This post is very bittersweet for me. My time here in Germany is coming to an end. In fact, when this post is published, I will be on a plane headed back to the States to do my out-processing.
I have learned so much here. I have learned that you can't take for granted the freedom that you have. Supporting your troops doesn't mean that you buy a $2.00 yellow ribbon bumper sticker and pray to God that your kid doesn't join the military. Our freedom is the most precious gift we have as Americans and if we can't support those who are willing to lay down their lives for it, then what's the point?
My mind is filled with images of those I've had the privilege to come into contact with. I pray that they will never leave me. Especially those of the ones I was in contact with when I was the On-Call Chaplain Assistant and was helping to unload the wounded from the buses. It is a sacred experience to see a Chaplain blessing a young man or woman who has literally just seen Hell and is fortunate enough to make it to us. Thousands of gallons of blood have been shed by our troops. It's always been said that America's finest generation was the one that won World War II. While I will always honor those who laid down their lives and saved millions, if not billions of people from opression, I believe that today's generation is the finest. Every single person who has served in this conflict has done so voluntarily. Not one single body being laid to rest during this war was drafted. That is honorable.
So, I just wanted to post a couple of pictures of my going-away ceremonies that I've had the last few days. The first was a lunch that we had for our department. I was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and a special Challenge Coin from Colonel G.
It was a small and intimate gathering of just our department. I really enjoyed it. I have worked with the finest Chaplains and Assistants of my career here.
We had our Navy awards ceremony this week as well. Here's our Deputy Director Captain C addressing us in the beginning.
She has been an amazing leader. It's hard to keep all of your Navy traditions intact on an Army base, but she has enabled us to do so. I know she worked some really long hours, but still found time to get to know each of her sailors personally. As some of you know, we've had a hard time determining if they are keeping me here for another year or sending me home and she was in the mix of it. So, when she was congratulating me at the ceremony she asked, "Are you staying here or going home?" It was pretty funny.
I was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for my work here. It is a HUGE honor to be awarded a medal with such high precedence. It will take the place of number one on my ribbon rack.
These are pictures of the acting CO, Colonel C, presenting me with the medal and the certificate that go with it.
I was also given a coin by Captain C and Master Chief A from the Navy team as well.
They gave everyone an opportunity to say a few words. I just briefly said that my father once told me that if you absolutley love what you do for a living, you will NEVER work a day in your life. I said that I haven't worked a single day since I got here.
God bless our Troops. God bless America. I'm coming home...
Well, this will be my last posting of a fun day trip in Europe. My time here is drawing to an end and I will always remember the good times I had here. On July 10th I took another trip through Outdoor Recreation to the beautiful city of Paris, France.
It was really funny because my regular "trip buddy" left for the States earlier in the week and I was left with no one to go on the trip with me. I hurried and put out the word to everyone in the hospital that I knew that I was going to Paris and needed someone to go with. I quickly rounded up two new friends. One of them is HM1 C. She works for the Coalition Liaisons and has had some VERY busy days lately and really needed a day out. She also knew an IT1 that works in the Special Forces Liaison Office that hadn't been on a single trip since he got here, so both of them were very excited to go with me.
The night before the trip, Chaplain S gave me a few books and maps of Paris and gave me some pointers on how to get around the town. I spent a couple of hours researching where to go and how to get there. I found a double-decker bus line that will take you around the city in different routes all day long for a good price.
As we were pulling into the city limits, I pulled out my maps and started showing the two of them my plan for being able to see all of the big attractions in town in one day. They both seemed pretty excited about it and were 100% in support of my ideas. I tried not to sound too bossy, but I felt pretty good about my research and felt it was a really good plan.
So, we got off of our bus and started heading to the nearest bus stop to pick up the Open Tour bus. Four women had gotten off of the bus with us and were kind of following us. Behind them was a man and a young woman. All six of them had been riding on the bus in the seats right behind us. As we got to the bus stop, one of the four women said, "You seem to know what you're doing here. Would you mind being our tour guide?" I was a little shocked, but was more than happy to add them to our group. A couple seconds later, the man with the young woman approached me and said, "Do you mind if we tag along with you guys?" We all started laughing, especially me, because I had been so stressed out and worried that I wouldn't have anyone to be in Paris with me and now I was in a group of nine.
We boarded the Open Tour bus, which, by the way, is an amazing way to see the city of Paris if you have limited time and/or money. I highly recommend using them if you are ever there. It turns out that the leader of the four women is a very nice civilian employee at the hospital named "D". The other women were her two sisters and her niece who were visiting her from the States. The man who joined us is a Navy Chief who works at a base near me who had brought his daughter there as a birthday present.
We took off to our first destination on the bus which is L'arc de Triomphe.
L'arc de Triomphe surmounts the hill of Chaillot at the center of a pentagon-shaped configuration of radiating avenues. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes. Laying the foundations alone took two years. It was completed in 1836. Napoleon's body passed under it on its way to his burial in 1840. It is one of many iconic monuments in Paris.
The bus made a stop before reaching L'arc de Triomphe and a lot of people boarded with us. One woman, who boarded by herself came and sat near us on the second deck of the bus. After hearing us speaking in English, she started to converse with us and told us she was on a business trip and had a day off and wanted to see Paris.
Our next stop was probably the most iconic monuments in the world, not just Paris. It was the Eiffel Tower.
As we stepped off to see the Eiffel Tower, the lady that boarded earlier asked us if she could hang out with us since we had an idea of what we were doing that day. So, I managed to get a group of 10 people within the first hour of being there. It was really funny and we ended up having a great time.
The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris, is the single most visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair. I learned that initially the people of Paris really didn't like it because it looked to modern and made the sky line of Paris look odd. It's funny because now you can't really think about Paris without it.
We got back on the bus with the intention of heading to lunch. We had to hop off at one stop and get on another bus, so it took a while to get there. Along the way I tried to snap as many pictures as I could. It was kind of hard to keep up, but here are a few I snagged on the way:
We stopped for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I promise! This is the last Hard Rock Cafe I'm going to visit while I'm in Europe...
Here's a picture of our group in the restaurant.
After a delicious lunch we hopped back on the bus and headed to the Louvre.
The Louvre is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, France and is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement (district). Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet). It is the home to some famous pieces of art such as: The Venus de Milo, The Mona Lisa, The Dying Slave, and many, many others.
Here are some more pictures of the outside of the Louvre.
After the Louvre, we headed to the famous Notre Dame Cathedral.
Notre Dame is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra (official chair), of the Archbishop of Paris. Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in France and in Europe. It is also where the famous story of the Hunchback takes place.
Here are some pictures of the inside of the Cathedral.
After we finished up there, we had about an hour to kill, so we kind of split up and walked in different directions. I went with IT1 V and snapped some more pictures.
We went over to the Pont Alexandre III bridge where there are quite a few iconic statues. Here are some pictures I took there.
I know this next picture was kind of creepy of me to take, but Paris is known as the "City of Love" and I thought this was a good representation of it. I just hope the poor couple in the picture don't mind that I'm posting their image on the internet.
That pretty much finished our day. I had an amazing time! Paris is a beautiful city and I would love to take the Mrs. there for her to enjoy it. Maybe some creepy guy can take a picture of us making out on a bridge this time...
