Messages from the front line are inspiring
By Staff
Leada Gore, Editor
Michael Tomberlin is a soldier serving in Afghanistan. He is a Field Artillery Major with the Alabama Army National Guard. He is a also a reporter for The Birmingham News. It's in the reporter role that I first met Mike.
Many years ago, Mike and I were reporters at a weekly newspaper in Shelby County. Both of us were pretty young and green.
Like the rest of the staff, we made our share of mistakes but sure did have some good times.
Mike was always late with his stories (a habit I'm sure he outgrew) but they were worth the wait. He was a gifted writer and a nice guy. He also drove a little silver car that he would leave running in the front of the office for fear it wouldn't start again. At the time, that seemed reasonable enough.
Like I said, we were all pretty young.
Mike and I didn't work together too long. He went on to another Birmingham publications and then to the News, where he covered business stories.
I lost track of him for several years except for his bylines in the newspaper.
Then, a couple of weeks ago I received an email with a link to Mike's blog (http://blog.al.com/afghanistan/about.html). He's combining his two vocations – writer and soldier. The result is a unique perspective on the state of our Wars on Terrors.
Mike writes about the extraordinary – a vehicle in his unit getting hit by an improvised explosive device – to the mundane – the excitement of getting to watch an Alabama football game from half a world away.
My favorite entry covers the things Mike said he's learned during his fourth months in Afghanistan. It contains such gems as:
"Americans don't know what poverty is."
"A minivan with less than 50 people inside and/or on top of it is being under-utilized."
"Americans don't know what dust is."
"Dogs are dogs wherever they live."
"All men in white beards do not look like Santa Claus."
And my favorite: "Special forces guys use loofahs."
I know there are a lot of mixed feelings about our leaders and their handling of the wars in the Middle East. I share those mixed feelings.
However, reading Mike's blog reminds us all these soldiers are regular people who are making extraordinary sacrifices to protect us all. Whether you support our elected officials or not, we must support the fathers,mothers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters who are in uniform.
I hope Mike and the rest of our soldiers are home soon. And Mike, just remember, don't leave the humvee running. I'm pretty sure it will start back up when cranked.
