KUWAIT TRIP: Bringing 67 U.S. ARMY soldiers home from Afghanistan

What a day!

There are very few things in life as rewarding as bringing home 67 U.S. ARMY guys from Afghanistan after they had been there for an entire year. Go ahead, think of where you were last year at this time, mid-September-ish of 2007, and just try and recall all the things that have happened in your life since then. Seems pretty insignificant when you think about these guys that worked 12 hour days (at least) 7 days a week IN IRAQ from sundown to sunup (yes, they have an even WEIRDER schedule than I do, believe it or not...), completing missions, losing guys along the way, fighting for our country, trying to end this war, and never knowing if they would make it to see tomorrow. We took 145 men and women over there today and brought 67 back. Let me tell you, when I re-read my last blog entry and saw that I suspected the flight home would be different than the one going there, I got chills. Boy was it ever!

These are 2 U.S. Air Force guys that are stationed in Kuwait for 4 months to guard our planes when we are grounded. Javian and Jesse! They were extra friendly and LOVED hanging out with us in the galley while our plane got cleaned for our soldiers... we ate pizza, talked about their home bases, and asked what they do In Kuwait in their free time! They were both ridiculously cute... couln't help but smile at them the entire time. :-)
Just a handful of the 67 soldiers we picked up in Kuwait to begin their long journey home to the U.S. They were an EXTRA fun bunch... loved helping us out with the demo, getting drinks for other soldiers in the galley, and just saying 'Please and Thank You, Ma'am' every chance they got! Absolutely adorable.
They loved our lead Amanda! She really catered to them and made fun announcements, let them stand in the cabin during flight, and basically let them take over "B ZONE." It was non-stop fun and laughs!
And it helped that my entire crew got along so well together as if we'd known each other forever! (Clockwise from left), Vennie, Marla, Amanda, Jill, Mame, Kim, Me, and Patrick.
AND our beloved U.S. ARMY passengers... who were all LOVING the fact that flight attendants can be FUN and still work hard to serve them! (It's the LEAST we can do considering they're serving our country.)
"Captain Morgan" pose. Hot stuff!
They asked us to do it, as well... I, being one of the youngest, shouted out, "What's the Captain Morgan pose?? How do I DO it??" Hahaha... ROARING laughter from the crowd, lemme tell you. Oh well, I play that 'young and innocent' card often and it seems to work quite well on certain people. Especially a group of guys like this. :-)
Can I get you a beverage???
Brandon showing me how to shoot his weapon. YES, they DO have weapons on our flights but NO they are NOT loaded. Brandon told me today that he was going home after being gone a year, and they weren't allowed to tell their families they were coming. How COOL is that? Can you imagine your soldier just showing up at the door as a complete surprise? Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Like those guys that have surprised their sons and daughters in their classrooms at school and they've shown the clips on the news...
Robbie LOVED little Vennie. He was such a cutie... he was only 20! He said after this mission he wanted 'out' of the military and he just wanted to go to college and get his degree. He was hoping not to get called back to duty, but he said he probably would in about 7 months.
Another group shot... couldn't have had more fun 'working' today!
SO sad to see them go! We all exchanged email addresses and when we got back to the hotel, some of them had already emailed us from the wifi internet connection at the airport. I hope we stay in touch with some of these guys... they were definitely a group that will stand out in my mind forever!
We called them the 'Band of Brothers...'
After what they've been through together... they'll always be close, and you can just FEEL it in their presence on the plane. I was SO lucky today to witness this wonderful bond between people that are fighting for our country, putting their loved ones on hold for duty, and won't stop until it's over. Absolutely amazing. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I admire them!

Cheers!
-Lisa :-)