel wanted. Do I hear $100! HA. Had another opportunity to get out today and explore some of the villages in our area. I entered the old Soviet hospital, eerie and exciting at the same time. The writing throughout the building was of course soviet. There was also some Arabic writing as well. The photo I will attach to this email did not set well with me. (Attachment 1, Plane & Apple Photo) It's the photo of an apple with two airplanes flying at it. You know the story behind that photo. Most likely done after the attack or at least I hope so. You never know? I did see one house that had a makeshift pool of some sort. It could have been an outside bathing pit. It appeared to be about 4 feet deep and 6 feet wide by 8 feet in length and made of concrete? The inside of the walls were painted blue that gave the appearance of a pool. We had some of the local workers in the compound today and some had their kids with them. I took a photo of the kids. The youngest appeared to be about 5 or 6 years old. The oldest looked 8 or 9 years old. The youngest helped his dad or the man he was with shoveling rocks in our high traffic area to help reduce the mud when it rains. The oldest was trying to sell any and everythingä.switch blade knives, necklaces and Afghan dollars for American dollars. I know when I was a kid I thought I had it bad and promised myself I would make sure my kids didn't have it as bad as I did. I think at some point in time we've all said that? But to see these little kids with nothing and smiles on their faces has made me realize that material things don't matter as much as we think. Brother Larry, you've told us and the Bible teaches us that time and time again. (Attachments 2 & 3, Little Haj & Kid on Bike). I would like to barter for a soviet bayonet. The asking price is 20 U.S. dollars. Just today outside our compound I was able to negotiate the price down to 10 dollars. I'll try to negotiate down lower but I'm willing to pay 10 or higher. I hope the money goes to the right cause and not for the bad guys. Bought a pancake hat earlier this week and a scarf. Jason I hope you enjoy it. Going to buy more for souvenirs/gifts. Just last week the exchange rate was 37,000 afghan dollars to 1 us dollars. Today it is 64,000 to 1. Hope that's not a sign of their troubled economy? From what I understand, the soviet left this location in a big hurry. They must have left most if not all of their equipment and supplies. Guess that's where they got all the bayonets and other soviet items. After our shift today Jeff & I will try to get out again. Ok it happen again today. Earthquake just south of us. It's my second so now I know what it feels like. The one last week felt like a large piece of machinery had just come within a few feet of me without a sound. It didn't feel like a vibration but more like a swaying motion. So today when it happened again I recognized it immediately. Others thought it was what I thought it was the first time. Jeff couldn't believe he had felt the earthquake trimmer. It was so strange to look out in front of you and see the ground swaying back and forth. There was no ground separation just the swaying. It a nutshellä.Way too cool! Just hope they don't get any stronger or closer! We've had the opportunity to promote several of my soldiers while in theater. One of the guys is a good friend of Rick Powers and mine. It's Staff Sergeant Randy Dukes, correction, Sergeant First Class Randy Dukes. I pinned SFC Dukes on 10 April 2002. (Attachment 4, SFC Dukes Promotion). Rick, Randy said eat your heart out! Randy has done an excellent job with the Signal Detachment. A complete 180-degree turn around for his detachment. I hope one day he will be considered for the First Sergeant position. He would make a fine one! The last couple of missions have provided some great photos and Intel on the bad guys. The one photo I will send shows what happens when you mess with the best. For operational security (OPSEC), I can't provide other photos or details at this time. When I think back to that horrible day in September I know it's my duty, honor and privilege to be here. We will never forget and we will prevail!. Hope you enjoy the miscellaneous photos. My fingers and thought process have started to slow down so I need to sign off for now. I truly miss all of you and know that each day here brings me closer to coming back home.

God Bless the USA!

CPT William L. Markham