The End is Really the Beginning of the Next Chapter
Posted Monday, April 5, 2010 at 1:37 PM by Melissa Hunsberger
Laura Hahn is a former Americorps Member with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Red Cross who will be spending the next four months in Baghdad, Iraq. She will share her experiences on this blog.
I apologize for the delay on this one, I have been home for a week and life has been crazy with re-adapting, the holidays and many hard choices. I would like to re-cap my return trip adventure and conclude with some great news on the next chapter in my life. The emotional trip started with walking on the tarmac in full battle rattle (helmet and bullet proof body armor) onto the back of that C130. It was a true moment of reflection. I have seen a lot of things that people hope to never have to witness. I have been to war. I have seen death. I have witnessed disaster and its aftermath and have seen true poverty in third world nations. I wish I was wise enough to know the lesson these experiences should amount to, but the significance of these events will continue to shape the person I am becoming.
Starting the transition week out of Baghdad included moving rooms, arranging flights, and helping my replacement get adapted to life and work as fast as possible. To add to this, I had my scariest expense of the trip. I was going for my last run when I heard sirens go off. I have been trained to hit the deck many times. But this time I just froze, I had no idea what to do. Shortly after the initial warning bells, the announcement blared “INCOMING, INCOMING” and I did what I knew not to do. I ran as fast as I could to the bunker for shelter. Luckily, we were able to disarm the impact mid-air and the debris actually fell over top of the bunker, sounding like nuts falling from a tree as they hit the roof.
This sealed the deal for me in my thoughts of wanting to get out of Iraq. The trip home started with trying to catch a flight to Kuwait which is no easy task. The military and the Red Cross are similar: “hurry up and wait.” Our first flight was canceled and the second one was about 20 hours later. Once landing in Kuwait, my team was greeted with very open arms by team members from all over the “theater” (Balad, Kuwait and Afghanistan) that are also returning home. We spent the first 24 hours in a tent city which is really just an overnight waiting camp, but at this point it was like a vacation. The food was amazing. I ate everything I missed: real eggs, pink meat, tons of fresh fruit and veggies, fountain soda, and soft serve ice cream.
Best of all, I was the feeling that I was finally safe. No more drills, no more rockets, and no more gun shots. I have not had a single day off since October. Having no work was a bit of a shock. We had a chance to turn in a lot of heavy gear, work out in a nice gym, and catch up with many of my Red Cross buddies that I have been working with over the phone the entire deployment. Telling stories, being able to vent to each other and just spending time together was great.
After an experience like this it’s easy to develop a family type of companionship and sense of accomplishment with everyone I worked with. At 12:00 am on Saturday we started with customs, briefings, and information formations in the muddy rain. This whole process is considered “lock down”, starting from 12:00 am until boarding a flight which is about 20 hours later. I can’t elaborate much about the process due to security. Sleeping is not easy in the holding cell because we have different meetings. It’s hot, crowded, and there are no beds.
At this point, I was running on days of no sleep so I found a bench outside in the hot sun and passed out for a few hours. In the late afternoon we found out finally that our flight was ready and we would start our isolated trip to the airport. Nothing about this flight is normal. The bus drove for hours and since the military runs the show there is no airport staff. Needless to say, things are done very differently. I volunteered to help load the flight and climbed in the belly of this huge trans-Atlantic aircraft and helped the soldiers load all the gear. It was about 110 degrees in this little space and the bags are about 70 pounds each filled with gear. After sitting around for days and knowing that the flight would consist more of doing nothing and eating for another 20 hours, it felt good to move around and interact with some troops.
Once on the flight, we were greeted by a very thankful crew for our service to the country. It is important to note that all of us have been in transition and camps without sleep, in the heat, and have lacked showers for some time. The smell on the plane is not very pleasant, but the atmosphere is upbeat and happy. While on the “freedom flight,” surrounded by young service members all of which are ending a very long tour of duty, I can’t help but to remember how lucky I am to be an American. I love seeing new places, but I have never been so happy to be back on American soil and be thankful for everything I have. When we landed, the emotion is something that is hard to explain. A soldier got up and sang “American Soldier” on the PA system to the whole plane and I think it left everyone in tears.
Finally landing in Atlanta, we debriefed and dropped off the rest of our gear. It was really strange ending this whole trip at the same place it started so long ago. Once we got all the hard stuff out of the way and slowly got organized and showered we were finally ready for our first beer! Not drinking for 6 months was a bit of a challenge, but being able to share the first few beers with the whole team made it all worth it.
Reality is still slowly setting in as the jet lag, time change and everything about “real” life is very different than my daily routine in Iraq. I never would have seen myself returning from war, but I am glad to say that I was a part of something so real. I have met amazing people and learned things about myself that have forced me to grow up and change a lot.
When I started to write this last blog, I had no clue what was next, but within 12 hours of being home I had two amazing job offers and after an extremely hard decision process I am happy to announce that I am staying with the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces and will be moving to Washington D.C. in May. For now, I am planning on enjoying my month of vacation with family and friends. I thank everyone for all the support and letting me share my story. I hope that it provided a visual of what our brave troops and their families sacrifice every day. Always remember to thank a service member when you see them because a small thank you can mean a lot.
Tags: Comments
Tyler
Posted Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 11:21 AM
I read a lot of Chapter's blogs and yours has made it onto the short list of those I check daily mostly because of Laura's posts. I've really enjoyed following your service in Iraq the past few months and wish you the best at National.
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