Proud of Our Sailor!!

Curtis forwarded me this message from Captain Laube at the Herat Regional Medical Hospital in Afghanistan. It seems that HN Metzger has made quite an impact in the short time he has been deployed! America is a great country and our people are beacons of hope for others around the world.

Ken-may God continue to bless you and the work you are doing. We are all so proud of you!!

Be safe,
Charlie

I had the pleasure of visiting yesterday afternoon with your HN Metzger during a memorial service for one of our fallen warriors from Afghanistan. I met HN Metzger when he first checked into Camp, ARSIC-West a month or two ago. I was involved in placing him with one of the Afghan National Army Kandaks as a medic mentor. As soon as he checked in to their unit, they went downrange to a very dangerous area where we are trying to forge our way into a strongly held Taliban area. He has been integral in building a new Forward Operating Base. Last week, he was involved in a fire fight with the Taliban. A civilian mom, holding her baby, was shot through the forearm and humerous. One bullet, two entry and exit wounds. She was hit in the arm with which she was holding the baby. The baby was unhurt. The wound was nasty with shattered bones and open wounds. He was the first person to render aid to her. He did an outstanding job. She was medevac'd to our regional hospital. The injury is serious and will take at least 6 months to heal, if it heals. HN Metzger was brought down to our main camp for a few days to resupply. I spoke with him last evening. This young man is the reason I am still in the Navy. He has such a positive attitude and outlook. He is so young, yet he has already seen so much in the last month. I was proud to introduce him to the Army ARSIC-West Commander. You should be very proud of this corpsman. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he is returning to that area today and will be there throughout the winter in austere conditions.

V/R,

Ken Laube
CAPT Kenneth Laube,MSC,USN,FACHE
Hospital Commander Mentor & ETT Team Lead
Herat Regional Military Hospital

Remember Me

This video was created by 15 year-old Lizzie Palmer and has been circulating around the internet. For those if you who haven't seen it, please follow the link below. It's a simple, but moving tribute to our troops and suitable for viewing by all ages. Thanks to Rich Goccia for forwarding the link.

Remember their sacrifices each day and pray for their safe return.

-Charlie

http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?swf=http%3A//s.ytimg.com/yt/swf/cps-vfl59689.swf&video_id=ervaMPt4Ha0&rel=1&hqt=1&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//i2.ytimg.com/vi/ervaMPt4Ha0/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskIh6cVKzEgFZ0WHVQciidti&use_get_video_info=1&load_modules=1&autoplay=1

Message From Ken Metzger

Things are going well over here in Bala Murghab. Been very quiet. Starting to get cold at night now, even though it's still really hot during the day. We've had some very windy days here where it's not good to go outside. The sand is everywhere. I am doing good though. I have been treating a lot of local people and I have seen a lot of interesting patients. This is a great learning environment. I feel like I'm doing a lot of good here. It's nice to help these people as they need it very badly. I appreciate everything I have back home more than you can imagine now. I appreciate the support from all of you. Thank you and I hope to keep hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Ken

Thinking of Ken Metzger

Ken Metzger and I have been emailing back and forth over the last couple weeks. He has now moved into the field ("the boonies" as he describes it) with his small unit. He learned that he will likely stay in the field for the remainder of this tour. As a result, he will probably not have access to the Blog anymore, but he does have email access. I will be posting things for Ken when he is able to give us updates. The Afghanistan nights are starting to get cold, but a construction team just arrived to build some sleeping rooms and a warm shower. In addition, the Marines just arrived as well.

As this very long election season draws to a close, please remember Ken and all of our military families working selflessly each and every day to protect our freedom and right to vote.

If you'd like to email Ken directly, please click here.

-Charlie