Those Who Serve
By
Bob Brewin
Tomorrow is Veterans Day, and it's fitting to pause and honor those who have answered the nation's call for service. Those who serve include not only the men and women in uniform, but State Department folks such as my friend of nearly 30 years Abigail Friedman, a foreign service officer who traded in her diplomat threads for Army fatigues this summer.
FSOs in Afghanistan
Tomorrow is Veterans Day, and it's fitting to pause and honor those who have answered the nation's call for service.
Those who serve include not only the men and women in uniform, but State Department folks such as my friend of nearly 30 years Abigail Friedman, a foreign service officer who traded in her diplomat threads for Army fatigues this summer.
Friedman currently serves as the senior civilian with Task Force Cyclone, an Indiana and Kentucky Army National Guard unit based at Bagram Air Force Base, about 25 miles north of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. She works in partnership with the Army to "establish a stable Afghanistan."
Asked why she left the comfort of home in suburban Washington and a Foggy Bottom gig for Afghanistan, Friedman answered that as far as she is concerned "Afghanistan is the No. one foreign policy priority of the president, and I want to do my part."
Task Force Cyclone operates in the four northern provinces of Afghanistan, and doing her part means that Friedman goes to the field about twice a week either in an MRAP or helicopter to bring her skills as a diplomat to a combined military/civilian mission.
It also means working closely with the task force staff, including its commander, Brig. Gen. Joseph Culver, to develop projects aimed at helping the people of Afghanistan. This includes, Friedman said, "helping farmers develop better techniques to grow grapes, putting the grapes on trellises rather than growing them on the ground, which is helping them improve the value of their production. We then work to involve them in a whole production chain, connecting their grapes to a central raisin factory."
The task force also works to develop and bolster local government institutions in Afghanistan, she said, and this includes a program to mentor and train lawyers and judges, provide legal books and materials to the Afghan legal system, educate the population about the justice system on local radio stations, and empower Afghan women.
Friedman loves here assignment and the chance to work with soldiers, many of them the age of her children, including son Abe, a true geek who works for Microsoft, and two teenagers in Washington, Sam and Martha. She likes being immersed in the Army culture with its own lingo and said that while on a mission outside Bagram she "has absolute faith that every soldier is prepared to ensure my security."
Like other mothers deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, Abigail says she also has a deep sense of gratitude to her family, including her husband and my close friend, Eric Passaglia. Her family, like all the families of those who serve in Afghanistan and Iraq, deserve the nation's thanks.
Escape From Can Tho
Terry McNamara, who served as the consul general in Can Tho Vietnam in April 1975, exemplifies the courage and daring of foreign service officers who serve in harms way.
As South Vietnam collapsed under the final assault by North Vietnamese troops that month, McNamara organized an escape by landing craft from Can Tho in the Delta to U.S. Navy ships offshore.
McNamara organized an operation that rescued about 300 American personnel and Vietnamese civilians in an audacious undertaking that still resonates 34 years later, as depicted in Escape With Honor .
My Honor Roll
This is the time of year to honor family and friends who have served. All my comrades from 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines and 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, Vietnam 1965/1966
My father, Walter Brewin
Army Air Corps
WW II
Okinawa and the Philippines
My father-in-law, William Suess
Tin Can Sailor
WW II
Atlantic and Pacific
Friend and fellow Marine
Who touched me with his grace.
The best company commander any Marine could ever have.
Marine Korean War Veteran
UPI bureau chief in Saigon on the last day of the war
Friend, mentor and inspiration
Who's on your Honor Roll?
Please send it in, and I'll post it here.
Photo: Abigail Friedman, Senior State Department Foreign Service Officer with Task Force Cyclone in Afghanistan with an unidentified soldier in an MRAP.
NEXT STORY: Fitter Feds