An American war story

An American war story

By John G. Hubbard, special to the Times
In Print: Sunday, October 30, 2011

DUNEDIN

He is finally home. He is a soldier in the Army. He went to Afghanistan for 15 months the first time. He went to Afghanistan for 12 months the second time. It now appears that he has been assigned to a stateside position that will probably keep him in the States for the next three years.

He is about as nice a young man as you could find. He is as decent and caring a person as you could know. He is an Army doctor and has seen the effects of war and the results of armed conflict on U.S. soldiers and on the people of Afghanistan.

On his first tour of duty he was stationed on the side of a mountain in Afghanistan bordering Pakistan where he was regularly subjected to mortar attacks. I was talking to him one night and in the middle of our conversation he told me he had to interrupt the telephone call because he had to go get in a trench since the base he was in had just come under mortar attack. He was there for 15 months and saw things that no one who is not, or ever has been in the military service should ever have to see.

His name is Scott and he is married to my daughter, Jennifer. They presently have a 3-year-old son who was born in the middle of his first tour in Afghanistan. The Army gave him leave so that he could come home and be present at the birth of his child. I thought that was a great kindness and showed a compassionate side of the Army that I did not know existed. Four days after his son's birth, Scott had to return to Afghanistan.
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