US Military Base During Troop Exercises

Much to our excitement, our family and a group from our church here in Korea were able to visit a military base during the recent joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea.  We thought it would be fun to visit our troops and thank them for their service here in Korea.  I don't expect this happens too often when they serve on the foreign field.  We figured some homemade BBQ brisket would delight the troops as a memory from home.  We stocked up on brisket at Costco and Susan slow cooked it over a two day period.  BBQ brisket isn't complete without coleslaw so a friend made a large batch of delicious slaw while others made fruit salad, tuna salad and more homemade deserts than I could count.  One of the U.S. marines who attends our church chipped in some homemade mango salsa that is better than any salsa I ever tasted - especially surprising since he is neither Hispanic nor from Southern California.  He is, however, a certified redneck from Ohio and a closet chef - a combination that certainly qualifies him to be an honorary citizen of Orange County.  He has taken me under his wing and is busy schooling me in the fine art of "redneckery."  

As we approached the base, a convoy of military vehicles was just pulling away.  I would have thought we were in Iraq or Afghanistan.  There were all sorts of heavy trucks, uploaded (heavily armored) humvees, and men manning mounted machine guns on top of the turrets wearing goggles and looking like they were heading off to battle.  Once we pulled  onto the base, we saw the troops were busy there as well.  Most were dressed in camouflage fatigues with rifles slung over their shoulders.  Our kids were wide eyed as we passed several large pools of combat vehicles that probably were also part of the maneuvers.  This rivaled anything I've seen passing by Camp Pendleton on our trips down to San Diego.

Serving a meal to the troops was an absolute delight.  They were so appreciative.  Many were there from other parts of Asia to participate in the maneuvers.  I'm sure they were only expecting the normal rations in the field.  Their eyes lit up as the spotted all the goodies from home.  We met troops from all over the US.  They kept calling me sir and Susan ma'am.  I kept thinking how young they all looked.  I tried telling the younger troops "thank you for your service".  They responded by telling me to instead thank the veterans back home that had earned the  thanks.  Needless to say, I couldn't have been more proud of the young men I met that day.  They were happy to hear about our involvement in honoring the vets at the VFW lodge down the street from our home in Anaheim.

Daniel, Mary and Robert got to put on some of the combat gear that the troops wear in Afghanistan.  Daniel was the only one strong enough to wear the body armor that covers the chest and back.  It felt almost as heavy as steel plate and is designed to stop virtually any bullet.  Robert's favorite part of the uniform was the gas mask that must have reminded him of Darth Vader in Star Wars.  Susan will attach pictures of the three kids to give you a flavor of how they looked in combat gear.

We are very thankful for our troops and the many friends we've made in the military over here in Korea.  A couple of them will be leaving soon to be rotated back the the US.  We are very hopeful of seeing them again someday, Lord willing.