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In Remembrance

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Lauren Johnson
  • PRT Paktya
FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARDEZ, Afghanistan --  Two thousand nine hundred ninety eight.

It's a big number, but all too easily forgotten. Two thousand nine hundred ninety eight innocent people from 90 countries, murdered in an unprecedented act of terrorism.

I was a senior in high school in 2001, and Sept. 11 left me shocked, angry and patriotic, like most, but not able to fully comprehend the magnitude to which the world - and my life - would shift because of that fateful day. Until now.

They were 2,998 faceless names. Until now.

Now I've been plunged into the land where that terror was bred.

Now there are 17 faces that remind me every day what we're fighting for. They watch me from inside their frames on the conference room wall under a sign that reads "Fallen Comrades of Paktya Province." I've spent enough hours in meetings in that room to memorize their features - young, proud, and hopeful.

We held a ceremony today to honor those 17, and the 2,998 who came before them - lest any of us forget why we're here.

"I ask all of you to take time today to remember the fallen, their families and renew your commitment to seeing this noble mission through," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Rob Campbell, 1-40 Cavalry Squadron Commander, during the ceremony. "Our motivation to bring justice was high following the attacks on our homeland, but I believe it has faded a bit as we get lost in our daily work here."

In Afghanistan, working seven days a week and being pulled in so many directions, it's easy to get lost in the day-to-day. And seeing poverty on every corner, witnessing unabashed violence first hand, it's easy to get discouraged.

But we also see progress. It's coming slowly, as progress does, but in a time of fast living and instant gratification it's often overlooked. We see hope - tremendous, inspiring hope - among the Afghan people, but it's overshadowed by the disparagement outside these borders. Too much money. Too much time. Too many sons and daughters killed.

Here in Afghanistan, it is that progress, that hope, and the honor of those who have perished that keeps us going.

"Being here makes me understand what a long process, and what a difficult road this is going to be," said U.S. Army Maj. Will Hogan, Provincial Reconstruction Team Paktya. "But we started down this road, and we need to take it to its completion."

Eight years later, I marvel at how life has gone on, and the resiliency of the American people. But I wonder if in moving on we've forgotten where we came from. Where is that nation bound together by collective tragedy? What happened to the American flags draped across freeway overpasses? What happened to the hope, pride and allegiance those flags represent?

It is immortalized in the faces of the 17 soldiers on the conference room wall.

My hope is that we don't let it fade.