Squamish Chief readers may remember Cpl. Douglas Morgan from his rotation in Bosnia and from his assistance to a person going into a diabetic coma on Government Road when everyone was driving around him.
Douglas is presently on a nine month rotation is Afghanistan. He is posted to the Multi National Brigade Headquarters and Signal squadron and his trade is a Signal Operator. The base is located about twelve kilometers south east of Kandahar City.
Afghanistan shares a border to the east with Pakistan and to the north with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tadzhikstan and to the west with Iran. Most days it is bright and sunny and hot. The temperature rises to 32 Celsius in the daytime and drops to 10 Celsius at night. Very high winds occasionally create dust storms and throw dust everywhere, making it very difficult to keep things clean. During the summer months the temperature is expected to rise to around 50 Celsius in the daytime!
It seems strange for a desert area, but lately there have been larger than normal amounts of rain and when it rains it is like buckets of water being dumped causing the ground to be a muddy quagmire, according to Douglas.
The camp is very large and has Canadian, British and American troops. There are many amenities. There are three dining halls, two green bean coffee shops, one large gym, Burger King, Subway, a tailor shop, several gift shops and soon to be a Tim Horton's.There are also places to get a massage, manicure and pedicure. The American PX is a large general store, which has almost everything. There is a Canadian tent complex that has fooze ball tables, umbrella tables and a big screen TV.
The locals set up a bazaar outside the base, which sells a lot of knock off items. Carpets are also a large part of the bazaar.
As a parent, I am often asked if I worry a lot. As a parent we have certain obligations in raising our children. Medical needs and education must be addressed, exposing our children to every activity and aspect in the world we can and placing a value system into them and hope it sticks. Once they have made their choices I believe the most important thing is that they be happy in what they are doing. My son wants to make difference. Yes I worry sometimes but I have the knowledge that my son is happy in what he is doing and that give me comfort.
