Today’s story of service is brought to you by Capt. Michael Greenberger, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

I have been in the military since I was 18 and life has not always been good.  I started my military career as a private and at one point had to work two extra jobs just to pay the bills.  I’ve watched my children grow and have spoiled them rotten, because I never really had much when I was growing up.  I thought I knew exactly what I wanted my life to be like – until I went to Afghanistan.

My job over there was a media relations specialist.  I found myself outside the base on numerous occasions meeting and greeting both Afghan and international media in order to escort them onto the base.  The gate we used was also the main truck route, where lines of trucks waited to enter the base carrying anything from gravel to mattresses.  A group of industrious children were always around, pushing wheel barrows full of drinks and snacks to sell to the truckers.

The first time I went out the gate a mob of these children ran to my transport van.  I was shocked to see them – they were ragged.  Most wore broken sandals and a few wore nothing at all – shoes were rare.  Their skin was bitten and tanned by the sun and their lips cracked and chapped.  Their faces were dirty and hard.  Their eyes though, were bright and inquisitive.  The always had a hand out for a “baksheesh” or gift.

On another occasion, we walked to a nearby village on a media escort.  I saw many children that day and nearly all of them resembled the kids at the gate.  One extremely joyous child was running around pushing the steel rim of a bicycle tire with a coat hanger.  As he ran, he pushed the wheel and the faster it rolled – the faster he ran and laughed.  I was simply amazed and thought of my son’s toy closet and the hundreds of dollars of toys he barely plays with.  I felt dirty and ashamed and wanted to do something for these kids.

I mobilized the family back home.  My grandmother talked with people in her church and soon I had boxes of clothes, shoes and toys arriving for me to dispense.  Also, there was a great pantry in my office that contained food items donated by various places – organizations and people back home.  It was all too much in my opinion.  People talk about the troops and supporting them.  Well that gets done and then some.  For some troops out in small bases, it’s a luxury.  For us, on the 2nd largest base in Afghanistan, it was gluttony.  Large containers of candies would sit uneaten.  I would bag them up and keep them in the van with me when I went out to the gate.  I would also bring cases of water, which were plentiful on the base.

I wasn’t the only one trying to do some good over there though.  One organization, Operation Care, is a non-profit, non-religious group made up of service members and civilians who try to provide basic necessities like shoes, clothing, and school supplies to local Afghan communities.  Every few weeks, the Egyptian hospital on the base would hold an open clinic for local Afghans.  After receiving care volunteers would hand out clothes, toys and many other items.  Operation Care also organizes donations and has done village visits to perform “humanitarian aid drops”.  To me, their actions epitomize community service – do what you can, when you can.  It doesn’t matter that there is a war going on.  People are in need and many of the providers recognize they are doing very well and can contribute to help someone in need.  I’ve never felt better than I did the day I put brand new sneakers and socks on the swollen, scarred feet of a 10-year-old Afghan boy and saw him smiling from ear to ear.

So when you’re putting that goody box together this Christmas you may ask yourself if the kid’s outgrown clothes could be better used elsewhere.  If so, see the folks at Operation Care at http://www.operation-care.net/, and see what can be done to help our neighbors in Afghanistan.

Michael Greenberger is a Captain in the U.S. Army.  He currently serves with the 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.  He has served in the military for 18 years, as a scout, signal, and public affairs officer and has been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Related Links:

An open letter to our military

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