Every area of my life has changed, and all for the better. If nothing else, I was just forced to step back for a moment, re-evaluate my life, and thank God that I am here, healthy, happy, motivated, and blessed.
I don't even know what my last blog was about...whatever it was is nearly irrelevant now. I just watched a dash-cam video of a civilian aircraft crashing just outside Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, and after I threw up my dinner, I cried.
Hard.
On January 24, 2012, I was in a plane crash on the runway of Kandahar. I knew that something wasn't right when we left Dubai...but there obviously wasn't much I could do. After a relatively uneventful couple of hours, we were approaching Kandahar Air Field. The pilot was shifting the fixed-wing plane this way and that...but considering I was unfamiliar with evasive maneavouring, I just figured that this is what happens when we land in a war zone.
Just as our wheels were supposed to touch the pavement, the plane ascending very quickly about 250 feet, jolted suddenly to the left, and we were careening down another runway. Before our wheels were about to touch once again, my last thought was screaming in my brain: WE AREN'T STRAIGHT!! And the right wing, the wing I was sitting on, slammed into the ground, followed by the nose, and we came to a screeching halt.
Smoke billowed all around, and I could see firemen coming to being watering down the plane: we survived. Over half of the passengers went home due to injuries sustained as a result of the crash...me? I was just grateful to be alive.
But in watching the released video of this civilian aircraft crashing in Bagram...I'm speechless, not only for the seven grieving families left behind (one including a pregnant wife and two little ones), but because I know that fear...that fear right before you hit the ground, and you know that something's not right...
If nothing else, trust that although I'm not home often, that doesn't mean I don't know where home is. <3
I don't even know what my last blog was about...whatever it was is nearly irrelevant now. I just watched a dash-cam video of a civilian aircraft crashing just outside Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, and after I threw up my dinner, I cried.
Hard.
On January 24, 2012, I was in a plane crash on the runway of Kandahar. I knew that something wasn't right when we left Dubai...but there obviously wasn't much I could do. After a relatively uneventful couple of hours, we were approaching Kandahar Air Field. The pilot was shifting the fixed-wing plane this way and that...but considering I was unfamiliar with evasive maneavouring, I just figured that this is what happens when we land in a war zone.
Just as our wheels were supposed to touch the pavement, the plane ascending very quickly about 250 feet, jolted suddenly to the left, and we were careening down another runway. Before our wheels were about to touch once again, my last thought was screaming in my brain: WE AREN'T STRAIGHT!! And the right wing, the wing I was sitting on, slammed into the ground, followed by the nose, and we came to a screeching halt.
Smoke billowed all around, and I could see firemen coming to being watering down the plane: we survived. Over half of the passengers went home due to injuries sustained as a result of the crash...me? I was just grateful to be alive.
But in watching the released video of this civilian aircraft crashing in Bagram...I'm speechless, not only for the seven grieving families left behind (one including a pregnant wife and two little ones), but because I know that fear...that fear right before you hit the ground, and you know that something's not right...
And I pray for them.
I know it's been a while since I've blogged...I guess being in America and so busy has meant that I'm no different than anyone reading: no time for the things we want to do; precious moments spent doing busywork. It will be better now, I have more news to share and will be more attentive to my family and friends curious of my life since I am constantly separated from you all.
If nothing else, trust that although I'm not home often, that doesn't mean I don't know where home is. <3
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